Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan

 

Author Patti Callahan has long wondered about the origin of the world of Narnia of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and she explores this curiosity in her new book, Once Upon a Wardrobe. In this novel, Callahan creates the back story by exploring the early life of the Ireland native, author C.S. Lewis.

To tell this story set in December of 1950 in Worcester, England of how Narnia came to be, Callahan has created a brother and sister, George and Megs Devonshire. Eight-year-old George has a heart condition that could end his life at any time. Megs is a student at Somerville College, part of Oxford University, where Lewis teaches. George charges Megs with finding out, “Where did Narnia come from?” From the author’s imagination is not an answer George wants to accept.

Megs starts to hang out around the author’s home in hopes of catching him long enough to find out the answer. Instead, the author’s brother invites her into their home so she can ask Lewis her important question. Soon, Megs becomes a regular visitor to the Lewis home where she is entertained with stories about the brothers’ childhoods. She shares these stories with George when she returns home to Worcester regularly instead of staying in Oxford.

Megs and George put together the pieces of the Lewis brothers’ lives shared in story-form to figure out some answers for themselves. Fans of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as well as of Callahan’s books will be sure to add this enchanting tale to their to-be-read pile.

This is Callahan’s second book about C.S. Lewis as she wrote Becoming Mrs. Lewis in 2018 about his wife, Joy Davidman. A former pediatric nurse, Callahan is a co-creator and co-host of the weekly podcast Friends and Fiction on Facebook.  She is a full-time author, wife, and mother of three with homes in both Alabama and South Carolina.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting August 31, 2021.

I would like to thank Harper Muse, an imprint of HarperCollins Focus LLC, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.