Book Review on C. S. Lewis/Joy Davidman

C.S. Lewis; Through the Shadowlands

Having just finished Randy Alcorn’s book “If God be Good” and then this book on the suffering of Joy Davidman, C.S.Lewis’ wife, I have come away with a deeper appreciation for those who are blessed with that ability to write prolifically yet with humility.

Lewis wrote: “Lord of the narrow gate and the needle’s eye, Take from me all my trumpery lest I die.”  That is true humility. 

As a middle aged man and having never married, Lewis is  swept up into love from a divorcee he met through correspondence. In their short wedded life they moved each other to know the foibles and beauty of love that only God can bring.

Brian Sibley as the author of this book explains how Joy came to God. She wrote He was like her favorite creature–a cat. The cat creeps upon its prey and then pounces upon it when the prey least expects it. That is how Christ came to her and how she surrendered to His will. He fulfilled her longing for extraordinary love that she never found a Jewess, a Communist or a neglected wife. She earnestly needed God for the last journey from this life to the next and He did not disappoint.

Brian Sibley has researched Joy and C.S. Lewis’  lives and keeps the reader moving from one year to the next sharing how these two met and embraced Christ. As a prolific writer  Sibley shares excerpts from The Chronicles of Narnia and his other books to expertly show how Lewis faced life. Sometimes it was through the lives of Lucy and the other children and Aslan the Beloved Lion.

Lewis may have been a prolific writer but his books were not always received well. Case in point: The Chronicles of Narnia. However, when Lewis became a radio host others began to take note of his work. Now we have a fondness for Aslan and Lucy and the wardrobe. While Adults have trouble with the imagery, children flock to and understand Lewis’ way of presenting Christ through a lion named Aslan who gives his life as a sacrifice.