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And God Came In: The Extraordinary Story of Joy Davidman (Hendrickson Classic Biographies)

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The first sentence in the author's preface says it all... "There was absolutely nothing ordinary about Joy Davidman Lewis." This book is a testament to the truth of that statement, and is unique in its ability to show us so much about Joy Davidman prior to (or besides) her relationship with C.S. Lewis. In fact, it is only towards the mid-section of the book that she even meets Lewis for the first time in the dining room of the Eastgate Hotel, across from Magdalen College in Oxford. Dorsett does an unparalleled ORIGINAL job of documenting Joy's early family life in New York. (95% of the biography is based upon hitherto untapped primary sources). Growing up in a family where religion was at once respected and deplored, we see her unfold as a reluctant Jewess, an atheist, a militant communist, Christian convert, gifted writer/poet and screenwriter, mother and divorcee. She was a many-splendored critical thinker, and Lewis's brother Warnie tells us that "she liked walking, and she liked beer."

In her search for critical truth, Joy was greatly affected by the writings of Lewis (in particular, his Great Divorce, Miracles, and Screwtape Letters) and in the early spring of 1946 she experienced a profound conversion to Christianity. In the midst of a tumultuous and intolerable marriage, she and her two sons sailed for Liverpool from New York in August of 1952. In early September, Joy met Lewis. Anyone who has seen the Hollywood movie "Shadowlands" starring Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger will remember the portrayal of this initial meeting, and the relationship that followed. It must be said that the movie, though excellent, is grossly inaccurate of their actual story in many ways. For the clearest picture of one of the most heart-rending love stories of our modern age, you can do no better than to sit down with this book by Dorsett. It is an extraordinary account of two lives that were anything but ordinary.

I recently rented the movie, Shadowlands, which is based on the life story of C.S. (Jack Lewis) and his relationship with Joy Davidson. That movie is what whetted my appetite for this book. I wanted to know more and this book certainly opened up more information about the two of them and their unique relationship. I cried at the movie and I cried reading this book. I intend to read other books about C.S. Lewis. He was a man who never expected to find (or have time for) a wife, but when Joy Davidson came along--all that changed. I'm so glad this author delved more into the lives of these special people. As a woman, I wanted to feel the bonding that went on with *Jack*, and I did. I thank the author for writing this. I would recommend this book to any CS Lewis fan. The next book I plan to read is "Letters to an American Lady."

We have a plethora of information about C. S. Lewis: letters, books, biographies, etc. However, not much has been written about his wife, Joy Davidman. What led her, an intellectual communist atheist of Jewish heritage, to Christ? How did a divorced American with two children catch the eye of Lewis, a late-middle age British confirmed bachelor? These questions and many others are answered in "A Love Observed." For those of you who've seen "Shadowlands", the cinematic tale of their courtship and marriage, Mr. Dorsett's book provides the back-story behind the film (and takes certain parts of it to task). We are finally given a definitive look at the woman who challenged Lewis' mind and won his heart.

Joy Davidman was an exceptional person. She overcame various physical, racial, and gender barriers to become a noted published author in her own right. But the greatest leap she made was becoming a Christian. Joy intellectually struggled against God for years, but at the age of thirty-one her resistance crumbled, and in her words He "came in, and I changed (pg. 60)." After that, there was no turning back. Eventually she pursued and caught the eye of C. S. Lewis, and the rest, as they say, is history. Of course, there were difficulties. Her brash American mannerisms and straightforward personality were difficult for Lewis' friends to accept at first, and there was a bit of scandal surrounding his marriage to a divorcee. But by all appearances they loved each other, and there's no evidence that Lewis regretted marrying her.

"A Love Observed" is a fascinating glimpse into how a brilliant, strong-willed woman came to Christ and ended up marrying arguably the greatest modern Christian apologist. It's a bittersweet story because of her untimely death, but the intense, intimate love they shared despite her illness is encouraging in a world full of self-centered, disposable relationships. I'd recommend this book to anyone whose intellect is a barrier to faith in God, or who may be struggling with a loved one's physical problems.

