Book Review: Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan

Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this ebook, free of charge,from Harper Muse,  via #Netgalley, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about them. All opinions are my own. 

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.

Synopsis:

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.

Review:

This book is subtitled "A Story of Narnia and a Sister's Love", but it is SO much more than that! This is not a book to be rushed through- it is a book to savor and delight in. Callahan gives us a new look at our childhood favorite book and how Lewis' lifetime experiences created Narnia and more importantly how he came to see God in Aslan. Megs asls Lewis for a stright answer for her brother of how he made the book and Narnia, but instead he sends stories and ultimately shares his life and lessons learned. As Megs herself changes, as she allows her imagaine to fly, she sees the wonder that Lewis has sent thru her to George. George on the other hand knew what he was actually seeking, and catches on quicker than Megs, and leaves her witha chance to live her life differently than she planned. It's a book full of joy, even with George's impending death lingering over the story, and it's perfect for reading as a family too!

If you haven't read the author's excellent previous book, Becoming Mrs. Lewis, which dealt with the relationship betwen C.S. Lewis and Joy Davidham, you may want to read it after this one! It is obvious she truly did her research and appreciated all the nuances of the family dynamics, and this book also includes a note from Douglas Gresham, C. S. Lewis’s stepson, which brings it all together. having done my own research into C.S. Lewis and his life, I think she has done an amazing job at incorporating facts into a fictionalized story and making it seem like it really did happen!

About the Author:

Patti Callahan is the New York Times, USA TODAY, and Globe and Mail bestselling novelist of fifteen novels, including Becoming Mrs. Lewis and Surviving Savannah. A recipient of the Harper Lee Distinguished Writer of the Year, the Christy Book of the Year, and the Alabama Library Association Book of the Year, Patti is the cofounder and cohost of the popular web series and podcast Friends & Fiction. Follow her at www.patticallahanhenry.com.