Book Title Becoming Mrs. Lewis
Book Author Patti Callahan
Pub. Year 2018
Genre Historical Fiction
My Rating 5 Stars
Ease of Read Easy, beautiful read
ISBN 978090785224501
I was attracted to this book because I’ve always been intrigued by the story of Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis. I learned of this book at the C.S. Lewis retreat where I had the pleasure of hearing author, Patti Callahan, speak. The writing and philosophy of Joy Davidman is inspiring. The words of Patti Callahan are beautiful, including paragraphs which took my breath away.
This book is about the journey of Joy Davidman ‘becoming’ not only the wife of C. S. ‘Jack’ Lewis, but of ‘becoming’ her true self as a child of God. I knew the timeline of most of their story, but there was much of the story I had not understood before this book. t had accepted it on faith. This book brought these areas toile and completion.
It is the story of a woman who had great academic accomplishments, and yet never found recognition for her work or for her personal life. The one man who realized her true value, first through her letter writing, was an ocean and a universe away.
Both Joy and Jack had to overcome personal circumstances, issues with friends, church, and most importantly how their relationship fit within God’s will for their lives. These struggles never detracted from their ability to collaborate and influence each other’s work.
Love is rewarding and heartbreaking.
Things I liked about this book - I enjoyed Patti’a approach of using historical fiction to tell this story. She combined Joy’s writing, the available research on their lives, and her liberty of being able to tell a beautiful, inspiring and heartfelt story. Coming to appreciate the depth and beauty of Joy Davidman’s writing was an added bonus for me.
Why you should read this book - to be inspired to stay focused on what you believe is your life’s goal, to continue the striving for meaning and to seek for a close relationship to our Father and Savior.
If you are a writer, this story will inspire and encourage you to continue your journey. And it is a powerful reminder, even the greatest among us needed someone to trust with their words, struggles, imagination and yes, even a partner for Scrabble.
This book lived up to the back cover copy This book is an incredible read. For those of us who admire and crave anything about C.S.Lewis. it is a must read. For everyone else, it is a moment in time to realize peace with God and love is obtainable in this world of chaos where we reside.
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