Patti Callahan Henry has been a favorite author of mine throughout the years, an avid fan –with twelve New York Times bestselling novels – she has been hailed as a “fresh new voice” in contemporary Southern fiction. I have had the opportunity of reading each of them and thoroughly enjoyed.

In her latest historical fiction, the author dazzles! She vividly re-creates the world of Joy and C. S. Lewis in BECOMING MRS. LEWIS. What starts as a spiritual quest turns into history. Moving and riveting, a singular woman whom C. S. Lewis deeply loved and profoundly influenced his later writings. However, there is much about Joy some overlook behind the shadow of this influential man.

We have heard the author reference in her interviews, “The endless complications and multifaceted dimensions of love and desire fascinate me—the promises these feelings prompt us to make.”

Whether she is writing about friendship, forgiveness, love, the power of family, self-discovery or second chances, the author writes with lyrical prose, deep emotion from the heart, and a master at her craft.

However, in BECOMING MRS. LEWIS, the author shines. A literary work of art! Illuminating. Extremely moving and memorable. A compelling and convincing book you will treasure. (Cover love).

Before you finish the book, you will be returning to works of both Helen Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis —and devouring in a new light. A beautiful love story—in more ways than one. Two strong minds coming together as one as they try to understand life, spirituality, choices, and relationships.

As Patti reiterates, this novel is written in a key of empathy for this extraordinary woman. She hopes to capture some of Joy’s courage, conflicted and sometimes disparaged choices, as well as her abiding love for a man we know as C. S. Lewis, but whom she identified as a mentor, best friend, and in the end her love, and husband. The man she knew as Jack. Indeed, Patti, you have accomplished this and more. Joy would be proud.

If you have read the author’s previous books, you may have seen her scattered quotes from C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), a scholar and teacher at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities who is best known for his Narnia Chronicles for children, was an atheist for most of his early life and converted to Christianity in 1931. He was an Oxford don, a poet, an imaginative genius, a master at prose and theme.

“A talented debater and writer, Lewis published many works on a wide variety of topics—but the subjects that most interest me, especially as a writer, revolve around his exploration of human longing and the search for meaning. His writing has inspired me since I read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe as a child. The Screwtape Letters offers profound insights into human nature.”

Now, it is not surprising Henry would dive into her latest project, penning an extraordinary novel of Joy Davidman, a poet, writer, and the woman C. S. “Jack” Lewis “my whole world.” Writing as Patti Callahan, the author traces Joy’s story from New York to London to Oxford. Joy’s life was a big part of Lewis’s and his writing.

She breathes new life into a story, not often told. Through extensive research and travel, she speaks of the woman, not behind the man, but “beside him.” Now, for the first time, the author takes a closer look at this amazing woman.

BECOMING MRS. LEWIS is a remarkable story of a brilliant writer. She was a force of beautiful prose and intelligence. A sophisticated and complex woman often misunderstood. A multi-award- winning poet, a novelist, a critic, and protégé of the MacDowell Colony and much more. Her impressive credentials graduated from college at fifteen and received her master’s degree in fiction from Columbia.

Yet there were conflicting narratives about her life. Some thought she was a brash New Yorker who inserted herself into Lewis’s life. However, looking back to the era, this was a complicated, yet courageous woman. Finding the real self.

Everything about Joy seemed ill-matched for an Oxford don and Christian apologist living in England. She was a married woman who lived in Upstate New York with her two young sons.

After C.S. Lewis went public with his conversion and commitment to Jesus Christ, controversy hounded him until his death. From his lack of theological sophistication, and other fundamentalists attacking his interpretation of scripture and Christian traditions.

But none of these issues caused more stirring than the furor that surrounded his marriage to Helen Joy Davidman. In the mind of many of C.S. Lewis's friends, it was bad enough that a bachelor nearly sixty years old married a woman of forty. But to make matters worse, she was an American divorcee who also happened to be Jewish and the mother of two boys.

