Recently we received word from Megan Wilson at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt about a brand new biography about the life of Joy Davidman Gresham. You can look for our interview with the books author, Abigail Santamaria, and our review in the coming week. In the meantime, the official press release is below.
CONTACT: Megan Wilson
Senior Publicity Manager
617.351.3377
megan.wilson@hmhco.com
“Abigail Santamaria has written a luscious Narnia tale for grownups, a literary biography that takes the shape of a quest narrative as the brilliant idealistic Joy Davidman Gresham, writer and free spirit, adopts one cause after another until finally setting her cap for her spiritual mentor, C. S. “Jack” Lewis.”
—Megan Marshall, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Margaret Fuller: A New American Life
“[An] impressive debut biography . . . Santamaria has fashioned a compelling narrative.”
—Kirkus Reviews
JOY
Poet, Seeker, and the Woman Who Captivated C.S. Lewis
Abigail Santamaria
Joy Davidman’s marriage to C.S. Lewis stands as one of the twentieth century’s greatest literary love stories, immortalized in the film Shadowlands and Lewis’s memoir A Grief Observed. Yet Davidman has remained in her husband’s shadow, despite being a remarkable writer and thinker in her own right. Her epic narrative, in all its fullness, has never truly been told—until now. Drawing on previously unmined material, including an extraordinary cache of letters and papers, as well as years of research and interviews, Abigail Santamaria finally brings Joy Davidman Gresham Lewis to the page with the breadth and depth she deserves in JOY: Poet, Seeker, and the Woman Who Captivated C.S. Lewis.
JOY: Poet, Seeker, and the Woman Who Captivated C.S. Lewis by Abigail Santamaria
Publication Date: August 4, 2015 * $28.00 hardcover * ISBN 978-0-151-01371-5
Also available as an e-book
A poet and radical, Davidman was an active member of New York literary and communist circles in the 1930s and ’40s. After growing up Jewish in the Bronx, she became an atheist, then a practitioner of Dianetics, and her difficult marriage led her to a moment of spiritual reckoning. She studied various religions, but soon came to Christianity and the work of C.S. Lewis. By 1950, her marriage was nearly over. Joy reached out by letter to Lewis, eager to connect intellectually and seeking religious guidance. In 1952, she set off for England, determined to win over the man whose work had changed her life.
Becoming the partner whom Lewis never expected but cherished, Davidman influenced some of his greatest books, helping him to refine his autobiography, Surprised by Joy, and to write his novel Till We Have Faces. