The Chronicles of Narnia are some of the best-known and well-loved classic children’s books in the English language, and C. S. Lewis, their creator, was a truly remarkable man.
Clive Staples Lewis liked to be known simply as Jack. Plain Jack Lewis, his friends called him, those men who also taught at the renowned British universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
Lewis was described by some as looking a little like an ordinary working man or even a forester, with his ruddy complexion and plump face. Yet his words were not those of any forester, for here was the finest writer of children's stories and the most popular author of books about Christianity of his age.
Growing up, books filled Lewis’ house, piled in spare rooms, hallways, anywhere, everywhere. Lewis was allowed to read anything he liked, encouraged in this by his mother, very much the intellectual of the family.
When Lewis was still a child his beloved mother died and he was sent across the Irish Sea to boarding school in England — the strict and forbidding Wynyard House.
He missed his family, his home, and the freedom of his life in Northern Ireland. He was isolated and frightened. But one thing happened at the awful school that benefitted Lewis and changed his entire life: he began to embrace Christianity.
Coren tells of the fascinating details of the childhood and youth of Lewis, one that was, in Lewis' own words, full of “long corridors, attics explored in solitude, sunlit rooms and endless books”.
He continues with Lewis’ studies at Oxford, where his interest in the Christian religion grew, his subsequent celebrated teaching career with the same university, and his wonderful friendships with other great writers like J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, G. K. Chesterton and George Sayer.
Michael Coren, an expert on the life and writings of Lewis, presents an engrossing biography which especially focuses on how Lewis created his wonderful Narnia tales.
"Serious and thoughtful. Immensely readable." — Kirkus Reviews
"Riveting, insightful, well-researched. Coren is to be commended for bringing his skills as biographer and as a superb story-teller to this subject." — Ottawa Citizen
"A book for all readers. Coren brings Lewis to life in a study which should send adults and children scurrying to bookshelves." — London Free Press
Michael Coren is also the author of biographies of G. K. Chesterton, H. G. Wells, G. S. Lewis, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He is a radio and television broadcaster and syndicated columnist based in Toronto.
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