An enchanting new coming-of-age historical fiction novel.
ONCE UPON A WARDROBE
From Patti Callahan, the bestselling author of Becoming Mrs. Lewis, comes another enchanting story that pulls back the curtain on the early life of C. S. Lewis.
Megs Devonshire sets out to fulfill her younger brother George's last wish by uncovering the truth behind his favorite story. The answer provides hope and healing and a magical journey for anyone whose life has ever been changed by a book.
1950: Margaret Devonshire (Megs) is a seventeen-year-old student of mathematics and physics at Oxford University. When her beloved eight-year-old brother asks Megs if Narnia is real, logical Megs tells him it’s just a book for children, and certainly not true. Homebound due to his illness, and remaining fixated on his favorite books, George presses her to ask the author of the recently released novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe a question: “Where did Narnia come from?”
Despite her fear about approaching the famous author, who is a professor at her school, Megs soon finds herself taking tea with C.S. Lewis and his own brother Warnie, begging them for answers.
Rather than directly telling her where Narnia came from, Lewis encourages Megs to form her own conclusion as he slowly tells her the little-known stories from his own life that led to his inspiration. As she takes these stories home to George, the little boy travels father in his imagination than he ever could in real life.
Lewis’s answers will reveal to Megs and her family many truths that science and math cannot, and the gift she thought she was giving to her brother—the story behind Narnia—turns out to be his gift to her, instead: hope.
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INDUSTRY PRAISE
"This remarkably moving book deserves to be embraced and cherished as the classic it will undoubtedly become."
—Jennifer Robson, international bestselling author of Our Darkest Night, The Gown, and Goodnight from London
Once Upon a Wardrobe is a smart and subtle treatise on art, fiction, myth, fairy tale, make-believe, and finally truth..."
—Dr. Don Noble, acclaimed scholar, radio host, and author
“I so loved this story. Every page is filled with magic and wonder, with insight and wisdom."
—Debbie Macomber, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“I advise you to read this book, then wait for a while and then read it again, for while it may not be Narnia, there is magic in it.”
—Douglas Gresham, C. S. Lewis' stepson
"Exquisitely heartfelt, Once Upon a Wardrobe is a love letter to the magic of stories..."
—Sarah Addison Allen, New York Times bestselling author of First Frost and Lost Lake
“...a tale of heartache, hope, and discovery that will forever change the Narnia you thought you knew.”
—Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author of The Forest of Vanishing Stars
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Patti Callahan Henry is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of sixteen novels and podcast host. She is the recipient of The Christy Award — A 2019 Winner “Book of the Year”; The Harper Lee Distinguished Writer of the Year for 2020 and the Alabama Library Association Book of the Year for 2019. She is the co-host and co-creator of the popular weekly online Friends and Fiction live web show and podcast. A full-time author and mother of three children, she now resides in both Mountain Brook, Alabama, and Bluffton, South Carolina with her husband.