Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan – 385 pages
ARC from Thomas Nelson Publishing in exchange for an honest review.
Book Blurb:
When poet and writer Joy Davidman began writing letters to C. S. Lewis—known as Jack—she was looking for spiritual answers, not love. Love, after all, wasn’t holding together her crumbling marriage. Everything about New Yorker Joy seemed ill-matched for an Oxford don and the beloved writer of Narnia, yet their minds bonded over their letters. Embarking on the adventure of her life, Joy traveled from America to England and back again, facing heartbreak and poverty, discovering friendship and faith, and against all odds, finding a love that even the threat of death couldn’t destroy.
My Review: 4 stars
Becoming Mrs. Lewis grabbed me and set me inside the most unusual of romances. Admittedly, I didn’t know much about C.S. Lewis and didn’t realize that the Lewis in the title was the famed author of the beloved Narnia series. That and only that was what I knew about him. This is one of the many things that I love about fiction, the learning that comes with it, hand and hand. Never would I have discovered this unique relationship had it not been for this novel.
There was so much I loved about this novel. The power of words was ever-present in this novel and the writing was glorious. CalIahan captured the place, time and characters with ease. I enjoyed getting to know Jack (the nickname for C.S. Lewis) through the eyes of Joy Davidman. She wrote him letters from a poet’s lens. What began as a simple cross-continental letter exchange between two intellects dissecting Christian ideology blossomed into a devoted friendship. It was based on their mutual love for literature, quick wit and acceptance of each other’s past ghosts.
Callihan wove together a beautiful love story that sucked you in and kept you reading at a good pace. This is one of those books where telling anymore would create spoilers, so I’m stopping here. It was a major plus to see behind the pen of these two influential writers.
Quotes I liked:
I lost the borders between my body and air, between my heart and my soul, between fear and peace. Everything in me thrummed with a loving presence.”
-“Books can help make us we are, can’t they?”
-“How do I ever thank you for this kind friendship? It sustains me.”
-“First I try and write a book that I want to read. I see the book in pictures. I watch them unfold and then I write about it. I tell what I see, and then I fill the gaps.”
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