By Kelly Bridgewater
From Patti Callahan, the bestselling author of
Becoming Mrs. Lewis, comes another enchanting story that pulls back the curtain
on the early life of C. S. Lewis.
“Where did Narnia come from?”
The answer will change everything.
Megs Devonshire is brilliant with numbers and
equations, on a scholarship at Oxford, and dreams of solving the greatest
mysteries of physics.
She prefers the dependability of facts—except for
one: the younger 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, Megs soon finds herself taking tea with the Oxford don and his own
brother, imploring them for answers. What she receives instead are more stories
. . . stories of Jack 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.
My
Thoughts:
I am a huge fan of C. S. Lewis. I love reading his
biographies and learning about his creative process. I love learning about how
important imagination is to him. It is important to me too, so I really love
reading about his life. I have read so many books by him and about him. I wrote
three essays in college using his stories, letters, biographies, and autobiographies
to craft these essays. I read Becoming
Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan, and I loved learning more about Joy Davidman,
so I could not wait to read this next novel that dives into Lewis’ world again.
The cover to this novel draws me in, and I really could not wait to dive into
this story. Being familiar with many of Lewis’s biographies, I really knew what
the story was going to be about. The story is basically a split-time novel. We
have the present day story where Meg is visiting Lewis and his brother, Warnie,
then flipping back to telling the past stories to George. While the writing was
good, I felt like I was in England, which I have never been, and enjoyed that
the story takes place during the winter in England. As an avid reader of Lewis’
life, I knew pretty much all of the stories that Meg told George. Nothing new
there. Not that I did not mind this. It might be a great way to introduce new
readers to Lewis life. Another thing that bothered me was that Callahan really
did not explain the real answer to the change in Meg and George’s life at the
end of the story. It was hinted out, but never told out right what it was.
Also, the last chapter was very confusing. I did not really know whose
perspective the chapter was in. Overall Once
Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan is a good introduction to fans of Lewis’ Narnia
series but really not much else about his life. I think a physical copy is
still needed in my library.
I received a complimentary copy of Once upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan from
Harper Muse Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.
My
Rating: 4
out of 5 stars
Purchase Once upon a Wardrobe
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