Patti Callahan's story of the life of Joy Davidman and how she came to correspond, then meet, fall in love and eventually marry C. S. Lewis is beautifully written and knowing nothing about the lives of these two authors before I found it riveting. The story is told in the words and feelings of Joy who is a complex lady struggling to find who she really is and how to be happy within herself.

A great read for anybody, you definitely don't have to be C.S. Lewis or Joy Davidman fan as it is almost the perfect love story with heartbreak, happiness, passion running throughout.

When Joy Gresham first decides to write to C S Lewis - little did she realise the impact he would have on her and change her life. Over the coming years they would write and discuss/debate life, writing, poetry, and God. She quickly realises how wrong and unfulfilled her life with Bob is.
After several visits to Oxford and their friendship blossoming does Joy realise where her true feelings lie - but to have the dashed when Jack (to his friends) pushes her away.
When he finally realises and acknowledges his true feelings for her - Joy's health has taken a turn for the worst and the learn to make the most of the short time they will have together.

The heartwarming story of how these two meet, fall in love but deny the feelings until its almost too late. Some of Joy's thoughts and descriptions of feelings and desires can be a bit repetitive but still a great book

Joy's story written in the first person was a compelling read. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to my friends.

I really enjoyed reading this fictionalised version of the romance between CS Lewis and Joy Davidman. I really hope that they were really like Callahan presents them in this novel as I liked them very much as characters. It read like an autobiography - and a very good one at that. As with all books of this type, I think I am always going to be a bit confused over where the fact ends and the fiction begins but it was a joy to read.

there is a lot of good in this book It reveals a story that i had never heard of about people (most particularly CS Lewis) that i had and so brought a period of history to life. However for some reason I didn't much like the to be Mrs Lewis and overall it frustrated with its repetitiveness. There are some beautiful lines of narrative and I never wanted to put it down completely but for me it did not work as a whole.

This was a wonderful story giving an interpretation of how Joy Davidson and C. S. Lewis met, fell in love and married. It was no way a traditional love story and I could not help but feel sorry for the life that Joy had in America and how she gradually realised that she loved the author she so admired. Joy was a wonderful person who always seemed to be trying so hard to please everyone and yet not letting others see her needs. To think of a Jew, becoming a communist, an atheist and eventually finding Christianity was just one side to Joy but it was the special link to C. S. Lewis, (Jack to friends) that is the essence of this story.
The descriptions throughout, whether people, emotions or scenery were so real and I felt for Joy throughout. Her medical issues not being resolved in a timely manner and just being ignored made me want to cry, she died so early through poor medical care on both sides of the Atlantic.
Reading this has made me do some research on both Joy and Jack and the constant references to Narnia series has made me want to reread them all again.
A beautiful story with a sad ending.

Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan.

This book took me by surprise. I enjoyed reading the real life love story of C.S.Lewis and his wife Joy. For me I did not like the heavy focus on the spiritual and philosophical side of things. I wanted the book to be more up beat rather than melancholy. I would definitely read another book by Patti. I could not fault her writing or her characters it was just not for me. Glad i gave it a go though.

This book is so beautifully written that it broke my heart. It tells the true love story of Joy Davidman and CS Lewis, from how they first became acquainted as pen pals, through the struggles of Davidman’s first marriage and then their growing attachment after she made the move from America to England.

Told from the perspective of Joy, who comes across as a truly lovable and strong willed woman who isn’t prepared to compromise when it comes to being a mother to her children, an independent woman and a published author and poet, during a time when it was still rare for married women to be anything more than housewives. Her determination to be who she wanted to be was awe inspiring and it’s easy to see why anyone would fall in love with her, even if she was quick to butt heads over theological points.

Obviously, it’s impossible to know how much artistic license has been taken in the writing of this story, but the bare facts of their relationship which is easily verified with a quick google search are both beautiful and tragic. By all accounts, they really did love each other deeply and for two people not known for their compromising abilities, moved heaven and earth so that they could be together.

