Dearest Listener,
That question — WHY JOY?—Why did Lewis choose Joy Davidman? — is what we talk about on Episode Four of our podcast. This week we hear from Dr. Crystal Hurd and Dr. Crystal Downing. Join us for this fascinating discussion.
One of the questions I asked while writing Becoming Mrs. Lewis was: Why Joy? Why was Joy Davidman the woman who finally ended Lewis’s long run as a bachelor? In this episode I speak with Dr. Crystal Downing about how Dorothy Sayers introduced Lewis to an appreciation of brilliant, fiery women who bristled against cultural gender expectations.
In another conversation, Dr. Crystal Hurd gives insight on how Lewis’s mother, Flora Lewis, also paved the way to Lewis finding his soul mate in the feisty Joy Davidman.
If you forgot to tune in last week, we heard from Dr. David Downing. LOSING FAITH— Did Lewis lose his faith after Joy’s death? These interviews have inspired me and I hope they do the same for you. As we learn more and more about Joy and Jack’s fascinating life, we dive deeper into our own stories.
Each of these episodes begins with Joy’s startlingly beautiful poetry, so tune in!
We’ve had thousands of downloads, and I am so grateful to all of you for listening and spreading the word. Help me keep it up! Our reviews are glowing and I am thrilled that my listeners love hearing from these experts.
With💕JOY,
Patti Callahan
Behind the Scenes of
Becoming Mrs. Lewis Podcast
Episode Four
(Four of a Seven-Part Series)
October 22, 2019
Why Joy?
WHY DID LEWIS CHOOSE JOY DAVIDMAN? ——with Dr. Crystal Hurd and Dr. Crystal
One of the questions that Patti asked while writing Becoming Mrs. Lewis was: Why Joy? Why was Joy Davidman the woman who finally ended Lewis’s long run as a bachelor? Patti speaks with Dr. Crystal Downing about how Dorothy Sayers introduced Lewis to an appreciation of brilliant, fiery women who bristled against cultural gender expectations. In another conversation, Dr. Crystal Hurd gives insight on how Lewis’s mother, Flora Lewis, also paved the way to Lewis finding his soul mate in the feisty Joy Davidman.
End Notes:
Crystal Downing
Crystal Downing Co-Director of the Marion E. Wade Center and co-holder of the Marion E. Wade Chair in Christian Thought at Wheaton College: a position she shares with her husband, David C. Downing.
Writing Performances: The Stages of Dorothy L. Sayers. Crystal Downing’s book on Dorothy Sayers
David C. Downing
Dr. David C Downing: The Co-Director (with his wife Crystal Downing) of the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College in Illinois.
Crystal Hurd
Dr. Crystal Hurd is an educator and researcher from Virginia. Dr. Hurd loves discussing Lewis as well as various aspects of spirituality, apologetics, and leadership theory.
Theology
Edited by Bruce R. Johnson
Marion E. Wade Center
Marion E. Wade Center: A living literary center of scholarly, artistic, and ongoing spiritual renewal, located in Wheaton, IL. A special thanks for the recording.
Joy Davidman's Poetry: A Naked Tree: Love Sonnets to C.S. Lewis and other poems by Joy Davidman and edited by Don W. King. "Fairytale" (page 221)
EPISODE FOUR
"At night, when we dreamed We went down a street And turned a corner We went down the street And turned the corner And there it seemed there was the castle
Always, if you knew, If you knew how to go You could walk down a street (the daylight street) That twisted about And ended in grass, There it was Always, the castle.
Remote, unshadowed, Childish, immortal With two calm giants Guarding the portal, Stiff in the sunset, Strong to defend, Stood castle safety At the world’s end
O castle safety, Love without crying Honey without cloying Death without dying! Hate and heartbreak All were forgot there; We always woke We never got there."
— Joy Davidman, A NAKED TREE
Edited by Don W. King
page 221 "Fairytale"
Host and Author: The New York Times bestselling (Author) Patti Callahan Henry writing as Patti Callahan. Patti Callahan Website. (The Novel) Becoming Mrs. Lewis: The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis. (The Podcast) Behind the Scenes of Becoming Mrs. Lewis Podcast Series.
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Episode List Becoming Mrs. Lewis Podcast
September 12, 2019
Introduction
TRAILER Teaser
Episode 1
October 1, 2019
WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN PART 1
— With Douglas Gresham (before Joy's cancer)
As Joy Davidman’s son and C.S. Lewis’s stepson, Douglas Gresham has a distinctly unique perspective on the love story that transpired between the two writers. Gresham shares with Patti his first years of knowing and meeting Lewis and explains how Joy and Lewis’s correspondence, romance, and marriage affected the entire Gresham family.
Episode 2
October 8, 2019
WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN PART II
—With Douglas Gresham (after Joy's cancer)
When Douglas Gresham first learned of his mother’s cancer diagnosis, he very clearly heard the Lord say, “If you can’t make it, if you really can’t make it without your mother, I can fix it. All you have to do is ask.” Joy Davidman’s cancer later went miraculously into remission and gave her, her two children, and Lewis four more blissful years before fatally returning. In this episode, Douglas takes Patti through the years following his mother’s death and shares how her cancer diagnosis not only changed him but also changed the people whom he learned to call family.
Episode 3
October 15, 2019 LOSING FAITH
—Did Lewis lose his faith after Joy’s death?
With Dr. David Downing
“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear,” C.S. Lewis writes in his raw and beautiful book, A Grief Observed, which chronicled his heartbreak after losing his wife, Joy Davidman, to cancer in 1960. Many have read this text and have interpreted that Lewis might have lost his Christian faith after losing Joy. Patti joins Dr. David and Crystal Downing in Wheaton College’s Marion E. Wade Center to discuss how this grief impacted Lewis, his future writing, and ultimately, his Christianity. She discusses the fascinating essay “A Grief Obscured” by Dr. David Downing.
Episode 4
October 22, 2019
WHY JOY?
—Why did Lewis choose Joy Davidman? Dr. Crystal Hurd and Dr. Crystal Downing
One of the questions that Patti asked while writing Becoming Mrs. Lewis was: Why Joy? Why was Joy Davidman the woman who finally ended Lewis’s long run as a bachelor? Patti speaks with Dr. Crystal Downing about how Dorothy Sayers introduced Lewis to an appreciation of brilliant, fiery women who bristled against cultural gender expectations. In another conversation, Dr. Crystal Hurd gives insight on how Lewis’s mother, Flora Lewis, also paved the way to Lewis finding his soul mate in the feisty Joy Davidman.
Episode 5
October 29, 2019
MUSE AND CO-AUTHOR
—Joy as Lewis’s muse and co-Author with Andrew Lazo
Till We Have Faces, a retelling of the ancient story of Cupid and Psyche, is often hailed as one of C.S. Lewis’s most mature and sophisticated novels. In fact, Lewis himself credits the title as being one of his best books. Patti speaks with scholar Andrew Lazo about how Till We Have Faces was heavily influenced—and arguably cowritten—by wife Joy Davidman and how Lewis’s other works show Davidman’s literary fingerprint.
Episode 6
November 5, 2019
THE LOST LOVE SONNETS
—Joy’s poetry to C.S. Lewis with Dr. Don W. King
Over 300 poems by Joy Davidman were never published during her lifetime and were, in fact, lost until quite recently. Dr. Don King has edited, analyzed, and published them in his book Yet One More Spring: A Critical Study of the Works of Joy Davidman. During their compelling conversation in this episode, Patti and Don discuss how Joy’s poetry reveals her desires, persistence, and even her pain. Together, they also ask: Did Joy give Lewis these poems? And how do these poems reflect their love story? Quite racy in parts, Joy’s desire and love for Lewis is palpable in these lost sonnets.
Episode 7
November 12, 2019
SUPRISED BY LOVE
—How love found C.S. Lewis with Andrew Lazo
A once-proclaimed “confirmed bachelor,” C.S. Lewis found himself contradicted when he fell in love with Joy Davidman. However, it is up for debate WHEN Lewis discovered this deep love for Joy. Scholar Andrew Lazo discusses how the letters and works of C.S. Lewis showcase his evolving self-awareness as he realized that he had helplessly fallen in love with the imperious Joy Davidman.
Behind the Scenes Media PDF
Becoming Mrs. Lewis: The Novel
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About the Author
Patti Callahan
Patti Callahan Henry is a New York Times best-selling author of fifteen novels, including the historical fiction, BECOMING MRS. LEWIS—The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis.
The author is also the host of the seven-part original "Behind the Scenes of Becoming Mrs. Lewis Podcast Series" —launched October 1, 2019.
THE FAVORITE DAUGHTER, (Southern Contemporary Fiction) was released June 4, 2019 and her holiday Christmas novella THE PERFECT LOVE SONG released October 8, 2019, and both are available now.
A full-time author and mother of three children, she now resides in both Mountain Brook, Alabama and Bluffton, South Carolina with her husband.
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Stay Tuned for Episode FIVE:
October 29, 2019
MUSE AND CO-AUTHOR
—Author Joy as Lewis’s muse and co-Author with Andrew Lazo
Newsletter: Episode Four Behind the Scenes of Becoming Mrs. Lewis. Oct 22, 2019