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.
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.
Praise for Once Upon a Wardrobe:
“I advise you to read this book, then wait for a while and then read it again, for while it may not be Narnia, there is magic in it.” —Douglas Gresham, C. S. Lewis’s stepson
“With a touch of fairy-tale magic, Once Upon a Wardrobe will take you behind the legend and deep into the English and Irish countryside, where you’ll encounter not only the inspirations for one of the 20th century’s most beloved works, but also a tale of heartache, hope, and discovery that will forever change the Narnia you thought you knew.” —Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author
- A marvelous blend of little-known true stories from C. S. Lewis’s life that Narnia fans will treasure
- Includes discussion questions for book clubs as well as a note from Douglas Gresham, C. S. Lewis’s stepson
- Also by New York Times bestselling author Patti Callahan: Becoming Mrs. Lewis and Surviving Savannah
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Sexual Content - 0/5
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Language - 0/5
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Drugs and Alcohol - 0/5
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Summary
From: Rebecca Maney
Book Title: Once Upon a Wardrobe
Book Author: Patti Callahan
What do you like about this book:
"Where did this land of the lion, a white witch, and fauns and beavers and castles come from?"
In other words, "Where did Narnia come from?". Posed from the lips of a young man with a weak heart, Megs Devonshire places herself in the periphery of the one person who can answer her younger brother's question . . . . . Clive Staples Lewis. After all, he wrote "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe". He must know, he just has to know, but will he tell her?
With a creative energy and a philosophical synergy, "Once Upon a Wardrobe" delves deep below the surface of one's imagination into that place where the magic resides. Employing a main character whose mind is soaked in logic, the author manages to pierce the outer membrane of arguably one of the most brilliant thinkers in recent history, who also happened to pen one of the most beloved fantasy series of all time.
Weaving in the details of C. S. Lewis' life, the novel skillfully uses the seasoned professor's conversations with Megs to gently guide her, and thus the reader, through the process of realizing that sometimes what is the most real is actually carefully tucked between the layers of the imagination, inferring that "Sometimes fairy tales may say best what needs to be said."
Fans of Narnia! Be prepared to be enchanted all over again, for "I think the lion follows all of us around. We just have to look for him. " I couldn't agree more!