How could this match possibly come about? On paper, there was not a more impossible pairing. But in the end proved a memorable love story.

The author takes us back to 1927, Bronx New York to 1946 — marriage to William Lindsay Gresham (Bill). Two sons, Davy and Douglas. From an atheist moved to pray when tragedy came. A breakdown, an alcoholic and unfaithful husband, tearing him back to the bottle. She prayed for help. But to whom?

An unquestionable belief. Her doubt about the Christ. A Christ, C. S. Lewis apparently believed in. Leading her to read an article by a Beloit College professor Chad Walsh. “Apostle to the Skeptics” an in-depth study of an Oxford fellow in England. A man named C. S. Lewis who was a converted atheist. Of course, she had heard of him and read some of this work.

However, soon she would read everything he wrote, being drawn to the wisdom hidden in the story: The Screwtape Letters.

There is much which occurred leading up to the introduction of these two literary souls in 1950. Patti Callahan takes us on the journey. The before and after.

The C.S. Lewis and Chad Walsh connection provided the beginning of a spark. At Chad's suggestion, she read everything Lewis wrote as well as others. Between the New York pastor and her mentor, Chad Walsh, Joy grew in faith and began manifesting signs of genuine conversion and repentance.

At Chad Walsh's urging, Joy wrote to C.S. Lewis about some of her thoughts on his books. Although Walsh assured Joy that Lewis always answered his correspondence, it took her two years to find the courage to write. When she did, in January 1950, Lewis's brother noted in his journal that Jack had received a fascinating letter from a most interesting American woman, Mrs. Gresham.

For the next two and a half years Joy and C.S. Lewis carried on a rich correspondence that intellectually and spiritually encouraged each of them. Over that quarter decade, Joy's health and family problems opened the way for the famous English author and his talented American pen friend to meet.

“Who is this God I now believe in? What am I to do with this Truth? Was it real at all or have I deluded myself with another cure-all that cures nothing?” Joy to Lewis.

She wanted to him to see her. She wanted him to know her.

“Out of the corner of his letters I experienced a different link of life: one of peace and connection and intellectual intimacy, of humor and kindness, and I indulged.”

During the late 1940s Joy's health deteriorated. She suffered from nervous exhaustion while trying to raise the boys and write enough to pay all the bills. Joy finished several writing projects, including a novel, Weeping Bay, that came out with Macmillan in early 1950. Then while writing a book-length Jewish-Christian interpretation of the Ten Commandments, she became gravely ill with jaundice. Her doctor ordered rest - preferably away from the pressures of her chaotic house and family.

During all this, Joy received a request from her first cousin, Renee with two children from Alabama, desperately trying to escape her abusive and alcoholic husband. Joy happily took them under her wing and the visit proved to be a help to her, as well. This provided supportive for Joy to get away to write and rejuvenate and finally meet C. S Lewis.

She left America. She also left behind those who did not understand. She hated leaving the boys behind, but she knew she would return stronger and Renee was supportive. Bill wanted her to do what was best to heal (at the time). However, her church community scowled. Other women talked about her.

“Did they not feel the anxiety that comes when the inner light rises and cries out, “Let me live”?

She soon was seduced by England. There is much in between. She would return home, but this was not the end.

However, from the Kilns garden, Oxford, Magdalen, to Ireland, Greece, Emerald Isle, to the Old Inn in Crawforshire—their storytelling, their extended family, and their love. The couple only married for three short years. The ecstasy in pain, the redemption of the past, love that surpassed all understanding. Books have been written, and their stories have been dissected. A remarkable couple whose lives intersected and became as one.

“Grace does not tell us how long we have in our life, or what comes next—that’s why grace is given only in the moment. Unmerited mercy is never earned.”

When Joy had to leave in 1960, more than ten years after she opened his first letter. He grieved. He wrote of this enveloping grief, and it became one of his most beloved books —A Grief Observed.

