[amazon_link id=”0151013713″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]
Joy: Poet, Seeker and the Woman who Captivated C.S. Lewis
By, Abigail Santamaria

I read a short review on this book in the World Magazine which made this book sound very interesting. Also I’ve heard the saying “Behind every great man there is an even greater woman.” With that thought in mind I’ve often wondered much about CS. Lewis’s wife.

Most people know C.S. Lewis as the author of the [amazon_link id=”0064471195″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Narnia Series[/amazon_link] which is an all time favorite in this home and we listen to the dramatized version and read the books, over and over. We can’t get enough of them and always find more the we had previously missed.

Not only did he author those fantastic novels, but he also wrote more than 10 other works including [amazon_link id=”0060652934″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Srewtape Letters[/amazon_link], [amazon_link id=”0156870118″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Surprised by Joy[/amazon_link] (his memoir),[amazon_link id=”1451664826″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ] The Space Trilogy[/amazon_link] and [amazon_link id=”0156329301″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Four Loves[/amazon_link]. Who is this woman he married?…

NOT who I expected. Her brief background is Jew turned Communist, then converted to Christianity from atheism.. She was a poet and a writer, a mother of two boys with William Gresham and was still married to him when she met C.S. Lewis.  She was brash, strong, opinionated, and a true artist.

I can’t say I loved the book, but I slogged my way through because I really wanted to know more about this woman called Joy Davidman Gresham turned Lewis. The writing style I didn’t enjoy and there was a lot of her poetry and abstract writing included throughout the book.

I do love to read, but I’m not a literature lover! I want the story, but the abstract I don’t understand. I pushed my way through and was so glad I did. The woman he married is not at all what I would have expected and most of his friends felt the same. She was a strong willed and outspoken woman without much grace.

But after her diagnosis of terminal cancer she grew significantly in her faith, in her love to Lewis and in joy now matter what life brought. I didn’t respect her much at all until the very end of the book.

I’m quite glad I finished this one and soon I’d like to read, [amazon_link id=”0156870118″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Surprised by Joy [/amazon_link]by C.S. Lewis. His memoir, which was written prior to meeting his wife Joy.

If you’ve read either of these books, I’d love to know what you think!!!