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Becoming Mrs. Lewis
- The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis
- Narrated by: Lauren Woodward
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Historical Fiction
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Publisher's Summary
Now a USA TODAY and Publishers Weekly best seller! Meet the brilliant writer, fiercely independent mother, and passionate woman who captured the heart of C.S. Lewis and inspired the books that still enchant and change us today.
When poet and writer Joy Davidman began writing letters to C. S. Lewis - known as Jack - she was looking for spiritual answers, not love. Love, after all, wasn’t holding together her crumbling marriage. Everything about New Yorker Joy seemed ill-matched for an Oxford professor and the beloved writer of The Chronicles of Narnia, yet their minds bonded over their letters.
Embarking on the adventure of her life, Joy traveled from America to England and back again, facing heartbreak and poverty, discovering friendship and faith, and against all odds, found a love that even the threat of death couldn’t destroy.
In this masterful exploration of one of the greatest love stories of modern times, we meet a brilliant writer, a fiercely independent mother, and a passionate woman who changed the life of this respected author and inspired books that still enchant us and change us. Joy lived at a time when women weren’t meant to have a voice - and yet her love for Jack gave them both voices they didn’t know they had.
At once a fascinating historical novel and a glimpse into a writer’s life, Becoming Mrs. Lewis is above all a love story - a love of literature and ideas and a love between a husband and wife that, in the end, was not impossible at all.
Praise for Becoming Mrs. Lewis:
“Becoming Mrs. Lewis deftly explores the life and work of Joy Davidman, a bold and brilliant woman who is long overdue her time in the spotlight. Carefully researched. Beautifully written. Deeply romantic. Fiercely intelligent. It is both a meditation on marriage and a whopping grand adventure. Touching, tender, and triumphant, this is a love story for the ages.” (Ariel Lawhon, New York Times bestselling author of I Was Anastasia)
“Patti Callahan Henry breathes wondrous fresh life into one of the greatest literary love stories of all time.... The result is a deeply moving story about love and loss that is transformative and magical.” (Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Orphan’s Tale)
“It's novel. And it's a very good one...extraordinarily accurate...more accurate than most biographical essays that have been written about my mother.” (Douglas Gresham, son of Joy Davidman, wife of C.S. Lewis)
- Full-length historical novel about the wife of C.S. Lewis
What the critics say
“Patti Callahan Henry breathes wondrous fresh life into one of the greatest literary love stories of all time... The result is a deeply moving story about love and loss that is transformative and magical.” (Pam Jenoff, New York Times best-selling author of The Orphan’s Tale)
“I was swept along, filled with hope, and entirely beguiled, not only by the life lived behind the veil of C. S. Lewis’s books but also by the woman who won his heart. A literary treasure from first page to last.” (Lisa Wingate, New York Times best-selling author of Before We Were Yours)
“Profoundly evocative, revealing an intimate view of a woman whose love and story had never been fully told... until now... Becoming Mrs. Lewis is a tour de force and the must-read of the season!” (Mary Alice Monroe, New York Times best-selling author of Beach House Reunion)
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What listeners say about Becoming Mrs. Lewis
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Debbie Krueger
- 2020-02-21
Sadly....
This book was highly recommended by several friends who had read it. I have tried 3 different times to listen to it, but the reader was so irritating that I gave up each time, and am going to return it and get the print version.
3 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 2019-12-23
An unpleasant voice narration
I really did not like the narrators voice of Joy. I think it took away from the story and I could not get past.
3 people found this helpful
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- Rachel U.
- 2019-08-16
Becoming Mrs. Lewis
I chose this novel because I’m a fan of historical fiction and like what is included in the author’s note at the end of the book, I too feel it is very important to examine many of the women who are woefully neglected from larger stories and from the men who often overshadowed them. I enjoyed the story and learning more about Joy Davidman and her relationship with CS Lewis But was frustrated by the tone and style of the voice actor who read the book. I kept hoping that I would get used to her cadence and her speech but was often frustrated with words that were mispronounced and her tone. Even until the last chapter I was hoping for a different voice to complete the novel.
Overall though I would recommend this book.
3 people found this helpful
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- Veronica
- 2021-01-26
Such an interesting book!
It was difficult to really get into this book as I found the narrator annoying. But as I listened longer the story, and characters grew on me. Interesting facts I never knew!
2 people found this helpful
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- kemanuel
- 2020-04-14
terrible narrator
The story is ok, but the narrator is absolutely terrible. i suggest reading the book over he audio if the story is of interest. I was not able to get very far listening to this due to the narrator and ended up borrowing the book from the library. Don't bother wasting your money on this.
1 person found this helpful
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- Susan M.
- 2021-11-09
extraordinary writing
Superb writing which made the story and characters come alive. Narrator was very good for all American characters but unfortunately atrocious for any English accented dialogue which was very distracting. Would have been better not to even attempt the accent.
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- Kimberly G.
- 2020-07-24
Opens up even further my love if Lewisiana!
thank you Miss Callahan for this excellent and well-researched novel. You did push the boundaries on much of what I would have expected not only from Joy but also from Clive himself. Despite other comments here I actually thought the narration added wonderfully. Thank you for making this book and for making it available in audio.
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- GrannieSheels
- 2020-07-19
Beautiful love story!
After loving CS Lewis writings for so long, this book brought him alive to me. I loved Joy's journey to love!
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- Susan Thoma
- 2020-04-15
My heart and mind are bursting
...with inspiration, with the humbleness and awe of a love that many people only dream of. Thank you for these words, Mrs Lewis, Joy ... and Jack. And of course Patti Callahan
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- Joan Raugust
- 2019-10-18
Loved this book!
This was an amazing and well written book. Narration also excellent. I would definitely recommend.
1 person found this helpful
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- E.F.B.
- 2019-10-10
A painful but beautiful masterpiece
This isn't a book for when you're looking for a light, relaxing read. Joy's life was not an easy one and it could be difficult to read about her marriage, faith, and health struggles, all from her deep, extremely well-written, first person perspective. (Her perspective was written so well there were times I had to remind myself this wasn't an autobiography.) I tried to read it at my usual time (right before bed) but found it far too heavy for that time, so I ended up reading it during the daytime only, and eventually getting the audiobook so I could get through it faster. That's not to say I didn't like it and just wanted to get it over with. (If that was the case, I wouldn’t .) However, it was very emotionally heavy. While I don't mind the occasional emotional book, I don't read a lot of them and don't necessarily want to spend more time than possible reading something that makes me feel sad or frustrated, so ultimately, it was better for me, emotionally-speaking, to listen to it on audio simply so I could get through it faster.
I knew about Joy's health struggles from some C. S. Lewis biographies I read in school, and I knew she was married before she met and married Lewis. I did NOT know that her first husband (Bill) was an unfaithful, emotionally abusive, sociopath who, quite frankly, she had every right to divorce (in the eyes of man AND God) long before she did. While it was never extremely detailed, it could still be so anger-inducing to read of Bill's treatment of Joy and overall behavior and attitudes. He was a sick, self-absorbed, unrepentant individual.
Thankfully, though, the story is just as much about Joy's journey to Christian faith as it is about her life (and her friendship and eventual romance with C. S. Lewis), which provided a golden thread of hope for her and the reader to cling to even during the hard times. The author handled this faith thread masterfully, showing how the the "Great Lion" pursued Joy throughout her life, and how all Joy's longings and struggles were leading her to deeper knowledge of and relationship with God. I truly cried my way through the final chapters. They were painful, but they were beautiful.
The thing I struggled with was certain elements of the romance. On one hand, I felt the author handled difficult topics tastefully. Sexual struggles were a large part of Joy's life and the author generally (with maybe a few exceptions, depending on your personal convictions about sexual content) kept the balance between saying yes, she did this thing, but not describing the acts or approving of them. On the other hand, it could sometimes be awkweird (that's totally a word) to read of some of Joy's sexual attraction for Jack. It's one thing to know in a distant sort of way that C. S. Lewis was married and therefore did married things. It's another to be in the perspective of the woman who was attracted to him and read of her physical longings to be with him. As the reader I'm over here feeling like, "Mom, Dad, that’s gross! *covers eyes*" Lewis was a man I respect on an intellectual and spiritual level and that was just... awkweird... to read of someone seeing him in a more sexual light. Again, this was handled in a way that was not excessively detailed, and I appreciated how the author showed Joy struggling with these longings, not just giving in to them, and even coming to a place where she realized that sex alone was not going to satisfy the underlying need for relationship and love that she had. In fact, even marriage, though it can satisfy in an earthly way, could not fully satisfy that need, because what she and all of us truly long for is to be completely known, accepted, and loved in spite of our many, many flaws, and the only one who can ever truly know us, accept us, and love us to that depth is God. Still, I can't deny the uncomfortable feelings of being asked to see Lewis in that more sexual light.
