BECOMING MRS. LEWIS
By Patti Callahan
Paperback On-Sale: March 24, 2020
BECOMING MRS. LEWIS by Patti Callahan is a work of historical fiction inspired by the life of Joy Davidman and her improbable love story with C.S. Lewis. There are several discrepancies within many stories that have been written about C.S. Lewis and Joy so Callahan drew directly from letters, poems, essays, biographies, articles, and speeches by both Lewis and Davidman to recreate their captivating and untold love story.
BECOMING MRS. LEWIS by Patti Callahan is a work of historical fiction inspired by the life of Joy Davidman and her improbable love story with C.S. Lewis. There are several discrepancies within many stories that have been written about C.S. Lewis and Joy so Callahan drew directly from letters, poems, essays, biographies, articles, and speeches by both Lewis and Davidman to recreate their captivating and untold love story.
About Patti Callahan:
Patti Callahan is a New York Times bestselling author. Patti was a finalist in the Townsend Prize for Fiction, has been an Indie Next Pick, twice an OKRA, and a multiple nominee for the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) Novel of the Year. Her work has also been included in short story collections, anthologies, magazines, and blogs. Patti attended Auburn University for her undergraduate work and Georgia State University for her Graduate degree. Once a Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist, she now writes full time. The mother of three children, she lives in both Mountain Brook, Alabama, and Bluffton, South Carolina, with her husband.
“Callahan (The Bookshop at Water’s End) vividly enters the life of a woman searching for both God and romantic love in this pleasing historical novel about writer and poet Joy Davidman...Making full use of historical documentation, Callahan has created an incredible portrait of a complex woman.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Patti Callahan has inhabited her subject so convincingly that Joy’s light can finally shine brightly. Highly, highly recommended!”
—Historical Novels Review, Editor’s Pick
“Patti Callahan’s lyrical novel Becoming Mrs. Lewis (Thomas Nelson, 2018) details American author Joy Davidman’s unconventional friendship-turned-romance with famed author and Christian apologist C.S. Lewis…The thoughtful narrative reads more like a memoir than fiction.”
—WORLD Magazine
“Spanning more than a decade, this slow-burning love story will be especially satisfying to writers and C.S. Lewis fans, as there are many references to his literary canon and his famous stories of Narnia. Callahan’s prose is heartfelt and full of grace.”
—Bookpage
"Through the vibrant and emotional writing in BECOMING MRS. LEWIS, we witness an unlikely romance, especially for our current times, where two perfectly deserving people wait to totally know one another, and themselves, before embarking on a romantic relationship."
“This breathtaking story is so real that it almost has a heartbeat. Patti Callahan brings Joy Davidman to life once again in these pages with writing as lush and lyrical as one of Davidman’s sonnets. At once an important historical novel and a fascinating and astonishing love story, Becoming Mrs. Lewis is a must-read for anyone who has ever grappled with finding his or her place in the world.”
—BookTrib
My Thoughts
Becoming Mrs. Lewis is the story about the love affair between Joy Davidman and C.S.Lewis. If you don't know who C.S.Lewis is; Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University and Cambridge University. I know he wrote the Chronicles of Narnia and The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, but not much else.
Joy Davidman was an American poet and writer. Often referred to as a child prodigy, she earned a master's degree from Columbia University in English literature at age twenty in 1935. She was married to William Lindsay Gresham, they had two boys and I think that she was very unhappy in the marriage. An introduction by a fellow American writer, Chad Walsh, brought Davidman to begin a correspondence with C. S. Lewis in 1950. She spent Christmas and a fortnight at The Kilns with C.S. Lewis and his brother, Warren. Though Davidman was deeply in love with Lewis, because of his Catholic faith, he did not reciprocate. In the meantime, her husband was having an affair with her cousin Renee, which ultimately led to divorce. Joy went back to England with her sons. The relationship with C.S.Lewis was intellectual at first but later evolved into love.
Joy's work visa was not going to get renewed so Joy and C.S.Lewis went into civil marriage and they lived separately. Upon having a fall it was found that she had cancer, went into remission but later the cancer came back and she died in 1960, C.S.Lewis died three years later. By that time they did get a Christian marriage.
At first, I didn't think that I would like this book. But after I started reading I did not want to put it down. This fictionalized version of the relationship between C.S.Lewis and Joy Davidman is very readable. I did not know anything about either of them and found that I was pulled into the story. I was sad that they had such a short married life but happy that they were able to spend time together. At first, a cerebral relationship that turns into a great love story, love for each other, and love for writing. I think if you love historical fiction, you need to read this book. I give it 5 stars!
This sounds very interesting. My library has the ebook so I just put a hold on it.
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