After their marriage, he became a wonderful stepfather to Joy’s sons. He wrote two more books. These books and these works would not exist without Joy’s love and life, without his love for her.

Lewis believed that Joy helped complete him as a person, and she acknowledged that he did the same for her, reflected in both their works. From a Grief Observed to The Four Loves. Those of us who have admired C. S. Lewis also should be grateful for Joy Davidman Lewis as well, since his collection would not be what it is today without their connection.

“A compelling, page-turning narrative . . . BECOMING MRS. LEWIS we hope is the first of many books from Patti Callahan that re-examines history from a fresh, female contemporary point of view. Essential women, making an impact on in the world, often behind the scenes.

A special thank you to Thomas Nelson @TNZFiction and #NetGalley for an early reading copy of #BecomingMrsLewis. Also pre-ordered the hardcover. Cannot wait!

#JDCMustReadBooks

Q&A With the Author Coming October

What actually was the nature of Joy Davidman’s relationship with C.S. Lewis? What did she gain and what did she lose in her friendship and eventual romance with the author? Most important, how did her own craft suffer as she lived under his shadow in a time—like all times—when women’s writing was less appreciated than men’s?

These are big questions to try to answer, and Callahan deserves credit for taking them on. Too often, though, I felt the book offered the “what” of the story and not the “why.” Davidman ended up a typist for Lewis and his literary friends while her own writing was regularly rejected. Was that because she was discriminated against because she was a woman or because of some flaw in the writing, or both, or neither? We never really get an explanation.

And did Davidman fall in love with the Lewis that Callahan describes—with yellow teeth, bad breath, and ratty clothes? Or did she fall for the idea of the man? Much of the novel revolves around Joy waiting for Lewis to kiss her, which seems a little too romance novelistic for a book such as this. And feels unrealistic after the numerous unflattering descriptions. And did he really shun her advances out of a sense of Godly devotion? And did they really—does anybody really—talk like that, in one literary quote after another?

I thank NetGalley for a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book and learned so much about CSS Lewis! It's inspired me to go back and read some of his books over! I highly recommend it!

This book was a bittersweet read. I knew the general story and how it ended, but I LOVED hearing about Joy's life. I learned so much about her life, and this book made me want to learn more. Joy is frequently overlooked in the CS Lewis story, but I'm glad she's getting a voice through this story. The world needs to hear this story, and I'm so glad Patti Callahan wrote it.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I admit to reading this book too quickly and not appreciating Callahan's well structure prose as one should because the narrative of Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis had me racing to find out the details of their story. Callahan succeeds in creating a novel of historical fiction that honors the figures and draws out lessons in love, letters, friendship, identity, and careers. I tend to read e-books hastily but this is a book I can see easily be savored in print with many dog-eared pages and underlined sentences. Callahan does justice in bringing to current attention a female writer that in her day had many "problem" adjectives attached to her: difficult and divorced. In layering their biographical details with imagined conversation, we are privy to the conversations that these poets may have had and join them in their beloved settings. Happily, I now have a list of titles by Joy Davidman Lewis to read as well a juicy list of other novels by Callahan to enjoy.

Becoming Mrs. Lewis, a fictionalized biography (is that even a genre?), reads like an autobiography and simmers like a good novel. The author has taken the life story of the woman who captured C..S. Lewis’s heart and turned it into an intimate look inside the mind and heart of a brilliant woman.

The author weaves a beautiful first-person narrative of a woman who as a child Joy Davidman escaped the pain of her circumstances by sneaking out with her brother to pet the lions the Bronx Zoo. Her boldness and inquisitive mind lead her to reject her Jewish faith and declare herself an atheist.

Along with religion, she rejects the social mores of her era. She marries Bill Gresham just three days after his divorce is finalized. Together they hope to write literature that inspires the world. Instead, he struggles with an alcohol addiction, they rarely have enough money, and they have a child.

