My Rating: 4.4
Joy met C.S. Lewis through letters before eventually traveling to Europe to meet in person.
First - what I enjoyed. I enjoyed piecing together how C.S. Lewis went from writing the Narnia series to writing Christian apologetic books. I found the story of how Joy met C.S. Lewis and how their friendship flourished interesting. What I didn't enjoy was the characters - both Joy and her husband were very dysfunctional people. I found it very uncomfortable to read how a woman could leave her husband and her two children for so long and be astounded that her marriage had dissolved (not to mention the untold damage to her children). She should have stayed or divorced before she left. I found nothing in this book to be 'romantic' as the cover tries to convey. Joy felt very manipulative. The author's style was very laborious in trying to get us to feel for "poor Joy" and it only felt like she was having to excuse how poor Joy's choices were.
I agree! As presented in the novel, Joy was a terribly selfish person. She leaves her sons for months missing birthdays and Christmases. And begs for money from husband to support her. When she finally gets sons, she promptly puts them in boarding school which she allows CS to pay for. Takes money/ gifts from parents she hates and talks of badly. I found her to be a pretty dispicable person.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that I wasn't the only one! From what I understand, CS never wanted to marry her but did so out of pity/manipulation. I didn't find anyone very likable. Glad I wasn't alone!
DeleteI agree Joy was not a likable person. I also listened to the audio version and did not enjoy the narrator. In the end, I did enjoy the book and my enjoyment was most likely enhanced by the fact that the author virtually joined our book club and she discussed the process of writing this book and all of the research which included interviewing Joy’s son Douglas Gresham. She also did a podcast Behind the Scenes which I also enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteJeana
That would be so cool to have the author virtually attend your book club and to know about the research. Love it! ♥
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