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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

This Brilliant Author Made Me Love a Beloved Book Even More

by Chautona Havig · 1 Comment

Once Upon a Wardrobe is like stepping into another world, one of pain-filled childhoods, hard youths, all wrapped in magic. Bring a coat. via @chautonahavig

You’ve never heard Aslan roar–not really–until you’ve heard it out of a four-foot-nothing, Estonian teacher who looks like blowing a candle out too close to her would send her into the next county.

Mrs. Elkins looked like a literal pushover, but let me tell you, that woman lived and loved with a fierceness that did credit to a roar that reverberated off the walls of our classroom. I like to think of that roar as having her Estonian accent. I was always that kind of romantic child.

Seated on the floor at her feet, seven-year-old me fell in love with a land where it was always winter and never Christmas, where foolish children became brave warriors, and where love was real magic.

Mrs. Elkins introduced me to the brilliance of Narnia and the wonder of C.S. Lewis’ amazing mind. She never knew how much she paved the way for so much more. Through her and Clive Staples Lewis, I learned to love fantasy and fairy tales.

Once Upon a Wardrobe

note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

This Brilliant Author Made Me Love a Beloved Book Even More

I’ve read the last word, and I am heartbroken. I didn’t want it to end, and yet… has it?

Written with love and care for a man I respect and love more every time I learn something more about him, Patti Callahan attempts to answer the question, “Where did Narnia come from?” The answer is life-changing for everyone in the story, and I suspect it would have been even for Mr. Lewis himself.

This unique approach to a sort-of biography is part fairytale, part romance, part love story. No, those last two are not synonyms. In this respect, a romance is of the kind Anne Shirley would embrace–beauty, tragedy, and hope all wrapped in an achingly wonderous tale. THAT, my friends, is a real romance.

Once Upon a Wardrobe offers them all and so much more.

I read this book as slowly as I could make myself. I backtracked as often as I could, desperate for it not to end. Then, as it did, I laughed at myself, because you see… good books never end. They just start all over again. This is one of those books.

Recommended for anyone who loves C.S. Lewis, whose life was changed by Narnia, or who just likes a good story. This offers something for everyone. Not recommended for those who refuse to engage their imaginations, not because they wouldn’t enjoy it anyway but because it would be a disservice to Ms. Callahan’s work.

Once Upon a WardrobeOnce Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan

When college student Megs approaches author C. S. Lewis with her younger brother’s request to find out if Narnia is real, he instead takes her on a magical journey through the moments in his life that led to his greatest creation.

Megs Devonshire, on a scholarship at Oxford, is brilliant with numbers and equations. She prefers the dependability of facts—except for one: the brother she loves with all her heart doesn’t have long to live. When George becomes captivated by a brand-new book called The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and begs her to find out where Narnia came from, there’s no way she can refuse.

Despite her timidity about approaching the famous author, who is a professor at her school, Megs soon finds herself taking tea with the Oxford don and his own brother, begging them for answers. What she receives instead are stories . . . little-known tales from different periods in Mr. Lewis’s life, which she takes home to George.

Why won’t Mr. Lewis just tell her plainly what George wants to know? The answer will reveal to Meg 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.

Praise for Once Upon a Wardrobe:

“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’s stepson

“With a touch of fairy-tale magic, Once Upon a Wardrobe will take you behind the legend and deep into the English and Irish countryside, where you’ll encounter not only the inspirations for one of the 20th century’s most beloved works, but also a tale of heartache, hope, and discovery that will forever change the Narnia you thought you knew.” —Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author

  • A marvelous blend of little-known true stories from C. S. Lewis’s life that Narnia fans will treasure
  • Includes discussion questions for book clubs as well as a note from Douglas Gresham, C. S. Lewis’s stepson
  • Also by New York Times bestselling author Patti Callahan: Becoming Mrs. Lewis and Surviving Savannah
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Comments

  1. Phyllis says

    November 5, 2021 at 6:32 am

    I love Patti Callahan’s writing so much that I pre-ordered this book in hardback and I never do that! I can’t wait to read it!

    Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 162: A Chat with Author, Nancy Naigle
byChautona Havig

Hey, we’re back after a couple of weeks of vacation, and boy did I need it. And, have I got a fabulous interview for you. Nancy Naigle and I talked about her books, her most recent release, What Remains True as well as her Christmas books and the one I’m most anxious to read, The Shell Collector. Listen in and learn about what Nancy says about this bet she has going on in What Remains True. Great stuff!

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Need a Great Romantic Read to Wind Up Your Summer Reads?

As I said in the podcast, a while back, someone told me I’d LOVE The Shell Collector–one of those people who recommends books you HAVE to read if they say you do.  So I bought it and it’s been sitting on my shelf ever since. Well, now it’s on my GoodReads shelf, and I’m about to start it (and I optimistically thought I’d be done with it by the time this episode released. Oh, me of too much faith in myself and my time management!)

Author of over thirty books, not to mention a bestselling author who also has movies made of her novels (And The Shell Collector has been optioned! EEEP!), Nancy loves to write Christmas books and small-town stories. Seriously, as we talked, I felt like she was talking about me half the time. We’re so very alike in so many ways. It was fun.

Nancy also pointed out that her first books (if you go WAY back) are not Christian fiction and are a bit spicier than she prefers to write and definitely more than she writes today. So be warned there, but she did assure us that they are all closed-door books.

What Remains True by Nancy Naigle

One woman wants to win a bet. One man wants to become a rodeo champion. One little girl may give them both something even better—from USA Today bestselling author Nancy Naigle.

“A commitment-phobic rodeo star and a divorcée with secrets find love in this wholesome romance. . . . As uplifting as it is sweet.”—Publishers Weekly

Working at a little shop on Main Street in a small town is exactly the break that executive Merry Anna Foster needs following her divorce. She’s made a bet with her ex-husband that she can live on the amount of money she’s giving him in alimony. If she can do it, then Kevin will have to stop complaining and leave her alone. But after three months of this new life, will she even want to leave Antler Creek?

Adam Locklear, bull rider and owner of the local feedstore, is having the best year of his rodeo career. He’s also a bit distracted by the pretty new neighbor living in his old bunkhouse. But Adam has no time for matters of the heart. He’s got his future all mapped out, and that future doesn’t involve a woman just yet. It doesn’t involve parenting a little girl either. However, Carly Fowler still suddenly leaves five-year-old Zan—the daughter Adam didn’t know he had—in his care.

Is it possible that the future holds a life even better than what Merry Anna and Adam had each dreamed of? One that includes both tenderness and even love—not just for each other but for Zan too?

You can learn more about Nancy’s books and movies on her WEBSITE.

Oh, and PSST… I’m loving the audiobook of this one!

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Episode 162: A Chat with Author, Nancy Naigle
Episode 162: A Chat with Author, Nancy Naigle
August 9, 2022
Chautona Havig
Episode 161: A Chat with Christian Women's Fiction Robin W. Pearson
July 26, 2022
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Episode 160: A Chat with Liz Johnson about The Last Way Home
July 22, 2022
Chautona Havig
Episode 159: A Chat with Biblical Fiction Author, Mesu Andrews
July 19, 2022
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A Chat with Historical Christian Fiction Author, Stephanie Landsem
July 12, 2022
Chautona Havig
Episode 157: A Chat with Historical Christian Fiction Author, Lynn Austin
July 8, 2022
Chautona Havig
Episode 156: The Fragrance of Violets by Susan K. Beatty
July 5, 2022
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Episode 155: Chatting with Heather Day Gilbert & Jen Cudmore
July 1, 2022
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Episode 154: A Chat with Romantic Suspense Author, Sami A. Abrams
June 28, 2022
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Episode 153: A Chat with Historical Author, Tracie Peterson
June 21, 2022
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