My latest historical biography/novel is Patti Callahan Henry’s Once Upon a Wardrobe.
This is basically a biography of C.S. “Jack” Lewis, author of the Narnia books and so many more. He has always been a favorite author of mine so I’ve read both of Patti’s books about him (the other one is Becoming Mrs. Lewis, about his friendship/love with Joy Davidson). However, as with her first biography, there is so much more than dry facts.
In Once Upon a Wardrobe, we meet fictional characters Megs Devonshire and her little brother, George, who has a fatal heart condition and likely won’t live to see age eight. George has read The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, which was just released, and is anxious to know where Narnia and Aslan came from. Megs, a mathematics student at Oxford, vows to ask the author, who is a professor at the school, George’s questions and give her brother the answers he seeks. In the process, she learns about Jack’s life, his thoughts and dreams, and his beliefs.
This isn’t a carefree book about happy childhoods but Patti handles the story expertly, pulling us into Megs’ and George’s lives as they talk about Jack’s childhood and experiences. You should have a box of tissues handy, especially for the last chapter, but you’ll be glad you read the book at the end. Megs finds her own beliefs changing as she listens to Jack and his brother Warnie relate their story, and as she meets fellow student, the charismatic Irishman Padraig Cavender (who does not believe that math and physics explain the universe, as Megs initially does).
I give this book a very rare 5-star review, and you know how picky I am about that fifth star. You’ll cheer and weep as you read this story. If you have any interest in C.S. Lewis, or in spirituality, imagination, and religion, you should read this book.