Patti Callahan Henry

"The love story of C.S. Lewis and his wife, Helen Joy Davidman Gresham, was improbable--and seemingly impossible. Their Eros-story led to some of Lewis's greatest works, yet Joy is most commonly known for how she died. Becoming Mrs. Lewis allows us to see how this brilliant and passionate woman lived--and why she stole Jack's heart"--

A Novel : the Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis

Becoming Mrs. Lewis

Patti Callahan

A heart-rending historical romance, and a glimpse into the life of a writer Poet, atheist and communist, New Yorker Joy Davidman is an unconventional woman – and an unlikely partner for an English academic and theologian. And when she starts a correspondence with Narnia author C. S. Lewis, she isn't looking for love. Her own marriage crumbling, she seeks refuge in her work, and guidance from a writer she admires. But in Joy's letters Lewis discovers a kindred spirit, and an intellect to equal his own. Bonding over a shared love of literature and ideas, a deep connection is forged between the two. Embarking on the adventure of a lifetime, Joy travels from America to England and back again. Facing heartbreak and poverty, discovering friendship and faith, against all the odds, the couple struggle to secure a love that will endure forever.

The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis

courtney garrison

Becoming Mrs.Lewis centers around Joy Davidman and how she came to know C.S. Lewis and eventually marry him. I have never read a C.S. Lewis book but after reading this and seeing how both of them were Christian and had a strong relationship with Christ. I will be looking for their books at the library from now on.

Joy is a fascinating person to read about. She was in a crappy marriage and had a moment with Christ and had so many questions. She wrote letters back and forth with C.S. Lewis until finally being able to travel overseas to England and getting to meet him and they hit it off. Watching them together and how they just fit. They are both so intelligent and had such faith in God. They grew together. They had a romance that wasn’t your typical romance.

The author does leave a note that while this book is about Joy and C.S. and some of it is based on their letters and their lives some parts are fictional so this is still historical fiction. But you can easily research and find out certain things if you want to know if they are true or not.

While I have mentioned that both Joy and C.S. Lewis were both very much for Christ and I enjoyed that aspect. For those of you who don’t, it wasn’t the center of the book, the love story and how they came together was the center.

One part I enjoyed was that the ending gave Joy a voice. She helped C.S. lewis with books and influenced his writing. She also wrote her own books and had so many accomplishments herself, but in that time she was silenced.

Overall I loved this story about two people in their walk in faith finding love and writing together. I don’t know about you, but that’s one happy ever after. I’ll admit when i first started this book i initally thought i wouldnt enjoy it, but im so glad i continued because it was phenomenal and its now on my favorites shelf. I do hope you pick it up and give it a chance.

also huge thank you to wunderkind PR and Lisha for this physical copy for review

Heather Wood

One star because Patti Callahan knows how to string words into sentences in the English language. Two stars because I would have been embarrassed to have finished a one star book instead of DNF.

For one brief chapter, Joy, the first person POV, recognized her need for God to fill her needs, but the rest of the book was about her fetish for older academic men, her sensual desires, and the ways she satisfied them (more than once with trysts outside of marriage). "Carnal" is the only word I can think of to describe this book and its characters.

Surrender, dependence on God, obedience, and faith are all non existent in this book, so it's curious that the author thinks she's portraying Christian people.

This book has moved to the top of my list of "books that disappointed me" and "unpopular opinions."

The love story of C. S. Lewis and his wife, Helen Joy Davidman Gresham, was improbable---and seemingly impossible. Their Eros-story led to some of Lewis's greatest works, yet Joy is most commonly known for how she died. Becoming Mrs. Lewis allows us to see how this brilliant and passionate woman lived---and why she stole Jack's heart.

Emily S

Recommended for all fans of C.S. Lewis! What a beautiful story :-)

One of the great love stories of modern times, Becoming Mrs. Lewis reveals the passionate, private lives of a beloved, world-renowned author, C.S. Lewis, and the brilliant, fiercely independent woman he called 'my whole World'.

Pam Sartain

My review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Becoming Mrs Lewis by Patti Callahan appealed to me because of C.S. Lewis. The only things I knew about him before reading this book was that he wrote the Narnia books, which I loved, and that he was Christian, with Aslan actually being God.

Whilst C.S. Lewis (or Jack, as his friends called him) is an important character in this book, the main character is Joy Davidman, a Jewish New Yorker, who first writes to Jack (much easier to type than C.S. Lewis, and so I will steal it for this.) whilst she is married, and has two small sons. 

Joy has a hard life. She and her husband are both writers (he was William Lindsay Gresham), but he wants her to be a 'proper' wife, which during the 1940s onwards means looking after the house, the children, and your husband. Joy is made to feel selfish in her desire to write. Her husband is an alcoholic, who helps Joy to find God when he is out boozing yet again, and she has a spiritual epiphany whilst worrying. Finding God is why Joy writes to Jack, who also found God later in life, and wrote about it.

This book is peppered through with quotes from letters and poems, which adds to hearing their voices. Whilst the poems are real, I don't know if the letters are, as we are told that Jack destroys all correspondence once he has replied.

Whilst it looks at Joy and Jack's beliefs, I didn't feel like it was trying to convert me, it was just exploring what they believed, and how that impacted their lives.

If you enjoy historical fiction, and looking at famous lives, or getting a glimpse more of the Inklings (the writing group that C.S. Lewis was part of, with J.R.R. Tolkien, and others!), then you'll enjoy this! Though, do be warned that Joy's time with William is abusive, which some may find upsetting.

Patti Callahan also writes under Patti Callahan Henry, and is a New York Times bestselling author of quite a few books!

Becoming Mrs Lewis was published on 16th May 2019, and is available to buy on Amazon and on Waterstones. I've found a link to where you can search for local bookshops, including independent!

I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to HarperCollins and Harper Inspire (the publishers) for this book.

Check out my GoodReads profile to see more reviews!

Jan Talkington

I was looking forward to this story and was disappointed throughout,. The writing style at times leaned more towards romance novel than historical novel. When I read historical fiction, it usually feels real to me - more historical than fiction. I forget that quotes and thoughts aren't real. In this case I often rolled my eyes. About 2/3's through the book I was ready for it to be over. I did finish it but can't recommend it.

Natalie 

A sweet retelling of the romance between C.S Lewis and His wife Joy. I found this book so easy to read, and very enjoyable.

Kaylee Z

As a lover of The Chronicles of Narnia, I was fascinated to learn that there was a story written about the life of C.S. Lewis’ wife. I was intrigued to get some insight into the author from someone else’s point of view. To see the inner workings of his life and writing process… and I got it, but I also got so much more.

The main aspect of the synopsis that stood out to me was the love story but there was another, and almost MORE, prevalent plot point in the way of discovery of faith. It was not something I was expecting and did cause me to have to wrap my mind around the fact that this story was more about Joy Davidman finding God and, in finding Him, leading her to finding Lewis. Or Jack to his friends.

When all is said an done, there really isn’t much of the story where Joy and Jack are even in the same room but he is always on her mind. Becoming Mrs. Lewis follows Joy’s life from a glimpse of her childhood at the start, to learning about her early years after college, to growing her family and living in fear. Joy’s story is one of heroism, of finding her voice in a time where women were seen more as property than as people, of taking ownership of her life and uprooting everything to truly live.

I was humbled by Joy’s journey and everything she dealt with. I could not get over the amount of strength that she possessed in light of everything. As a hopeless romantic, I was heartbroken at times but also left hopeful after reading other chapters. It was a lovely story to read and one that I am grateful to learn from. 

With all of the praise I give this book, I will admit that it did take me some time to get through. It was a good read but a long read. The chapters weren’t written in a way that lent itself to quick consumption for myself in particular. They were short but one chapter did not immediately lead into the next, it was more that each chapter was a snapshot of a moment in Joy’s life.

In the Author’s Notes at the end, Callahan does state that much of the story was a fictionalized retelling of the life of Joy Davidman but she also used a ton of works as reference which included those provided by Joy’s children. Some parts of the writing could not fully be ‘known’ but if even half of it is true, I would consider Joy an inspiration to women as she was written so real and flawed but also strong and loving.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in reading the history of a strong leading woman, historical fiction, C.S. Lewis, literary history of the mid 1900’s (more than just a couple big author name drops), a coming of age story for those later in life… honestly, this book hits so many great points.

Margaret Stacy

Eva Parker

Tiffany LeMasters

Kay Jamieson

Gaby Taylor

Pela Kolsto

Now a USA TODAY and Publishers Weekly bestseller! Meet the brilliant writer, fiercely independent mother, and passionate woman who captured the heart of C.S. Lewis and inspired the books that still enchant and change us today. 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 professor and the beloved writer of The Chronicles 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, found a love that even the threat of death couldn’t destroy. In this masterful exploration of one of the greatest love stories of modern times, we meet a brilliant writer, a fiercely independent mother, and a passionate woman who changed the life of this respected author and inspired books that still enchant us and change us. Joy lived at a time when women weren’t meant to have a voice—and yet her love for Jack gave them both voices they didn’t know they had. At once a fascinating historical novel and a glimpse into a writer’s life, Becoming Mrs. Lewis is above all a love story—a love of literature and ideas and a love between a husband and wife that, in the end, was not impossible at all. Praise for Becoming Mrs. Lewis: “Becoming Mrs. Lewis deftly explores the life and work of Joy Davidman, a bold and brilliant woman who is long overdue her time in the spotlight. Carefully researched. Beautifully written. Deeply romantic. Fiercely intelligent. It is both a meditation on marriage and a whopping grand adventure. Touching, tender, and triumphant, this is a love story for the ages.” —Ariel Lawhon, New York Times bestselling author of I Was Anastasia “Patti Callahan Henry breathes wondrous fresh life into one of the greatest literary love stories of all time . . . The result is a deeply moving story about love and loss that is transformative and magical.” —Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Orphan’s Tale “It's novel. And it's a very good one. . . extraordinarily accurate. . . more accurate than most biographical essays that have been written about my mother.” —Douglas Gresham, son of Joy Davidman, wife of C.S. Lewis This expanded edition includes: Map of Oxford Expanded discussion guide with 20+ questions for book clubs Timeline of Jack's and Joy's Lives Joy's (imagined) letter to Jack 10 Things You May Not Know About Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis's Love Story Behind-the-scenes essay: Oxford—The City

Becoming Mrs. Lewis A Novel : the Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis

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