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A review by theenchantedlibrary
Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan Henry, Patti Callahan Henry
3.0
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.
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.