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Surprised by Love: Her Life and Marriage to C.S. Lewis
In late 1956, an item in the Times of London stunned England's literary set. Confirmed bachelor and celebrated Christian apologist C.S. Lewis announced his marriage to Joy Gresham. His choice could not have been more unlikely. Joy was an American, a divorcee, an ex-communist, and a former atheist. Yet this extraordinary and fascinating woman made a great impact on Lewis and his writings in the short time they had together.
MP3 CD
First published May 1, 2005
About the author
Lyle Wesley Dorsett
41 books26 followersLyle W. Dorsett received his B.A. in history (1960) and M.A. in history (1962) from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and his Ph.D. in history from the University of Missouri-Columbia (1965). He began his teaching career at the University of Missouri, moving briefly to the Univ. of Southern California and University of Colorado at Denver, before he joined the history department at the University of Denver.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
August 4, 2013
The amazing journey of a brilliant American poet/novelist, a militant atheist and Communist who converted to Christianity and improbably ended up marrying C.S. Lewis. This is a story of God's grace and a striking example of the truth that "His ways are not our ways."
January 11, 2014
I did not have a four-star expectation of this book, and it bordered on a five-star experience. I started reading it out of a desire to round out my knowledge of her husband. But Joy is captivating in her own right. She is at least captivating enough to hold the reader's interest for the length of this small volume. Her thought wife, like that of her farm more famous husband, provides an interesting journey from unbeliever to believer. She has the gift of candid and insightful phrase that is so much more something did in her husband. Very few books that I am aware of honestly look at the spiritual journey, the implications of unbelief and then the implications of fully trusting in Christ.
January 25, 2013
I wanted to listen to this as a supplement to CS Lewis' "Surprised by Joy". The story of his wife is another remarkable tale of a once staunch athiest's conversion to the truth of Christianity. An essential read for any huge Lewis fan.
May 26, 2016
Quite lovely! This is a short and easy introduction to Joy's life and her relationship with Lewis. I enjoyed seeing Lewis from the perspective of an American woman of the time.
August 20, 2019
Years ago, I knew a society woman with a golden son: beautiful, hard-working, single. She had in mind the kind of woman who'd make a proper wife: polished, refined, perhaps a Wellesley graduate. Instead, he fell in love with a country girl of little education and less sophistication, but who knew how to have fun tent-camping. They remain happily married. I noted the mom's deep disappointment. But the working of love is often unpredictable, inscrutable, inexplicable.
I confess, I had that same disappointment as a teenager when I learned that Lewis had married Joy Davidman. Divorced? Former Communist? What? She is not whom we would choose for this wise and wonderful man!
Dorsett writes a sympathetic biography that banishes those notions. Joy was able to volley thoughts back and forth, to keep up with Jack's intellect. After listening to this biography, it makes complete sense that Lewis would be intrigued and smitten.
Suprised by Love was the basis of both Shadowlands films. In an updated preface, Dorsett points out the inaccuracies in the movies.
I confess, I had that same disappointment as a teenager when I learned that Lewis had married Joy Davidman. Divorced? Former Communist? What? She is not whom we would choose for this wise and wonderful man!
Dorsett writes a sympathetic biography that banishes those notions. Joy was able to volley thoughts back and forth, to keep up with Jack's intellect. After listening to this biography, it makes complete sense that Lewis would be intrigued and smitten.
Suprised by Love was the basis of both Shadowlands films. In an updated preface, Dorsett points out the inaccuracies in the movies.
January 17, 2021
I decided to give this book 3 stars but my enjoyment was more like 2.5. I was hoping to learn more about the marriage between Joy Davidson and C.S. Lewis, after all look at the title of the book. I think that I learned more about her first marriage rather than her marriage to C. S. Lewis. To me it was confusing why the author chose to wait until 3/4 of the book to write about the marriage to C. S. Lewis. I did enjoy the biography part of Joy and her response to her cancer which I found to be inspiring.
June 12, 2024
Fantastic! Listened on Hoopla. Loved the narrator. I am not sure why this book went out of print (I think) and isn’t more popular🤔. After not loving the historical fiction I tried about Joy, but wanting to learn more of her fascinating story, this was a gem!
November 3, 2010
Short review: this is one of the best short biographies I have read in a long while. Some people's lives are just better than fiction. This was much better than the movies made about CS Lewis (Shadowlands, and the BBC one). Both used this book as part of the inspiration, but it is so much better.
Full review at http://www.mrshields.com/and-god-came...
Full review at http://www.mrshields.com/and-god-came...
April 25, 2012
Really interesting read for a good overview of the life of Lewis and Joy. Now I feel ready to delve into George Sayer's bio of Lewis.
September 22, 2013
Certainly an interesting look into the life of this woman, and through it of the time period events and trends surrounding her life as well as a glimpse at another side of C. S. Lewis.
July 28, 2015
This bio is nicely researched and well written.