When it comes down to it, I feel this book deserves 5 stars despite any discomfort. This difficult story about a very human woman could not have been easy to write, yet the author did it with such incredible grace and skill, both on the technical side and on the spiritual side. She displayed the ugly parts of Joy's story without wallowing in them, reveled in the beautiful parts, and time and time again, she turned it all to point to God. The end result is nothing less than a masterpiece that made me think, moved me deeply, and was one of the best impulse buys I've ever made.
38 people found this helpful
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- cmo
- 2018-11-22
Narrator really got in the way.
I spent most of the time I listened to this book trying to improve the narration in my mind so I could enjoy it. How was this narrator chosen? She doesn’t bring an accent/voice that is appropriate for either Joy or Jack.
Apart from that huge issue, the book is worth reading. The characters are interesting for their strengths and weaknesses, remarkable for their body of work and intriguing for their developing worldview, careers and friendships.
34 people found this helpful
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- Proud Palisadian
- 2018-10-30
A Wonderful Exploration of CS Lewis's Muse
This book is a work of fiction. However, in this case, what it means is that Patti Callahan has done extensive research into the life of Joy Davidman Lewis, her relationship with CS Lewis and his brother Warnie, and her writing. It's fiction, because Callahan fills in the details that tie her research together. It is wonderfully written, and the use of quotes from Joy's sonnets and other writings makes for a truly magical experience.
16 people found this helpful
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- Mackenzie
- 2018-12-09
Awful narrator
I wish I had just bought it in paperback, because this narrator was one of the worst I have ever listened to. My love of Lewis is about the only thing that made me endure her, even with such a great story! She makes Joy a whiny American, and Jack a pretentious snob. I would recommend the book but not on audio.
32 people found this helpful
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- Jeffrey H. Hagen
- 2019-09-19
Buy the Book
I don't like to give a poor review, but feel I must. The story is an interesting one, but the narration is TERRIBLE. The narrator mispronounced many words and names and her inflections, where she used any, were often placed on the wrong words. The voice she used for Joy was whiney and I didn't care for her British (nor Russian) accent. She went in and out of the these accents and her male voices sounded like children play acting. I would recommend the book, but definitely not the audio version.
12 people found this helpful
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- eigram
- 2018-10-29
I have to agree - author is buried with narration
very religious which might not make it for me anyway but the narration is slow and plodding. I kept trying - but couldn't get through it.
10 people found this helpful
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- Christine
- 2018-10-16
Mixed Feelings
Loved the storyline which I was already familiar with. I felt the narrator was a novice and did a mediocre job "reading" the story. The story tended to be a bit saccharine and I found it hard to believe that Joy pined away for Jack in such an adolescent school-girl crush kind of way. She was a highly intelligent and brilliant woman in her own right! The story is heartbreaking and it is infuriating that the doctors she saw over the years were do dismissive about her various and chronic ailments which were so valid, one way or the other!
8 people found this helpful
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- Karen S
- 2018-10-11
Narrator is TERRIBLE
The Narrator for this book is awful. Her general reading sounds like bad acting and her accents are unbearable. I am shocked to see she has narrated other books. I love the story so far, but I just can't take the narrator anymore and must return it and get a hardcopy to finish it.
53 people found this helpful
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- J. Webb
- 2018-10-21
Loved it!
Beautifully written and well read. I loved every minute of my listen... Patti gave us a glimpse into the lives of an interesting woman and an icon of a man... It is always fun to be able to research real characters in a novel... I'll admit that I didn't know much about C.S. Lewis as a person and loved getting to know them both through this novel. Well done, Patti!
4 people found this helpful
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- Terri Smith
- 2018-10-26
Beautiful Story
I have not read work of CS Lewis, only seen the movies. I have, read and heard quotes of his words over the years in many talks and online. This book has started a fire to learn and read both his and Joy’s words. And although this is a novel, I believe it captured their story a best it could. Very well written and narrated.
3 people found this helpful