Shadowlands

by Leonore Fleischer

A Most Unlikely Enchantment

He was C.S. Lewis, eminent philosopher, world-famous author of The Chronicles of Narnia, Oxford professor, pillar of the Church of England, and the model of a confirmed British bachelor, with no room for a woman in his perfectly arranged life.

She was Joy Gresham, radial divorcee from New York, Jewish-born but a Christian convert, who came to England with a small son in tow to see the author she fervently admired.

It began with a visit that should have been a disaster but somehow wasn't. it turned into a love story that should never have happened - but most wonderfully did, in a tale that proves that truth is more miraculous than fiction when it springs from the magical depths of the heart...

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Historical Fiction, Christian, Biography Memoir, British Literature

244 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1993

About the author

Leonore Fleischer has written more than fifty novelizations of films. She and her five cats live in Upstate New York.

Reviews

[Elisabetta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not know this book was about C.S. Lewis. It is a really intense one, about a part of his life in which many changes appear in life, especially the most amazing one which is called love. There's a lot in this book about love, even if it comes in little steps and is lasting for a short time. And then there's room for pain, giving up, change and backtrack to understand that all was meant to be life.

[Aunt_Cindy Wood Stott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved both the book and the movie.

[André · Rating 4 out of 5]

Citaat :
Review : Shadowlands is gebaseerd op het leven van de schrijver, geleerde en theoloog C.S. Lewis. De film speelt zich af in het Oxford van de jaren vijftig waar de heer op leeftijd Lewis college geeft over middeleeuwse dichtkunst. Lewis leeft samen met zijn broer Warnie in het huis waar hij ook is opgegroeid. De vrijgezel wordt door zijn collega's gerespecteerd, hij hoeft zijn kopje maar op te houden of zijn bejaarde huishoudster komt met de theepot aansnellen, in de pub vindt hij bij een glaasje bier zijn ontspanning en thuis leest hij uitsluitend boeken van de hoogste kwaliteit.



Kortom, zijn leventje is overzichtelijk en hij lijkt volkomen tevreden met zijn elitaire bestaan. Maar dan komt de Amerikaanse dichteres Joy Gresham in zijn leven. Met haar recht-door-zee houding en ongedwongen toenadering maakt ze kennelijk iets los in de bedaagde Lewis, want langzaam maar zeker ontwikkelt zich een vriendschap tussen de twee. Omdat Gresham geen verblijfsvergunning voor het Verenigd Koninkrijk heeft, trouwen de twee voor de vorm met elkaar.



Na de huwelijksvoltrekking kan er voor koele kikker Lewis zelfs geen borrel af, hij moet direct weer aan het werk. Pas als Gresham ziek wordt en een zeer ernstige vorm van kanker blijkt te hebben, begint het bij de schrijver te dagen dat hij smoorverliefd is op Joy. Eindelijk geeft Lewis zich bloot en blijkt hij zelfs in staat lief te hebben.



Het is een mooie liefdessaga die op ware feiten berust. De roman is gebaseerd op een televisiespel van William Nicholson naar zijn gelijknamige toneelstuk en de roman werd op zijn beurt dan weer verfilmd. In deze uitgave is ook een literatuurlijst met werk van C.S. Lewis opgenomen. Het boek is iets minder zoet dan de film.

[Christine Sinclair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two reasons why this book is amazing: 1) the true love story between famed novelist and Oxford don C. S. Lewis, and Joy Gresham, a younger, divorced woman from America, is as touching as it is unlikely; and 2) this book is a novelization of the play and screenplay by William Nicholson (made into a movie starring Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger) and it is SO well-written that it is outstanding in its own right. I loved it!

[Veronica-Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful heartbreakingly account of C.S. Lewis's profoundly beautiful love story between Jack Lewis and his wife Joy Gresham. So poignantly written yet filled with a gentle humour that simply enfolds you as you read. I loved this book and I am eager now to experience more of C.S. Lewis's written work. Leonore Fleischer is also now on my radar as her excellent writing on this part of her subjects life is what made me eager to read more. Highly recommended.

[Chandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a novelization of a screenplay based on a stage play about CS Lewis and the love of his life. Do you follow? I picked it up off my mom's bookshelf, which is full of 1990s books based on screen adaptations and the like. The thing is, it was really fun to read. It's paced like a movie, doesn't waste time on too much introspection, and clips right along to the inevitable end. Now I guess I'm going to have to watch the movie.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una storia che ti spezza il cuore. Un libro molto bello, che consiglio a tutti (qualunque sia il vostro genere preferito).
L'autrice (per la sua bravura e versatilità) è appena entrata a far parte dei miei preferiti.

[Terese · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautiful love story detailed, though a bit shallow since based on a movie script. Curious as to why one of Joy’s sons was left out of the narrative, but perhaps it was by his personal request?

Touching either way, a tender portrait of a tender love.

[Tricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the true story of CS Lewis and his wife Joy who died of cancer not long after they were married.

The book was ok but the story didn't really grab me.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love can always take one by surprise!

[Annette]

I have to laugh at the description on Goodreads. What exactly is a radial divorcée? Just wondering...

[Sara SR · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did. A very interesting find, and although brief, I'm sure I'll think about it often.

[nad · Rating 3 out of 5]

We read to know we are not alone

Just happy. Just sunshine happy and strawberry happy and being-with-you happy and being-alive-at-all happy

[Helena Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful window into Oxford in the 50s and the private life of CS Lewis. Enchanting and terribly sad.