Another excellent true Christian love story you shouldn't miss is "A Severe Mercy" by Sheldon Vanauken, a friend of C. S. Lewis. Its non-romantic sequel, "Under the Mercy" is quite fascinating in its own right as well.

The film 'Shadowlands' tells the story of one of the more unlikely love matches of the twentieth century, that of C.S. Lewis, famous British scholar and author of the Narnia stories, to American author of Jewish extraction, Joy Davidman. This short, competent biography tells the story of Joy's early life as an atheist and Communist, her first marriage to a writer of thrillers, their two children, her Christian conversion, and her leaving her hard-drinking husband to come to England. C.S. Lewis enters the story as an author who influenced Joy, and later as a friend when she emigrates to England. The civil marriage of a divorcee to a famous Christian bachelor author in his fifties caused some shock back in December 1956, but was accepted by the majority who knew them. The plain authenticity of this book is greatly enhanced by Lyle Dorsett's access to family letters, papers, and also the friends and family who knew them best. It is a recommended read as it fills in details of a period of Lewis's life which is subject to a certain amount of debate and confusion, and is a good supplement to the film.

This is an important book for those who want to understand C.S. Lewis. When you read a bio of Lewis and learn about this odd woman whom he married under very strange circumstances, you are bound to come away confused. Why would Lewis marry a woman with so much baggage (Former atheist, communist, multiple love affairs, divorced)? What could Lewis, the Oxford Don and intellectual giant, have seen in her?

Essentially, Joy was brilliant too. Dorsett makes it clear that Joy was a remarkable woman in many ways. She was an accomplished poet and writer. In many ways, she was superior to Lewis. Not only was she an intellectual on paar with Lewis, but she was a good cook, a great gardener, and wise with money (Lewis had no concept of finances).

Lewis aside, Joy Davidman led an interesting life in her own right. Well worth your time to read.

Originally published on my blog at [...]

Pretty much everyone has heard of CS Lewis or at least his Naria stories or a couple of his non-fiction books (Mere Christianity, Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, etc.) Except for the two movies, I only saw Shadowlands, most people know nothing about Joy Davidman. Lyle Dorsett wrote what I believe is her only biography. It was on this short biography that both movies drew heavily. The reason that there are three different editions of this book is the popularity of the two movies. So it is interesting to me that Dorsett wanted to re-release the book to counter the misperception created by the movies.

Joy Davidman lived an extraordinarily life. She was born to two very driven second generation Jewish immigrants. Her father, a teacher and later principal, pushed Joy very hard (while virtually ignoring her slightly younger brother because he only had a 147 IQ and "would never amount to anything because he was so slow.") Joy was reading by 3, graduated from high school by 14, entered college at 15, started teaching middle school at 18 and started her masters at 19. By her early 20s she was the editor of a communist paper, had a Yale edition of her poetry published and a successful novel.

It was not all good. She had an affair with a professor while in college, seriously disrupted her relationship with her parents over her communist ties and entered into a very bad marriage at 27. Her husband Bill Greshem was a serial adulterer, an alcoholic, and occasionally was violent with both Joy and their two boys. Toward the end of their marriage, Joy converted from her atheism to Christianity. This did not help with the money problems, but did relieve the tensions in the marriage for a while. Joy's cousin moved into Joy's house with her own two boys to escape her own alcoholic, abusive husband. But that lead to an affair with Bill and the eventual end of the marriage.

While still married, Joy left the children with her cousin and Bill and took a five month trip to England to finish a book and meet CS Lewis. He was by this time a regular correspondent with Joy. It took a year, but eventually Joy divorced Bill and moved with her two boys to England. It was much longer until Lewis and Davidman married. Lewis was such a confirmed bachelor and marrying a divorced woman was so opposed by the Church of England, that Lewis may have never proposed if Davidman had not been threatened with deportation. Even with a quiet civil service, the marriage with hidden until after Joy's cancer was discovered. (Joy's cancer was likely cause by radiation treatments she was given for her thyroid disorder as a teen.) Joy was given months to live and even then a priest violated the bishop's direction when he married them in a religious ceremony.

Joy lived several years after her marriage to Lewis. Some of the time they were able to live an almost normal life. Joy's cancer went into remission (Lewis prayed to take on her pain and came down with a very painful bone disorder during much of her remission.) It was really only a few years that they were together. In many ways, the time they were together seem to illustrate the best of what pain can bring out in people. No one wishes pain on anyone, but as a Christian that believes that "God can use all things for good", the pain of Davidman and Lewis' lives and marriage was able to bring much to the greater world, and their own.

I have seen the Hollywood version of the story (not the BBC version) and while it gets much of the basics right, there is so much more to the story. This is a book that I wish were twice as long. Dorsett is a wonderful writer and knows how to both capture the beauty and the spiritual vitality of his subjects without veering into inappropriate veneration of them.

This is not an incredibly easy book to get a copy of, the audiobook is the easiest option. The hardback is still in print, but the paperback is out of print. If you are interested in more, there is collection of her letters that was published in 2009, Out of My Bone. And her son Douglas Gresham (who assisted with Shadowlands and was a producer with the recent Naria movies) has a memoir, Lenten Lands: My Childhood with Joy Davidman and CS Lewis that has good reviews.

If you want to kow anything about C.S. Lewis' wife, then this is the book that you need to read. Good account of her life, leading up to her marriage to C.S. Lewis.

This was the first full-length biography ever published of Joy Davidman, who, though a noteworthy poet and author in her own right, would be most remembered as the wife of British scholar and author C.S. Lewis. The story of their marriage and of her tragic, premature death from cancer was already familiar to me from a number of sources, mostly focused on Lewis; yet I knew only generalities concerning Davidman's earlier life in America. AND GOD CAME IN does much to correct this and is built on extensive research into her many letters, the reminiscences of friends and surviving family, and her own writings. The endnotes at the back of this new edition thus span seventeen pages!

Dorsett himself is not a flawless writer, but overall I found his work here an engaging and very helpful new perspective. The hardships (even those somewhat self-inflicted) of Davidman's younger years, and her once deeply ingrained biases, cast her later Christian faith in a fresh and more impressive light.

The first edition of this work was also the source of many elements portrayed in the original 1985 BBC-TV rendering of SHADOWLANDS -- details I had encountered nowhere else and had long thought apocryphal. However, while that interpretation was far superior to the better-known 1993 cinematic version, Dorsett, in a new Preface, here expresses his dissatisfaction with either film's depiction of the Lewis/Davidman relationship, and takes the opportunity of the book's reissue to set the record straight on various points.

Although this story is deeply moving -- of two very different individuals who found (or were Led to) each other at a time when they needed the love and support their friendship and eventual marriage would provide -- Dorsett is correct in asserting that Joy deserves better than to have her own life's record 'obscured by the shadow of C.S. Lewis'. I rather think Jack would have been the first to agree, and to applaud this admirable attempt at re-introducing the world to a remarkable woman of ardent faith yet full humanity (with all the complexity which that implies).

Lyle Dorsett's true tale of a valiant, and often very feisty, woman is an inspiration to all. Joy was far more than C.S. Lewis' beloved wife; she was a genius, and a sharp philosopher in her own right! Dorsett points out that, as a child genius, Joy "virtually broke the [IQ] scale!" He then points out that, when she was sixteen years old, her father slapped her across the face - and she fought back so fiercely that he never hit her again! We learn of her experiences with Communism and of her own accomplishments as a poet and essayist. Later in the book, Sayers remarks that she was the only woman whom Lewis had met who had an intellect and sense of humor comparable to his own! Indeed, this brave warrior fights battle after battle: first, with the challenges and responsibilities of being a child genius; then through her experiences first with Communism and then as a Christian intellectual, and lastly, as a brave bride battling cancer. As we read Dorsett's brilliant biography, we are compelled to constantly keep in mind that this live wire was the one true love of our own beloved hero C.S. Lewis!

How could a divorced Jewish communist woman with two chilren end up married on of the greater Christian confirmed bachlor writer. This is an amazing story.