The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis, written by Patti Callahan
Like many, I’ve read several books by C.S. Lewis over the years and vaguely remembered he had been a confirmed bachelor but married later in his life. I was intrigued by the book’s title and wondered how Joy Davidman Gresham became the wife of C.S. Lewis.
The book is historical fiction, but Patti Callahan used careful research of the writings and letters of Davidman and Lewis to fill in the gaps of how their relationship developed over several years.
It’s an improbable love story but one well worth reading. Improbable because Joy, who was a prominent writer herself and was married to another writer, Bill (William) Lindsey Gresham, lived in New York, a world away from Lewis in Oxford, England.
It’s written in the first person through Joy’s eyes, giving the reader great insight into how this very unlikely relationship came to be.
Her marriage was crumbling as she dealt with her husband’s alcoholism while raising their two young sons, David and Doug. She was an atheist until, in a moment of deep despair, she turned to God, which led to her conversion to Christianity. In her search for spiritual answers, she discovered C.S. Lewis’s memoir of his own faith journey and other writings.
She wrote Lewis for help in answering her questions about her newfound faith, and they exchanged letters for three years before she actually met him. What began as pen pals across two continents became much more than that.
It’s well documented that Lewis maintained correspondence with hundreds of individuals who wrote to him throughout his career. But it’s clear that Joy & Jack (Lewis’s nickname) developed an especially close relationship through their letters.
The book is divided into four parts, with part two opening in England when Joy decides to leave her family back in New York for an extended trip to work on a book and eventually meet Lewis in person. Her marriage is failing due to her husband’s repeated infidelity, alcoholism, and depression. When she finally meets Jack in person and his brother Warnie, their relationship quickly solidifies into a deep friendship.
The author does a great job of showing how they become intellectual soulmates who sharpen each other’s wit and intelligence through their shared interests in reading and writing.
Callahan begins each chapter with a selection of Joy’s sonnets indicative of her growing love for Jack. After reading this book, I was inspired to read one of the volumes of Lewis’s collected letters written during the 1950s that coincided with their relationship.
Part three of the book is about her return to her family in upstate New York, only to find her husband romantically entangled with her cousin Renee. She is convinced she must leave the United States and begin a new life in England with her two sons. With little money, she leaves Bill and finds lodging in London.
Part four tells how miraculous their journey was. If you don’t know the details of their most unusual love story, I won’t give it away.
Read this well-written book for yourself to see how their love story concludes. The final chapters left me in tears for both the joy and suffering they endured in a beautiful portrayal of such an intimate relationship.
