I’ve read only three titles of the Narnia series, and only two of C.S. Lewis’s non-fiction books. I watched Shadowlands once and didn’t really enjoy it. I never visited Oxford, despite living in Britain for 22 years. What do I know about the former Atheist turned Christian? How much would I need to know in order to enjoy Becoming Mrs. Lewis?
It turns out that the answer to both questions is “not much.” This was a book I had difficulty in putting down. I loved the flow of it. It’s written in the first person, from Joy’s perspective, starting with the moment she found herself on her knees and praying to a God she thought she hadn’t believed in. While it doesn’t cover the minutia of her life, the narrative does focus on pivotal moments over a period of some 14 years until her death in 1960. There are portions of letters, but these passages are mostly from Patti Callahan’s imagination. She took what she could from known writings by Jack and Joy, and filled in the gaps. Despite that, however, I heard Douglas Gresham – Joy’s son – say in an interview that it’s “extraordinarily accurate in many ways.” (And I wish I’d made note of what interview it was!)
Each of the main characters, Joy, Jack, and her first husband Bill Gresham, created different feelings in me. This Joy is far from perfect. She does things that many Christians won’t do, such as having intimate relations with men outside of marriage, and drinking. Nothing is graphic. But it reminds us that Christianity is about growth. Most of us don’t change the moment we become Christians. Instead, we develop and mature spiritually in a gradual process. I love the portrayal of Jack. I could imagine him with his booming and oh-so-proper English accent. It encouraged me to look up a rare recording of him. In sharp contrast, Bill Gresham doesn’t come across as a swell guy. I can only wonder what he was really like. What does Douglas Gresham make of this version of his father? Is it as accurate as the rest of the book?
The final chapters deal with Joy’s illness and are probably the most profound. This is the time when Jack realized he was in love with Joy, not just that he loved her as a sibling or friend. The last pages of Becoming Mrs. Lewis are comprised of an epilogue, written in Joy’s voice beyond death. The first time I read it, I was reduced to an emotional wreck. I’ve read it three times now, and it still brings me to tears. This passage is a perfect finish to an amazing love story: their love of God, for each other, and for words. It is utterly beautiful.
Thank you to Thomas Nelson and Fiction Guild for my complimentary copy of Becoming Mrs. Lewis.
Product Details
Publisher: Thomas Nelson (a division of HarperCollins Christian)
Publication Date: 02 October 2018
(note: this review is being cross-posted to my Christian fiction review blog, Proverbial Reads)
McCombs on Main 