PWJ: S2E4 – AA – Patti Callahan

Our episode today is rather special. I sat down with New York Times best selling author, Patti Callahan, to discuss her recent book, Becoming Mrs. Lewis, which recounts the Improbable love story between Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis.

I was going to try and trim the episode down, but in the end it was so enjoyable I thought I simply had to post the whole thing!

S2E4: “After hours” with Patti Callahan (Download)

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Show Notes

•  The quote-of-the-week came, not from Lewis, but from his wife:

“If we should ever grow brave, what on earth would become of us?”

– Joy Davidman, Smoke on the Mountain

• Here are the questions I asked:

Q1. Please tell us a little bit about yourself…

Q2. When were you first introduced to C.S. Lewis and Joy Davidman?

Q3. What prompted you to write this book?

In her answer, Patti referred to David White’s “beautiful question”.

Q4. Could you please give us a sketch of Joy’s life and the events covered in the book?

Q5. What motivated you to write a work of historical fiction, rather than a strict biography?

Q6. I did read some reviews which didn’t enjoy the format though. One of our listeners on Facebook, Christine, asked “How do you respond to the critics who dislike…[it and complain it]…is written like a fluffy romance?”

Patti referred to her talk and interview with the Wade Center.

Q7. The most common question I received about this book concerned your sources. For example, Katie on Instagram wrote “You seemed to capture Jack and Joy’s voices so well, as well as that of her first husband… What did you do to get into their minds? Were there a lot of letters or diaries? Other primary sources?”

The books referenced by Dr. Don King were Out of my bone and The Naked Tree.

Q8. Listener Colleen asked what it was like putting, words into the mouths, and thoughts into the heads, of someone who still had living relatives. I heard that you met with Joy’s son, Douglas Gresham. What was that like, and how did it change your perspective meeting him?

Q9. Did you bring any of your experience with Cancer to Joy’s story?

Q10. One Twitter commenter described her as “Brilliant and flawed”. How would you sum up Joy as person?

I mentioned a tweet by Kat Coffin where she described Joy as “…a marvelous and deeply flawed woman.”

Q11. People react to Joy very differently. Why do you think that is? Even in her day, the contrast between Warnie and Tolkien was quite marked.

Q12. In the book you recount Joy going through Jack’s desk and sneaking a look at a letter which Jack wrote to Ruth Pitter. She objects to being referred to in Jack’s letter as “the American” and she’s jealous of the praise he gives to Pitter. It really reminded me of Lucy in the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, when she went into the magician’s house and looked through his spell book… …she is upset by one spell which allows her to hear what a school friend says about her …and considers casting a beauty spell because of her jealousy of sister Susan. Did you have that parallel in mind?

Q13. What was it, do you think, that ultimately attracted Lewis to Joy?

Q14. Katie, the listener whom I mentioned earlier, said that, as she was reading your book, she repeatedly wanted to yell “Joy’s in love with you, open your eyes man!” She wanted to know if you ever wanted to rush along their story to get them closer to their happy ending?

There was a reference to The Abolition of Man:

In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.

– C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man

Q15. Movies like Shadowlands have made their suggestions as to how Joy Davidman changed the life of C.S. Lewis. How do you think she changed him?

There have been two Shadowlands movies one in 1985 and one in 1993.

Q16. How has the experience of writing this book changed you?

Q17. Please tell us about your upcoming projects and let the listeners know where they can find out more about you

Patti’s website is www.patticallahanhenry.com/. The Book Club Kit is available here.

Q18. I’ll be giving away a free copy of Becoming Mrs. Lewis. If you would like a chance to win…. on Twitter or Instagram, please post your favourite line from one Joy’s poems and tag @pintswithjack. After a week, I’ll pick my personal favourite and then send that person a copy of the book.