REBECCA'S REVIEW:
"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."
KIM'S REVIEW:
“Every human interaction is eternally important.”
I don’t normally put quotes in my reviews, but this one really struck me and made me think about all those interactions we have with people and just how important they really are.
Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan is a moving story about a little boy named George, who desperately wants to know where Narnia came from. His sister, Megs, will do anything she can to find out, including asking C.S. Lewis himself!
What made me love this story was the relationship between Megs and George. It was so moving. I loved the lengths she went to to get answers for George and how in her quest, she also found answers for herself.
I also enjoyed the scenes with Megs and Jack (C. S. Lewis) and his brother that gave us glimpses into his life and childhood. If you’re not a C. S. Lewis fan already, this story will definitely make you seek out his work.
*I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own. The faith thread is light.
BackCover Blurb:
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.
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