The book reads like the innermost thoughts of Joy, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows and covers a lot of the pain, disappointments and betrayals that she faced. I’m glad that she got the chance to shine in this book as she was a published author and poet in her own right but is mostly famous for being married to the author of the Chronicles of Narnia. Each chapter starts with an appropriate line from one of the sonnets she wrote during her acquaintance with Lewis, which is a nice introduction to her own work and has made me desperately want to read those poems in full.
I can’t recommend this book enough to historical fiction fans and romance readers, it’s an exquisitely written book and made my heart happy to read it.

*I received a copy of this title via NetGalley. All opinions are my own*

One of the most beautiful books I have read in a long time.
It gently tells the story of how Joy Davidman and C S Lewis relationship developed from friendship to love and marriage.
The reverent way that the unfolding relationship is described in the book is so special that it almost makes the reader feel that they are intruding.
It mixes the imotions across the complete gammet from ecstasy to sadness.

I loved this fictional story about C.S. Lewis and Joy Davidman.
It tells the story of Joy,an American lady who started writing to C.S. Lewis.
She is married but has an abusive husband who is an alcoholic. She has 2 children and eventually comes over to England to meet C.S. Lewis.
The book has some of Joy's poems and a fictional account of their letters.
They do eventually fall in love and marry when Joy is seriously ill. Very interesting book about C.S. Lewis,his life and faith. Highly recommended. Thanks Netgalley for an Arc.

Knowing Joy Davidson's story vaguely as she became wife to C.S. lewis very near end of her life , it is enjoyable to read what appears to be well researched close up of their meeting and love affair in contrast to film version some years ago, for one thing. The solid founding in Christianity of their relationship is a revelation for me, and while it's difficult for me to connect with what must have been profound for them both, I know visions and revelations for deeply religious people especially in troubled times of their lives are real enough. It's movingly told, with great drive forward .. very impressive.

This is a fascinating exploration of the life of Joy Davidman telling the tale of her friendship with C S Lewis which ultimately turned into love. It is profoundly evocative and deeply moving. I would not ordinarily choose to read anything biographical but this is more of a novel than a technical biography and as such is a riveting account. Patti Callahan weaves a brilliant, hypnotic, historical fictional narrative. Highly recommended.

I was gripped from the start. I travelled with Joy Davidman through all the ups and downs of her life and wished I too had been her friend.

The writing has a lovely rhythm to it and is easy to read. If you have to put it down you’ll remember where you were in the story as you will have been wondering what Joy, Jack or Warnie have been up to in your absence.

This book has inspired me to read some more of Lewis’s works and also to delve into the writings of Joy Davidman. I would thoroughly recommend this book.

Overall it is a nice and interesting story about how Joy Davidson meets and marries CS Lewis. However, it is somewhat ponderous with extended literary, theological, and deep emotional meanderings. If you like poetry and have an interest in These tangents, then you will probably love it, however, if you just want a nice holiday read, then you may find it heavy going.

Becoming Mrs Lewis by Patti Callahan
When I began reading this book I knew about the Christian beliefs of CS Lewis and had read all of the Narnia series as a child but I have to admit I had never even heard of Joy Davidman and knew nothing about her. I was intrigued by the story of what caused a Jewish American woman to become so obsessed by her “pen pal” that she would end up leaving her husband to move to Oxford to be with him. Reading about how she was able to take on the role of his co-writer and his inspiration was fascinating.
The book is well written and incredibly well researched. The action takes moves from 1940’s America to 1960’s England and tells of a life filled with loneliness and abuse transformed by meeting a soul mate and finding romance through spiritual discussions.

My understanding of the book would probably have been improved if I had read some of Joy Davidman’s work before embarking on this novel.
Many thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

I loved this book because it's a new slant on a story I thought I knew.
Sometimes love is slow to bloom. Great read though a tad sad.
Enjoyed it

What a beautiful story. I like the fact that this book is fiction based on a true story. Beautiful and poignant. This story is beautifully depicted in this book. Well worth a read.

What a beautiful and nostalgic read - a familiar story retold from a great perspective, this book draws you in to the story really well,, and the nostalgic descriptions of London and Oxford are heartwarming. Altogether a really enjoyable read that hits you right in the heart and makes you care for all the characters.

