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smalltownbookmom's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 rounded up.
A really interesting look at the relationship between Joy Davidson (a wife, mother and writer in her own right) and C.S. Lewis. The author does a really great job bringing to light the challenges women had trying to fight for their own career outside the home, especially as mothers. Joy Davidson wasn't afraid to put herself first, striking up a friendship that slowly developed into more with the man behind the Narnia books.
She juggled motherhood, infidelity, her husband's alcoholism and her own declining health - all while still writing prodigiously in order to support herself and her sons. Highly recommended and great on audio. I learned so much about a woman I had no idea existed and her amazing love story with C. S. Lewis!
A really interesting look at the relationship between Joy Davidson (a wife, mother and writer in her own right) and C.S. Lewis. The author does a really great job bringing to light the challenges women had trying to fight for their own career outside the home, especially as mothers. Joy Davidson wasn't afraid to put herself first, striking up a friendship that slowly developed into more with the man behind the Narnia books.
She juggled motherhood, infidelity, her husband's alcoholism and her own declining health - all while still writing prodigiously in order to support herself and her sons. Highly recommended and great on audio. I learned so much about a woman I had no idea existed and her amazing love story with C. S. Lewis!
jennyyyyyyyyyyyy's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
reneesmith's review against another edition
5.0
C. S. Lewis once said, “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
This quote sums up Becoming Mrs. Lewis for me. Joy Davidman Gresham Lewis came from just such a tawdry background. But two things about this strong woman amazed me: that even she was brought to her knees by a tender & forgiving Savior and that she was able to see past the façade to the treasure inside an aging, frumpy British professor. Her life was too short to see how her personality might have blossomed under their nurturing.
Congrats to Patti Callahan for writing such a thorough, dramatic story! This book brought the people and time period to vibrant life. Though not a gentle story, I definitely saw God’s grace through the changes going on inside Joy as she followed her path to joy!
This quote sums up Becoming Mrs. Lewis for me. Joy Davidman Gresham Lewis came from just such a tawdry background. But two things about this strong woman amazed me: that even she was brought to her knees by a tender & forgiving Savior and that she was able to see past the façade to the treasure inside an aging, frumpy British professor. Her life was too short to see how her personality might have blossomed under their nurturing.
Congrats to Patti Callahan for writing such a thorough, dramatic story! This book brought the people and time period to vibrant life. Though not a gentle story, I definitely saw God’s grace through the changes going on inside Joy as she followed her path to joy!
rosannelortz's review against another edition
5.0
When Joy Davidman Gresham had a spiritual experience convincing her there was a God, she wrote to British author C.S. Lewis looking for answers. What followed was a correspondence that would become a meeting of minds and eventually a marriage of hearts.
Six months after the first letter was sent, C.S. Lewis responded. At the time, Joy was trapped in a tumultuous marriage with Billy Gresham. Like herself, Billy was a writer, but one who resorted to alcohol and affairs to numb his anger at not selling manuscripts. His work always took precedent over Joy's, and he expected her to give up her intellectual dreams in order to be the perfect housewife, taking care of their two boys and putting dinner on the table. As their marriage went from bad to worse, Joy's health began to deteriorate. She began to take refuge from the horrors of everyday life in the letters she regularly received from the Oxford don, seventeen years her senior. Eventually, she took an extended trip to England to recuperate, to do research, and to meet her mentor, C.S. Lewis.
In this exquisite novel, Patti Callahan captures the great divide between Joy, a Jewish New Yorker, and "Jack," an aging English professor. She also shows the meeting of minds, the yearning of hearts, and just how influential Joy was on Lewis' work. Many obstacles conspired to keep the two apart (not the least of which was Joy's divorce), and anyone who has seen Shadowlands knows that the ending of the book is destined to be a real tear-jerker.
The story alternates between Joy's first person narrative and excerpts of letters, mostly those exchanged by her and Lewis. The flow of the book was seamless, and I could not discern whether these letters were original or fictitious (a question which the Author's Note answered for me at the end of the book). I recognized many quotes from Lewis' works in the dialogue, and I came away from the book wanting to dive back into his fiction and his philosophical writings.
This book highlights the fact that Joy Davidman was Lewis' intellectual equal, and that he highly prized both her own work and her contributions to his work. As with all fictionalized biographies, I am sure some liberties have been taken, but nevertheless, this book resonates as a beautifully told love story and an homage to both the author of Narnia and the woman who moved from philia to eros in his affections.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Six months after the first letter was sent, C.S. Lewis responded. At the time, Joy was trapped in a tumultuous marriage with Billy Gresham. Like herself, Billy was a writer, but one who resorted to alcohol and affairs to numb his anger at not selling manuscripts. His work always took precedent over Joy's, and he expected her to give up her intellectual dreams in order to be the perfect housewife, taking care of their two boys and putting dinner on the table. As their marriage went from bad to worse, Joy's health began to deteriorate. She began to take refuge from the horrors of everyday life in the letters she regularly received from the Oxford don, seventeen years her senior. Eventually, she took an extended trip to England to recuperate, to do research, and to meet her mentor, C.S. Lewis.
In this exquisite novel, Patti Callahan captures the great divide between Joy, a Jewish New Yorker, and "Jack," an aging English professor. She also shows the meeting of minds, the yearning of hearts, and just how influential Joy was on Lewis' work. Many obstacles conspired to keep the two apart (not the least of which was Joy's divorce), and anyone who has seen Shadowlands knows that the ending of the book is destined to be a real tear-jerker.
The story alternates between Joy's first person narrative and excerpts of letters, mostly those exchanged by her and Lewis. The flow of the book was seamless, and I could not discern whether these letters were original or fictitious (a question which the Author's Note answered for me at the end of the book). I recognized many quotes from Lewis' works in the dialogue, and I came away from the book wanting to dive back into his fiction and his philosophical writings.
This book highlights the fact that Joy Davidman was Lewis' intellectual equal, and that he highly prized both her own work and her contributions to his work. As with all fictionalized biographies, I am sure some liberties have been taken, but nevertheless, this book resonates as a beautifully told love story and an homage to both the author of Narnia and the woman who moved from philia to eros in his affections.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
author2223's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Domestic abuse, and Infidelity
Moderate: Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Gaslighting
amfwc's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bonniereads777's review against another edition
4.0
This is the second book I've read by Patti Callahan, and the second outstanding read. This is a historical novel based on lives of Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis. It is an account of their friendship and eventual marriage, but also provides insight into Davidman herself. In an unpredictable match, Lewis, a Christian bachelor, eventually married American Joy Davidman after corresponding for years. Many were surprised, but some were furious because Davidman was divorced.
We learn so much about Joy Davidman through this written portrait. The account of Davidman's life and prior marriage to an abusive and unfaithful man, Bill Gresham, is sad and compelling, but her willingness to leave her sons with him while she visited England was strange. I still don't understand it. Davidman was a complex woman and a published writer herself, although she is mostly known now as the woman who married C.S. Lewis. Her relationship with Lewis, her acceptance into his life by his brother Warnie, and her eventual death of cancer are all well portrayed.
I purchased this book in print copy. My review is voluntary and my opinions are my own.
We learn so much about Joy Davidman through this written portrait. The account of Davidman's life and prior marriage to an abusive and unfaithful man, Bill Gresham, is sad and compelling, but her willingness to leave her sons with him while she visited England was strange. I still don't understand it. Davidman was a complex woman and a published writer herself, although she is mostly known now as the woman who married C.S. Lewis. Her relationship with Lewis, her acceptance into his life by his brother Warnie, and her eventual death of cancer are all well portrayed.
I purchased this book in print copy. My review is voluntary and my opinions are my own.
rubyii's review against another edition
5.0
Captivating. I laughed, I cried. I’d give this ten stars if I could.
nkbullard's review against another edition
2.0
First off, I did not finish this book. I found it slow to start, and the random letter snippets in the middle of scenes were distracting. Also, the fact that Joy would leave her alcoholic, adulterous husband behind with her recently divorced, extremely attractive cousin to take care of four children while she went abroad for months to meet a man she was having an emotional affair with, then act like she was shocked that they had an affair seems a little far fetched to me. If that really did happen, then it was a selfish and ignorant thing to do. The way the story is told, I was left with little sympathy for Joy. I finally gave up.