At the lowest point in her early married, Joy experiences a presence that she can only explain as the presence of God. Convinced that God exists, she and her husband set out to find him. The decide to write to C. S. Lewis, a fellow former atheist, writer, and Christian apologist.

The letters become a lifeline for Joy, who struggles to write, raise her children, and care for an increasingly abusive husband who wants her to fit into his preconceived ideal of the ‘perfect wife’ of the forties and fifties.

Unlike a strict biography, the author attempts to ‘gather all of the information, compare it, and unravel it to tell a story that relates an emotional truth.’ While Patti Callahan claims to unravel the essence of truth, she does much more. She weaves a tapestry that takes the reader into the social milieu of an era that most modern-day women don’t understand.

Callahan’s masterpiece also piqued my interest in Joy Davidman as a writer. Any book that highlights the rich heritage of literature by women is a winner in my book!

Although the writing and prose is done beautifully, I was not enamored of the story. The religious nature of the letters was not my thing, and it just didn't hold my interest. The use of letters did not work for me in this setting.

I really enjoyed this intimate look into the personal life of C.S. Lewis and his friendship-turned-love with Joy Davidman. The reader is given a different view on Lewis through his letters and a firsthand look at how he viewed life, love, and religion. Through Joy Davidman's viewpoints, one gets an honest look at the frustrations and heartache of her day-to-day life and her desire to live happily. In a time when it was not common practice to divorce, she found the bravery to make her life the way she wanted it to be.

How to describe this literary novel? Literary in its intelligent tone and use of language; literary in its subject: the world of C.S. Lewis, Tolkien and their creations – and what happened when a brash (female) American enters the cloistered, masculine world of Oxford 1950s academia.

First, let me say I loved it. The writer enters the very soul of Joy Davidman, a poet and writer in her own right who strikes up a penfriendship with Lewis (known as ‘Jack’), based initially on their shared religious experience and reluctant conversion to Christianity (from Judaism via Communism in Joy’s case – from agnosticism in his). Her voice is absolutely true.

Desperately seeking a breathing space from her abusive, womanising husband, she leaves her little boys and home in the care of her cousin (and we’ll see how well that turns out!) and comes to England.

I really felt for Joy as she secretly worships Lewis, while living at times in close quarters in his house The Kilns, lovingly recreated here. I even felt embarrassed for her as almost-kisses don’t happen and she tries to assess whether her feelings are reciprocated. As it’s told in her first person, we are left in some doubt about Jack’s feelings about this late-blossoming love: is he simply politely tolerating her presence as one might a rambunctious dog, engaged in a friendship that supports his own work (she becomes his typist and muse), or more…? He himself doesn’t seem to know.

I will be re-reading this wonderful book and buying it for my friends. I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you for this opportunity.

All I really knew about Joy Davidman was from the movie Shadowlands. This book invites an understanding of this brave poet who endures an abusive marriage until she seeks answers to spiritual questions from CS Lewis. Their letters are honest and endearing, but perhaps too long and philosophical at times. Her move to Oxford/London puts their relationship from friendship to love. It is the story of tragedy and perseverance.

Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan is a work of historical fiction that reads like the memoir of author and poet Joy Davidman. It chronicles her relationship with C.S. Lewis, a British novelist, poet, academic, and lay theologian who taught at both Oxford University and Cambridge University.  The two first met as penpals in 1946, as Joy finds herself unhappily married to a hard-drinking, womanizing, narcissist writer, William Lindsay Gresham.

A self-described atheist, Joy has a religious experience one night when her husband calls threatening to take his own life. In desperation, she prays to God for help to save her husband and feels the presence of God that night.  Bill returns from his night of drinking and self-destructive behavior. Their marriage limps along as they raise two young boys and struggle to earn a living with their writing. One morning, Joy discovers an article talking about C.S. Lewis as a Christian apologist. Joy decides to write to C.S. Lewis detailing her ponderings, doubts and questions about God and religion.  He responds and thus begins a very prolific penpal correspondence that eventually culminates with the two meeting in person in England, where C.S. Lewis lives and is teaching at Oxford.