I arrived home in London from overseas, jetlagged. In the foggy moments of coming back to myself, what better than to pick up a book and read? The novel I chose was Becoming Mrs. Lewis, and I was wary at first, for it’s fiction based on real-life people. Although I’m not an expert on Joy Davidman and CS Lewis, I’ve read some books by and about them, so I wondered how this novelization would fare. On the whole, with a few provisos, very well. Writing from the point of view of Joy, the author brings alive the story of Jack (his name to those close to him) and Joy. She successfully gives voice to a woman who became increasingly important to Lewis in his own thinking and writing – and personal life.

The story begins briefly in Joy’s childhood before moving to her troubled first marriage to Bill, a fellow writer who became a jealous – and philandering – husband. Seeking to understand a spiritual experience, Joy writes to Lewis, and soon they correspond regularly. When Joy’s health starts to fail, and the doctors order her to rest, she travels alone, without her children, to England from New York for more than six months. (Not something many mothers today would countenance.) For many, the story is so familiar, but to avoid spoilers I’ll leave it there – although by the mere title you’ll figure out what happens!

What I appreciated about the novel was feeling like I there with Joy, experiencing her relationship with Lewis and his brother Warnie and all of the wonder (and sometimes pain) of life in literary England. I liked the fleshing out of Joy’s life before Lewis. And I pondered the emphasis on Joy and Jack’s moral choices, such as when Jack said to Joy, when explaining why he wouldn’t pursue a relationship with a divorcee: “I’ve spent all of my life in an attempt to find Truth and moral good, and then to live it. I can’t discard my moral habits for feelings, which are just that—feelings.” (In contrast, how many today use feelings as their moral compass?)

But I found a few things jarring, even in the later British edition of this novel written by an American. For instance, I can’t imagine an Oxford don, George Sayer, saying in polite conversation, “You obviously haven’t yet seen the bloody English fog.” (Followed by him saying “jolly fine” in the following sentence.) Or of Joy and Jack and the boys eating “clotted cream and biscuits,” by which I’m guessing the author meant scones with cream (and jam).

If you can overlook those small errors in translation, however, and stretch your imagination, Becoming Mrs. Lewis is an engaging read of what could have happened between two interesting and influential people.

My thanks to Harper Inspire for an eARC via NetGalley of Patti Callahan’s ‘Becoming Mrs. Lewis’ in exchange for an honest review.

The subtitle of this book, ‘The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidson and C.S. Lewis’, pretty much sums it up. Callahan has written this as a fictional autobiography, which I would expect was quite a difficult task even with plenty of source material such as the unpublished papers and letters that Callahan consulted.

Still telling a fictionalised account in the first person didn’t quite sit right with me. It felt too intimate. I think that I would be have been even more uncomfortable if not for Callahan mentioning that she had contact withJoy Davidson’s son. My ARC didn’t contain the Author’s Note, which might have given me a greater perspective on her approach to her research.

It’s clear though that the relationship between C.S. Lewis and Joy Davidson grew very organically and the text includes extracts from letters. Many of these early ones were about their shared Christian faith and questioning about the nature of God. While I could appreciate these abstractly not being Christian myself meant they lacked the relevance I would expect they will have for readers that share their faith.

The text is sprinkled with Joy’s poetry and the frustration she feels in her first marriage to a man, who once celebrated her individuality and now wants her to be a submissive housewife. He is also an alcoholic. Then she moves to England and her friendship with Lewis slowly changes from platonic to much more.

On a number of occasions I had to remind myself that this wasn’t Joy’s autobiography but a historical romance. That made me feel rather ambivalent as to the degree Joy and the relationship was filtered through Callahan’s admiration.

Overall, even though not quite my cup of tea, I appreciated that it was well written and infused with Callahan’s admiration for her subjects. (Clearly though she’s not a fan of Tolkien). I also hadn’t been aware of how much Joy had contributed to ‘Till We Haves Faces’, one of my favourite novels.