Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan

 I got this book from the library for our Monterey Book group, and I believe it was Lynne who recommended it. I like her, so I hoped I would like her book. I did, but it also really annoyed me and disappointed me.

I love everything I've read by C.S. Lewis, particularly his essays on Christianity and his Narnia books. He transports me and uplifts me and makes me so grateful to be a Christian. I was hoping for some of that aura and shine and feeling to show itself in this story of his relationship with Joy Davidman. Although there were some beautiful landscape descriptions and a few attempts to describe spiritual experiences, they were mostly not inspiring at all. This is such a shame! But perhaps this author has never been transported in that way? I don't know...it read more like a romance. When, oh when, would "Jack" wake up and show his love for Joy? The whole book hinged on waiting for him...Joy went through her own development, but was always waiting for him to come around...And finally, at the end, he did. 

I was also not convinced in the story that Joy really cared as much about her boys as this author tried to show. She left them for months at a time, and when she finally gained custody, she sent them to boarding school. All the heartache and longing she felt for the boys did not feel genuine to me...Of course this is the "fiction" of the novel, and who knows what was really felt or done?

I do like the way the author portrayed C.S. Lewis. He is shown as kind, caring, and very gentle. I liked that portrayal and feel it's probably true. The author listed a lot of sources, so I may delve into a couple in particular, written by one of Joy's sons. His perspective would be interesting. I don't trust this author's interpretation, so I'll find out for myself!

I loved the descriptions of Oxford and would love to go and visit. I didn't realize that C.S. Lewis wasn't as honored there and eventually taught at Cambridge instead. All of his "rooms" and lectures the whole environment made me want to go and visit for myself. Maybe someday...

Cambridge by Susanna Kaysen

I picked this book up off the "new releases" shelves at the Rapid City Public Library. It was a good choice. The narrator in this story, Susanna, grows from about six or eight years of age to about 13. The story chronicles her thinking and fascinating life as a daughter growing up in the fifties, with her father, a Harvard professor, and her mother, a sparkling stay-at-home mother. The family spends years abroad in the English Cambridge, in Italy, and in Greece. Susanna's reactions and thinking capture some of my thinking and feelings at this age very accurately. While Susanna is very different than I was at that age, there are similarities. She feels alien in her family; which I occasionally did. Her careful listening to her parents' disagreements and her interpretations of them felt very familiar to me. She has a nuanced ear for emotions behind the words.
I enjoyed reading about her relationships with her Swedish nanny and her mother, in particular. And it's interesting that she never gives her little sister much credence or even tells us her name. But what was especially intriguing to me was her intense dislike of her mother, and how it angered her that her mother was always right and always knew what she was thinking. She could verify her father's knowledge in the encyclopedia, but her mother's assertions were baffling to her. How did she know those things? It reminded me very strongly of Leonard's frustration with his mother over similar issues. She asserts things with great confidence that "everyone knows" but really aren't true. Like..."50% of football players are homosexuals."
I also enjoyed reading about Susanna's music lessons and her fondness for her teacher. It's just a fascinating age to reconnect with and the author does a very credible job of recreating that thinking.