April 5, 2018
Enjoyed this story about the life of Joy Davidman, wife of C.S. Lewis. I had no idea she was so smart (a genius with a photographic memory) and such an accomplished writer. (I had always thought she was a fan only because her sons enjoyed reading the Narnia series. But in fact, there was so much more going on.)
She and Jack had an interesting relationship, to say the least. Interesting how she admired him and how easily he could find the flaws in her thinking on various subjects, in spite of her apparent brilliance. To hear her tell it, she was not half the intellect he was. Imagine a marriage with such a love of debate! And yet, they clearly grew to love one another. This is a good book and well-researched, and adds a lot to what we know of C.S. Lewis.
I also found it interesting on a personal note to consider a few parallels with the life of my grandmother (also an accomplished student who loved to write). She lost a husband (to death) married a professor after her own cancer diagnosis, they had a few short years together, and then the professor was left to look after her two daughters—and all of this happened just before it happened to Davidman and Lewis. But again, just an intriguing parallel personally—not relevant to other readers.
She and Jack had an interesting relationship, to say the least. Interesting how she admired him and how easily he could find the flaws in her thinking on various subjects, in spite of her apparent brilliance. To hear her tell it, she was not half the intellect he was. Imagine a marriage with such a love of debate! And yet, they clearly grew to love one another. This is a good book and well-researched, and adds a lot to what we know of C.S. Lewis.
I also found it interesting on a personal note to consider a few parallels with the life of my grandmother (also an accomplished student who loved to write). She lost a husband (to death) married a professor after her own cancer diagnosis, they had a few short years together, and then the professor was left to look after her two daughters—and all of this happened just before it happened to Davidman and Lewis. But again, just an intriguing parallel personally—not relevant to other readers.
April 28, 2018
I guess I really don't like biographies much. I would prefer an autobiography or a novel. It was an ok "read". I listened to the audio.
She had a rough life. Even though she was beyond brilliant, Joy could not seem to get passed the men in her life that held her back.
Christ was her saving grace and C.S. Lewis' friendship was a gift to her.
She had a rough life. Even though she was beyond brilliant, Joy could not seem to get passed the men in her life that held her back.
Christ was her saving grace and C.S. Lewis' friendship was a gift to her.
November 11, 2018
I didn't finish listening to this book. Perhaps reading it would be more interesting, it just took too long to get to her relationship with Lewis, which was mainly what I was interested in learning about.
January 24, 2020
Thoroughly enjoyable.
April 8, 2018
An interesting read and also a great prequel of sorts to C.S. Lewis’ A Grief Observed.
July 21, 2015
Caution: This book could change a little of how you look at and care for others, if by no other merit than observing Joy Davidman Lewis' changes over time through the eyes of outsiders.
As a female engineer in research, it is interesting to see how others interacted in the past with women with careers outside their household and how those in the society reacted or rejected these norms. It is also interesting to see how Joy (as an American) was received within academic communities in the U.S. in contrast to those in the U.K. At this time, her family connections seemed to matter more than her personal accomplishments. I also found her transition from Judaism to Atheism (and materialism), to communism, and finally ardent Christianity to be intriguing. It is curious to see how her world view and life changed as a result of her beliefs.
3.5 stars. Biographies are not typical of my reading selections. Someone recommended this one to me but I can't recall who. The text was the result of personal interviews with C.S.Lewis and his brother, as well as, family members, and friends of Joy Davidman (Lewis). One remarkable feature that rings of truth in it is that the biographer doesn't sugarcoat his subject and speaks openly of positive and negatives of all parties involved. I especially appreciated comments in the afterward comparing the book to the movie made from it (apparently the movie is quite fictitious, no shock there) and suggestions on which C.S. Lewis biographies are worth reading and how they differ. (To save you time: Dorsett contends the definitive biography is "Jack, C.S. Lewis and his times", 1988 by George Sayer. He also liked William Griffin's work "C.S. Lewis: a dramatic life" and Roger Lancelon Greene and William Hooper's "C.S. Lewis:a biography".
As a female engineer in research, it is interesting to see how others interacted in the past with women with careers outside their household and how those in the society reacted or rejected these norms. It is also interesting to see how Joy (as an American) was received within academic communities in the U.S. in contrast to those in the U.K. At this time, her family connections seemed to matter more than her personal accomplishments. I also found her transition from Judaism to Atheism (and materialism), to communism, and finally ardent Christianity to be intriguing. It is curious to see how her world view and life changed as a result of her beliefs.
3.5 stars. Biographies are not typical of my reading selections. Someone recommended this one to me but I can't recall who. The text was the result of personal interviews with C.S.Lewis and his brother, as well as, family members, and friends of Joy Davidman (Lewis). One remarkable feature that rings of truth in it is that the biographer doesn't sugarcoat his subject and speaks openly of positive and negatives of all parties involved. I especially appreciated comments in the afterward comparing the book to the movie made from it (apparently the movie is quite fictitious, no shock there) and suggestions on which C.S. Lewis biographies are worth reading and how they differ. (To save you time: Dorsett contends the definitive biography is "Jack, C.S. Lewis and his times", 1988 by George Sayer. He also liked William Griffin's work "C.S. Lewis: a dramatic life" and Roger Lancelon Greene and William Hooper's "C.S. Lewis:a biography".
