Becoming Mrs Lewis: The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis by Patti Callahan

Coming 16 May 2019

 

Book blurb

Rather than just put the usual up I thought you might like to hear what the author herself says

Patti Callahan on ‘Becoming Mrs Lewis’

My thoughts

Helen Joy Davidman is a poet and writer who is married, although it’s a difficult marriage as her husband is an alcoholic, and has two boys. However, they are moved to embrace the Christian faith.  Joy struggles but after a conversation with a friend Joy begins corresponding  with the writer and theologian C S Lewis. They build a long distance friendship in their letters. At first both Joy and her husband enjoy these exchanges but ultimately it is Joy who treasures them the most. After a rather nasty illness Joy travels to England staying with a friend in London. She meets with C S Lewis on a trip to Oxford. They are soulmates and their friendship deepens.

Joy realises she needs to sort out her marriage as soon as she returns to the USA and when she learns of her husbands most recent affair, which is very close to home, she makes a decision that will be the start of a whole new chapter in her life.

That decision is not an easy one for Joy it is the 1950s when you accepted your life if you were married especially if there were children and that shows the bravery that lived within Joy and which she would have to call upon again.

Many will have read something written by C S Lewis, perhaps A Grief Observed his version of their story – or watched Shadowlands , the film with Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger or the TV series with Joss Auckland and Claire Bloom – or the Chronicles of Narnia.

Here we have the story from the point of view of Joy and it is fascinating and moving. This is surely historical fiction at it’s best, based on true life yet reading as if it is written by the narrator – Helen Joy Davidman-Gresham-Lewis – her voice lovingly recreated by Patti Callahan. It tilts this amazing story and gives the opportunity to readers of getting to know more of Joy and is well worth reading.

With thanks to Harper Inspire via NetGalley for an eCopy of Becoming Mrs Lewis  by Patti Callahan. All thoughts are my own, I have not received any payment for the review of this book.

Information

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Author:

Patti Callahan (who also writes as Patti Callahan Henry) 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 pick, 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.

Visit her on Twitter: @pcalhenry.

Follow the journey: Patti and Joy