Although Joy's friendship with C.S. Lewis, known as Jack, blossoms into full-blown love, he is slower and more cautious to return her amorous affections. I respect the author's fascination with Joy Davidman and her accurate rendering of a sense of place; however, much of the narrative felt weighted down with the minutia of Joy and Jack’s many long walks, punctuated by philosophical talks, debates over literature and flirtations that hint at more than just “phila,” Jack’s word for their friendship. Reading it required a kind of patience and appreciation for an intellectual romance without the titillating physical intimacy and racy passages.

If you're looking for page-turning action, this is not your read. If you are looking for lyrical, descriptive prose sprinkled with literary references then Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan is a great choice.

Beginning near the end of her marriage, this fictionalized novel of Joy Davidman's latter years reads like a memoir. While it is a love story, it's a lingering, yearning love story that unfolds gently and very slowly. Surrounding that is Davidman's struggle to find herself and her purpose as a wife, a mother, and a Christian.

The prose is lyrical, and occasionally a bit flowery, but it does read as a poet's voice. The characters seem authentic and are very likable, even with their flaws and foibles clearly depicted. The plot moves slowly seeping into your thoughts and heart. Overall it was a wonderful book that sparked my interest in Davidman, Lewis, and their friends and literary influences. I highly recommend it.

Before reading this book, my only knowledge about Joy Davidman (Gresham) was derived from the movie, “Shadowlands.” But this book goes into way more depth than of course a movie can or is intended to.

Joy’s marriage to Bill Gresham was unhappy at best and downright terrifying at worst. She loved her two sons, Davy and Douglas, fiercely. Nevertheless, her awakening to Christianity (via Judaism and communism) left her thirsty for more of this newfound relationship with God.. and she began what would be a years long correspondence with C. S. Lewis, whose work she had read. Plagued by a frail constitution, and advised by her doctor to rest, she made the decision to go to England for months of rest, study and writing. During those months abroad, she stayed in touch with her husband and sons, and also began a friendship with C. S. Lewis. After many months away she returned to her family, only to learn that her husband and best-friend cousin were immersed in an affair.. She made the decision to work and save money for a return to England, this time with her sons and permanently.

The remainder of the book details her life there, her growing relationship with C.S. Lewis, and their ultimate marriage, though it was a brief one due to Joy’s contracting cancer. Though brief, it was a happy and fulfilling one for both.

I received this book from the publisher via netgalley.com in return for an honest review.

I have been a huge fan of C.S. Lewis's writing for a long time. I have written two graduate level research essays when I was in graduate school about C. S. Lewis's writing. So when I heard someone wanted to write a fictionalized story about Joy, C. S. Lewis's one and only wife, I was intrigued. I have read a number of novels by C. S. Lewis and his biographers who have written about her and her importance to C. S. Lewis. I'm really glad I picked up Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan. This is definitely a wonderful story.

England is a huge bucket list place for me to visit. I want to visit the pub where Lewis and Tolkien sat and wrote. I want to visit his home. I even want to take a tour of Oxford University and observe where his office was. Callahan does wonderful job at making me homesick for a country I haven't ever been to. She does a fabulous job at describing just what I need to see and what I need to focus on. She brought the world of London and Oxford alive for Joy and for me.

I didn't know all the back history to Joy, but it was nice to see that she was a normal person too with her first horrible marriage and how hard it was for her to handle motherhood and being a writer at the same time. I liked how Callahan humanized Lewis too. She didn't shy away from some of his vises like smoking a cigar and drinking a little with dinner or after dinner. I wonder if a lot of Christians are going to be turned away from that aspect of him because of his Christian beliefs. I know my mother would be. I really liked the imagination of the lion and the aspect he represented to Lewis and Joy.

The only problem I have with the plot is the element of the letters back and forth between Joy to Lewis and Joy to Bill. They were erupt and jarring when they first started. I still had a hard time knowing when they started and when they ended. Maybe this will be fixed in the final copy, but as for my ARC, it didn't flow well.

Overall, Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan is a wonderful fictional story for fans of C. S. Lewis and his writings. Even if you are interested in Lewis's writing, then this might be the book for you. I fell into London with the story and had a hard time putting the novel down. I highly recommend Becoming Mrs. Lewis. A novel to sit next to my other Lewis books.

I received a complimentary copy of Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan from Thomas Nelson Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

I wanted to like this book so much, because I love C.S. Lewis! But the truth is, I just didn’t care for it. The book itself was well-written, and obviously well-researched. It was the characters I didn’t like. The worst part is knowing what was going to happen, and knowing they were real people and I couldn’t hope for a different outcome.
I think the author wanted to portray Joy Davidman as a strong, independent, free-thinking, modern (for that time period) woman. I saw a woman who abandoned her children, planned for her husband to fall in love with someone else (and blamed him when he did!) and pursued a man, even though she was already married. Joy was brash and crass, and nothing that I could see in her story pointed to Christ at all. She only turned to God every time Jack turned down her advances again. I just wanted him to turn and run the other way.
I like that this title includes the word “improbable” because if I’d read this as a purely fictional story, I would never have believed it. I lost so much respect for an admired author in C.S. Lewis.
Ms. Callahan did do a great job writing this book. I think she delves deep into her characters’ thiughts and emotions. She paints vivid and beautiful pictures. My disappointment is not in her, but in the story she told—but I guess that’s how life really works, right?

First off I want to thank NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Publishers for making this ARC available to me. As I’ve been an admirer of Joy Davidman since I studied “Smoke on the Mountain” in the mid-50s and an admirer and avid reader of CS Lewis’s works, I’m always eager to know more about their lives.

Of course, this book is a fictionalized account of both Davidman and Lewis during the time period. It would seem to me that the author took great liberties with the lives and personalities of these two literary and Christian icons, especially with Davidman. She was as depicted as being bitter, angry, jealous, underhanded and demanding. Somehow I find that difficult to reconcile with the great love, affection and admiration written of her by Lewis. I also find that difficult to reconcile with the last few chapters when she is depicted as being a suffering saint.

The book was a real conundrum for me. I wanted to know more about her, but didn’t want the view I already had to be sullied. For example, I wanted to remember her as someone who admired Lewis and respected him not as someone looking for any opportunity to jump into his bed. According to this author, Davidman was “hot to trot” immediately upon arrival in England and couldn’t understand his reluctance to bed a married woman. Further according to Callahan, she had flings with various writers she had met in London, even those who were married, in response to Lewis’s sexual disinterest toward her.

There was a lot to be gleaned here and a lot to be questioned. I had to remind myself continually that it was a work of fiction.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I knew very little about Joy Davidson before reading this novel but I adore C.S Lewis's works. This book is an interesting look at Joy and her relationship with C.S Lewis.

Beautiful love story- but so much more! A story of a woman finding her voice and true love while searching for meaning in all that surrounds her.
I have read all CS Lewis’ works and knew nothing of this part of his life. Intriguing and captivating!
Not to be missed!

I really enjoyed this book. I'd never given much thought to C.S. Lewis' wife, but this book inspired me to read more about her. Callahan gave life to a character--her flaws and her strengths.
Great read!


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I was really intrigued by the historical nature of this book and reading a new story that I had not heard previously. Sadly, this story failed to keep my attention and I just could not finish the book. I really enjoying discover new stories and talent, but I enjoyed reading Mr. Carnegie's Maid a lot more than this book - I suppose the subject matter relating to libraries more is what drew my attention and kept it focused on that book. I also suppose I would rather about strong ladies, but not just because they were married to or in love with someone.