Once Upon a Wardrobe: A Story of Narnia and a Sister's Love

by Patti Callahan

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Book of Flora Lea and Becoming Mrs. Lewis comes a fascinating look into the bond between siblings and the life-changing magic of stories.

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 shares 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 farther in his imagination than he ever could in real life.

After holding so tightly to logic and reason, her brother's request leads Megs to absorb a more profound truth: "The way stories change us can't be explained. It can only be felt. Like love."

Once Upon a Wardrobe is a captivating historical novel that deftly combines fact and fiction. It's an emotional journey into the books and stories that make us who we are. It's perfect for book clubs, for anyone who has ever longed to know more about Narnia, and for anyone whose life has ever been impacted by a story.

"It's a love letter to books and stories . . ." --THE WASHINGTON POST | ". . . a tender, enchanting tribute to the power of story and the myriad ways it can both break and heal our hearts." --ARIEL LAWHON | "Patti Callahan's beautiful, life-affirming novel is a reminder that literature lives inside us, and that when we read someone else's story, we understand so much more about our own. A gorgeous, compelling book." --JANET SKESLIEN CHARLES | ". . . the kind of real magic that is only possible when we open our hearts and let the lamplight in." --KRISTIN HARMEL | ". . . discovering the way in which stories--and myths--weave through our existences, subtly transforming us in immeasurable ways. Stunning." --MARIE BENEDICT

• ISBN10: 0785251723
• ISBN13: 9780785251729
• Publish Date: 19 October 2021 (first published 22 September 2021)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Focus
• Imprint: Harper Muse
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[Baroness Book Trove]

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan is about love, loss, and imagination.

Can Megs deliver on a promise that she made to her brother?

Megs Devonshire

Megs Devonshire is a seventeen-year-old girl who went to Cambridge's college at their girl's university back in 1950. She has a younger brother named George, who's eight years old, and he's also dying. George gave Megs a hard promise to deliver to him about finding out where Narnia came from. Megs is just a girl trying to help her brother even though she can't, and Megs is a lover of math, not fiction books, until she read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe with her little brother. I like Megs because she doesn't stray from what she knows, and granted, yes, she tries to see everything as a mathematical equation instead of how a normal person sees things. Megs loves her little brother so much that she risks a lot of things to contact Mr. C.S. Lewis and take George on an adventure.

The Story

After being tasked by her little brother to talk to Mr. Lewis, Megs doesn't know what to expect from the professor until they meet up. She gets to know not only Mr. Lewis but Warnie, his brother, along with all of their adventures. Megs also gets to know a boy she wrote off as not even a potential friend when they first met earlier that year. She spends more time with him and sees that he isn't who she first thought he was. Mr. Lewis never really answers her or George's questions, but the three of them do become good friends.

Four Stars

Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan evokes many different emotions while I was reading this book. Ms. Callahan does a great job of transporting me to the wintertime of 1950s Cambridge. I felt so sad for the Devonshire family and everyone else that knew George. My rating for Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan is four stars and I'm recommending it to everyone. But especially for those that read Historical Romances, there is a bit of romance between everything else that is going on.



Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan.

Until the next time,



Happy Reading!

This review was originally posted on Baroness' Book Trove

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

A very milquetoast predictable story about how The Chronicles of Narnia came to be.

I receive a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.