C.S. Lewis Through the Shadowlands

A very interesting and insightful book into the life of C.S. Lewis and how he came to write the books he did. He was a close friend of Tolkien - something I was not aware of. An almost tragic life: mother dying and father pretty much ignoring his sons, taking responsibility for a friend's mother when he dies in the war (and she very much controlling his life and making it difficult for him), his struggle with his beliefs, a confirmed bachelor until he met Joy Davidman and fell in love and their very short and bittersweet time together. I will happily recommend this book to anyone who enjoys biographies and kudos to Brian Sibley for putting this together so well.

The story of CS Lewis, and Joy Davidman whom he met and married late in life. Well-researched - although re-reading, I found the early section about CS Lewis a little dull since I had read about his life so many times - but the brief biography of Joy Davidman and the story of their unexpected romance was moving. The opening chapter tells of Joy's funeral; she was very ill when they married, and their time together was brief but very special. I expected to spend a week or two reading this, but found it hard to put down once I'd reached the section about Joy. Recommended to anyone interested in either of these fascinating people.

This started out very slow and pedantic like. I almost put it down, but when it changed from Lewis' philosophical ideas and an in depth look at his books into his relationship with Joy Davidman, an American divorced woman, the love story was captivating.

I've been a fan of C.S Lewis for about two years but I've never really known much about his life and this book was enourmously helpful in filling me in on the events but there was very little feeling of involvment in the story, I guess this is the case with a lot of biographies as they're written from an outsider perspective. Which is why I think surprised by joy or one of the other biographies maybe more worthwhile, I think if someone's life story can't be written by themself then someone close to the person should write it.

Though I did enjoy discovering many of C.S Lewis' influences which I will now seek to read myself and the other main delight of the book was discovering Joy Davidman but again the book feels like it only scratches show more the surface of events and I feel like I want to go deeper. show less

C.S. Lewis published his autobiography, "Surprised by Joy," about his journey from atheism to Christianity, about five years before he met Joy Davidman, a fan of his novels who shortly after their meeting became his wife. This is a beautiful and heartbreaking story.

"At first glance, they were an unlikely couple: C.S. Lewis, the eminent Christian author and distinguished Oxford scholar, and Joy, a Jewish-American divorcee, mother of two, and former Communist Party member. But together they walked through the shadowlands of this life, where their faith was tested in the crucible of struggle and suffering." from the book cover

The story of his life with Joy Davidman