[Julie Webb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely story of CS Lewis and his relationships with his brother, friends and wife. He seemed like a wonderful man.

[Eleonora Salviato · Rating 5 out of 5]

Parto dal fatto che era da un pò volevo leggere questo libro, sia per il titolo che mi ispirava molto sia perchè me l'ha consigliato mia mamma e sono davvero contenta di essere riuscita finalmente a leggerlo.
Che dire è meraviglioso, romantico, filosofico e interessante perchè parla della storia d'amore tra lo scrittore inglese C.S. Lewis e la poetessa americana Joy Gresham. Pieno di concetti e frasi molo interessanti, come il fatto che Dio è uno scultore e il dolore sarebbero i colpi inferti alla scultura (uomo) per renderlo migliore.
Purtroppo finisce male, perchè lei muore di cancro alle ossa... 4 anni dopo il matrimonio e lui non si riprenderà più...scriverà anche un libro sul suo immenso dolore chiamato appunto "Diario di un dolore" . Lui morirà 3 anni dopo per problemi cardiaci. Eppure nonostante il finale triste...Mi è rimasta una bella sensazione perchè l'ultima frase é:

"Jack aveva la sensazione che lei le avesse sentite ( le sue parole); ora lei non era più lontana da lui."

E le parole a cui fa riferimento sono queste:

"Perchè amare, se la perdita provoca tanto dolore? Io non ho più risposte, ho solo la vita che ho vissuto. In questa vita due volte mi è stato offerto di scegliere, da ragazzo e da uomo. Il ragazzo scelse la sicurezza. L'uomo sceglie la sofferenza. Il dolore presente è parte della felicità di allora. è questo il patto."

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

To tell you the truth, I didn't expect much from a book that is a novel "based on the screenplay by William Nicholson based on his stage play." However, I was pleasantly surprised by the . . . joy of reading it! A few editing issues--a repeated paragraph here and there, etc. Other than that, however, the writing was smooth and vivid.

This book is based on the true story of C.S. Lewis' romance and marriage with Joy Davidman Gresham. Lewis, in his fifties and settled into the life of a university teacher and bachelor, thought that he knew what love was--until he realized, thanks to Joy, that he had been putting up walls to keep his feelings in and people out ever since his mother died when he was nine years old. Through his marriage to Joy, C.S. Lewis came alive again and was finally able to understand the wonder and the suffering that he had been lecturing about for so long.

Lewis' story resonated with me, as I have also been through a lot of pain in my life and a lot of effort to protect myself from it. Person by person and book by book, I catch glimpses of freedom through the holes in my own walls, making joyful connections to the other side. For, as the father of one of Lewis' students is reported in this story to have said, "We read to know that we're not alone."

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love to read C.S. Lewis, and this book gives great insight into his life after meeting Joy Davidman Gresham. I love the movie so thought I would give the book a try. It is a book adaptation of a screenplay, so I didn't expect much, but as he grew to love Joy and her son, Douglas, I was captivated by the power of love, and its life changing effects.

[Maggie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tried reading this for the August Romance challenge. Didn't realise it was written from the screenplay of the film otherwise I would not have read it at all, although I have enjoyed the movie. It became immediately obvious that it came from the screenplay however because all that seemed to be missing were the stage directions.

[Arlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an unlikely romance. In 1952 English author and lecturer, C.S. Lewis was set in his ways, living near Oxford where he was a don, writing and giving lectures. He begins a correspondence with an American fan and one day she writes that she is visiting England, "Can we meet for tea?" They meet and begin a friendship that changes his life. A very touching story.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a favorite from my youth. It's based on a film I also enjoyed. The film is based on the life of C. S. Lewis and his wife Joy. Their story reminds us that pain and happiness are connected when you love someone. You can't have one without the other. The intensity varies with the situation.

[Luckngrace · Rating 5 out of 5]

C.S. Lewis wrote the Narnia children's books but never had a child. As Shadowlands begins he is a Christian who once was an atheist. Never having been interested in romance or feeling for companionship in his middle age. Then follows the true story of "Jack" Lewis's awakening to love and life.

[Calum Mackenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a big CS Lewis fan I didn't know what to expect.Even better than the film, and arguably the most moving book I've ever read.A beautifully written love story and even more compelling as its based on CS Lewis' life.thoroughly recommend. :)

[ao · Rating 2 out of 5]

Letto incuriosita dal commento che ne fa Agassi in Open. In effetti Agassi parla del film, non del libro, che pero' e' la trasposizione del film. "Bah" descrive bene l'interesse a seguito della lettura. Ora non sono curiosa di vedere il film.

[Ginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great true love story... I cried and cried.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an inspiring story that helps me to choose love and living life versus staying in the safe harbors of thoughts and ideas.

[booklady]

Love both versions of the movie; would love to read the book.

[Farida · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book and DVD is so touching. Also set in beautiful Oxfordshire. Must read/watch by fans of Narnia.

[Josiah · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author uses extensive vocabulary but isn't much of a story-teller. It's obvious this novel is third-hand information, based on a theater script based on a biography based on interviews.

[Annette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not expect to love this story so bad! this is a bizarre, yet beautiful and pure romance.
Learnt a whole lot of things!
Fans of CS Lewis's books should read this ASAP