Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan

Becoming Mrs. Lewis

by

Patti Callahan

"I know the thing I want is exactly the thing I can never get.  the old life, the jokes, the drinks, the arguments, the lovemaking, the tiny heartbreaking commonplace."

~ C.S. Lewis 

after the death of his wife 

"A Grief Observed" 

  Last month this novel was released.  I had requested it at the State Library Of Ohio digital and ebook area and was the first to get it.  But two thirds of my way through it became due and I was suddenly number 65 on a hold list.  I checked in my local library's digital book area and was able to immediately down load it again.  I was enjoying the book but it was not one that I could not put down and just had to buy because it had expired and I couldn't immediately check it back out where I had checked it out from.  It is a well written novel and very interesting  but love stories are not my genre. Also it delves into the characters religious faiths and how their faith grew which is not a type of book I would normally select.   And although it has the churchy parts of it the book is also a bit earthy in its description of longing for sexual encounter and some of the past choices that both main characters had made while youth.  So it is a book I would be selective of who I recommended it to.  Nevertheless,  I enjoyed the book and am very glad to see a woman get recognized for her contributions to a body of work that a man has previously been given the entire credit.   I am glad I read it.  I know I read some of C.S. Lewis's books a long time ago but I really don't remember them.  For the C.S. Lewis fan who doesn't not get pink in the cheeks easily this book is for you.   It is the love story of the woman he married.  She was married when their friendship began.  They were pen pals from different countries and developed an emotional bond.  While they did not step over the line physically,  in fact I had begun to believe sex for them was never going to happen,  they did cross the line emotionally and she turned to C.S. Lewis and away from her husband.  Her husband was abusive and she was miserable.  The book is not biographical but instead is historical fiction.  It is a worth while read and the right reader will really love the book.  Please click on the title and the author's name for more information and enjoy the wonderful video that follows.