March 12, 2022
Very intellilectual woman. With a bold upfront personality that intimated most around her.
Inspirational in how she didn't didn't let others opinions sway her and took it on as a challenge.
_____________________
Her story must be told because it glorifies God rather than herself.
As Janet saw it, some Jews prayed. Others fought.
She used suttle sarcasim to insult people. Saying a person was pedestrian then apologizing and saying she really meant to say prodestant.
Communists aren't much more careless or ignorant than other people, they're just prouder of it. -Joy
Ultimately she failed to find in Judaism any recognition of what she now believed she had received. In her words:
"The conviction of sin followed by the assistance of God's Grace"
Joy tended to view people in two ways:
Either they were her pupils and she lectured them or they were her teachers and she pressed them hard for knowledge. Joy rarely saw anyone as an equal.
She remarked: if brains made a woman look like that she was glad she wasn't intellilectual.
Joy would have been willing to meet death on this trip. She probably wished for it.
She said "Going on this trip is a big chance in my case, but the doctors say okay, and I'd rather go out with a bang than a whimper"
It was a special day of the kind that tempts one to think God arranged the weather to symbolize the child that joins him.
TO READ:
Jack: A Life of C. S. Lewis
Book by George Sayer
Clive Staples Lewis: A Dramatic Life
Book by William Griffin
Lenten Lands: My Childhood with Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis
Douglas H. Gresham
False Book: .
C.S. Lewis: A Biography, a book by A.N. Wilson
Inspirational in how she didn't didn't let others opinions sway her and took it on as a challenge.
_____________________
Her story must be told because it glorifies God rather than herself.
As Janet saw it, some Jews prayed. Others fought.
She used suttle sarcasim to insult people. Saying a person was pedestrian then apologizing and saying she really meant to say prodestant.
Communists aren't much more careless or ignorant than other people, they're just prouder of it. -Joy
Ultimately she failed to find in Judaism any recognition of what she now believed she had received. In her words:
"The conviction of sin followed by the assistance of God's Grace"
Joy tended to view people in two ways:
Either they were her pupils and she lectured them or they were her teachers and she pressed them hard for knowledge. Joy rarely saw anyone as an equal.
She remarked: if brains made a woman look like that she was glad she wasn't intellilectual.
Joy would have been willing to meet death on this trip. She probably wished for it.
She said "Going on this trip is a big chance in my case, but the doctors say okay, and I'd rather go out with a bang than a whimper"
It was a special day of the kind that tempts one to think God arranged the weather to symbolize the child that joins him.
TO READ:
Jack: A Life of C. S. Lewis
Book by George Sayer
Clive Staples Lewis: A Dramatic Life
Book by William Griffin
Lenten Lands: My Childhood with Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis
Douglas H. Gresham
False Book: .
C.S. Lewis: A Biography, a book by A.N. Wilson
November 30, 2016
This is a worthwhile book for Inklings or C.S. Lewis fans who are interested in finding out about Joy Davidman, Lewis' wife. I didn't care for the book. I suspect the credibility of many things about the story. And it has an understandable biographer`s bias in favour of Davidman.
But, the reader will learn more about this significant figure in Lewis' life and who was a part of his living drama. The book needs to be looked at for those reasons alone. I have no complaint about the quality of the writing or the scholarship on the face of it.
My interest in completing this book is mostly because, for me, Lewis` love and marriage to Davidman represents one of those puzzles in Lewis` biography similar to the mystery of how he could have praised the poetry of Charles Williams as highly as he did.
The book adds to the picture of Lewis` biography. The reader has to draw his or her own conclusions much as Lewis` brother and friends had to do upon meeting Davidman.
But, the reader will learn more about this significant figure in Lewis' life and who was a part of his living drama. The book needs to be looked at for those reasons alone. I have no complaint about the quality of the writing or the scholarship on the face of it.
My interest in completing this book is mostly because, for me, Lewis` love and marriage to Davidman represents one of those puzzles in Lewis` biography similar to the mystery of how he could have praised the poetry of Charles Williams as highly as he did.
The book adds to the picture of Lewis` biography. The reader has to draw his or her own conclusions much as Lewis` brother and friends had to do upon meeting Davidman.
July 26, 2015
Very interesting read about Joy Davidman, her several marriages, intelligence, and marriage to C.S. Lewis.
October 7, 2015
It was interesting - I enjoyed learning more about Joy Davidman and her life as well as her marriage to C.S. Lewis (aka Jack).
April 25, 2017
I had no idea how smart and independent Joy Davidman was until I read this book. No wonder C.S. Lewis was charmed out of his bachelorhood.
The book gives a good background story of Joy Davidman, before her marriage to C.S. Lewis. How sad it is that her life was cut short by illness.
The book gives a good background story of Joy Davidman, before her marriage to C.S. Lewis. How sad it is that her life was cut short by illness.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews