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Once Upon a Wardrobe
Fans of The Chronicles of Narnia and Becoming Mrs. Lewis, take note: Patti's new book tells the story behind the story of Narnia. In alternating timelines, we meet a young Jack Lewis, whose life was largely emptied of love after his mother died. And we meet another 8-year-old boy, chronically ill and fated to die young, whose greatest joy might come from a book: the recently published novel The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Despite the sorrow inherent to the premise, the book is full of joy: I don't use the word "charming" a lot, but it certainly applies here.
About the Book
When college student Megs approaches author C. S. Lewis with her younger brother’s request to find out if Narnia is real, he instead takes her on a magical journey through the moments in his life that led to his greatest creation.
Megs Devonshire, on a scholarship at Oxford, is brilliant with numbers and equations. She prefers the dependability of facts—except for one: the brother she loves with all her heart doesn’t have long to live. When George becomes captivated by a brand-new book called The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and begs her to find out where Narnia came from, there’s no way she can refuse.
Despite her timidity about approaching the famous author, who is a professor at her school, Megs soon finds herself taking tea with the Oxford don and his own brother, begging them for answers. What she receives instead are stories . . . little-known tales from different periods in Mr. Lewis’s life, which she takes home to George.
Why won’t Mr. Lewis just tell her plainly what George wants to know? The answer will reveal to Meg many truths that science and math cannot, and the gift she thought she was giving to her brother—the story behind Narnia—turns out to be his gift to her, instead: hope.
Praise for Once Upon a Wardrobe:
“I advise you to read this book, then wait for a while and then read it again, for while it may not be Narnia, there is magic in it.” —Douglas Gresham, C. S. Lewis’s stepson
“With a touch of fairy-tale magic, Once Upon a Wardrobe will take you behind the legend and deep into the English and Irish countryside, where you’ll encounter not only the inspirations for one of the 20th century’s most beloved works, but also a tale of heartache, hope, and discovery that will forever change the Narnia you thought you knew.” —Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author
- A marvelous blend of little-known true stories from C. S. Lewis’s life that Narnia fans will treasure
- Includes discussion questions for book clubs as well as a note from Douglas Gresham, C. S. Lewis’s stepson
- Also by New York Times bestselling author Patti Callahan: Becoming Mrs. Lewis and Surviving Savannah
Other books in "Quick Lit November 2021"
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