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A review by amybibliophile
Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan
5.0
Thank you Harper Inspire for sending me an advanced reader copy of this magnificent book!
“What on earth would become of me if I should ever grow brave?”
When I requested a review copy of Becoming Mrs Lewis, I knew it wouldn’t be a book I’d usually pick up but having read so much fantasy & YA recently, I fancied a change. I didn’t, however, expect to be blown away by this amazingly real story that bares all to the reader holding nothing back.
If you don’t already know, it is about writer/poet Joy Davidman and her life and journey on becoming, you know it, C.S. Lewis’s wife. I thought this would just be a fluffed-up love story, but I was so wrong!
“And now here you are, at peace in your Garden of Eden with your brother and your acreage and your students and your Inklings and you friends and your quaint town. All these things both inspire you and protect you. But a change might be in order. Not a change that disrupts, but one that expands." I paused. "Let new things touch your soul.”
I am astounded by the length and detail Patti Callahan has gone to in order produce this book, collecting it from Joys journals, letters and poetry. If I remember correctly, some of it being from Joy’s sons which we read a lot about in this book, Davy & Douglas. In the book you really get a feel for what it must have been like growing up with an alcoholic father, a mother that left them in the hands of that very father & aunt whilst Joy herself spent a great many months in England, then to have to leave their lives behind and start a new one with in London. A far cry from the one they were used to back home in America. I got the feeling I was watching these boys grow into men as if I’d known them myself.
Realization came to me I knew little about C.S. Lewis, having grown up with Narnia in the cinema and on my TV and as the way a lot of the time, you know the stories but never took too much interest in the writers that gave these stories life to begin with. C.S. Lewis was a man loved by an extraordinary woman, never in my life have a come across a story where two people were so perfect for one another without there being any physical contact between them for much of it. It was obvious to me early on that their souls were made for one another; a compliment to each other’s work and lives.
“C. S. Lewis: Yes, Joy, I know that pain well. When we write the truth, there isn’t always a grand group applauding. But write it we must.”
Since reading this book I have gone on to buy C.S. Lewis & Joy Davidman’s works that are so frequently mentioned throughout, wanting to understand references to quotes and get more of an insight and understanding now I feel like I know these two people.
There is no doubt Joy had a hard life, and one I think even today some of us can compare our own struggles to, from heavy money problems to alcoholic partners/siblings, being made to feel not good enough in certain family members eyes & wanting to jump on a ship to leave it all behind. Therefore, Joy has such charm – because her life is relatable. We feel or have felt what she feels. She is so unapologetically real, never pretending to be someone she is not. I kept turning those pages eager in want that she will get the life she so deserves with Jack, Mr Lewis.
The end few chapters of the book really pulled on my heartstrings as I sat in my lounge sobbing. It was so perfect and heart-breaking to read. But what really destroyed me was how Joy died from an illness that was so avoidable and it being absolutely no fault of her own... Just as finally tings were fitting into place in her life, that's what made me really sad. After I looked at the cover of a book, knowing it held real meaning to me and not quite ready to put down this journey I’d been on thanks to Patti Callahan, Harper Inspire, C.S. Lewis & Joy.
“God might not fix things for me, but he would be with me in whatever waited ahead, that was clear.”
“What on earth would become of me if I should ever grow brave?”
When I requested a review copy of Becoming Mrs Lewis, I knew it wouldn’t be a book I’d usually pick up but having read so much fantasy & YA recently, I fancied a change. I didn’t, however, expect to be blown away by this amazingly real story that bares all to the reader holding nothing back.
If you don’t already know, it is about writer/poet Joy Davidman and her life and journey on becoming, you know it, C.S. Lewis’s wife. I thought this would just be a fluffed-up love story, but I was so wrong!
“And now here you are, at peace in your Garden of Eden with your brother and your acreage and your students and your Inklings and you friends and your quaint town. All these things both inspire you and protect you. But a change might be in order. Not a change that disrupts, but one that expands." I paused. "Let new things touch your soul.”
I am astounded by the length and detail Patti Callahan has gone to in order produce this book, collecting it from Joys journals, letters and poetry. If I remember correctly, some of it being from Joy’s sons which we read a lot about in this book, Davy & Douglas. In the book you really get a feel for what it must have been like growing up with an alcoholic father, a mother that left them in the hands of that very father & aunt whilst Joy herself spent a great many months in England, then to have to leave their lives behind and start a new one with in London. A far cry from the one they were used to back home in America. I got the feeling I was watching these boys grow into men as if I’d known them myself.
Realization came to me I knew little about C.S. Lewis, having grown up with Narnia in the cinema and on my TV and as the way a lot of the time, you know the stories but never took too much interest in the writers that gave these stories life to begin with. C.S. Lewis was a man loved by an extraordinary woman, never in my life have a come across a story where two people were so perfect for one another without there being any physical contact between them for much of it. It was obvious to me early on that their souls were made for one another; a compliment to each other’s work and lives.
“C. S. Lewis: Yes, Joy, I know that pain well. When we write the truth, there isn’t always a grand group applauding. But write it we must.”
Since reading this book I have gone on to buy C.S. Lewis & Joy Davidman’s works that are so frequently mentioned throughout, wanting to understand references to quotes and get more of an insight and understanding now I feel like I know these two people.
There is no doubt Joy had a hard life, and one I think even today some of us can compare our own struggles to, from heavy money problems to alcoholic partners/siblings, being made to feel not good enough in certain family members eyes & wanting to jump on a ship to leave it all behind. Therefore, Joy has such charm – because her life is relatable. We feel or have felt what she feels. She is so unapologetically real, never pretending to be someone she is not. I kept turning those pages eager in want that she will get the life she so deserves with Jack, Mr Lewis.
The end few chapters of the book really pulled on my heartstrings as I sat in my lounge sobbing. It was so perfect and heart-breaking to read. But what really destroyed me was how Joy died from an illness that was so avoidable and it being absolutely no fault of her own... Just as finally tings were fitting into place in her life, that's what made me really sad. After I looked at the cover of a book, knowing it held real meaning to me and not quite ready to put down this journey I’d been on thanks to Patti Callahan, Harper Inspire, C.S. Lewis & Joy.
“God might not fix things for me, but he would be with me in whatever waited ahead, that was clear.”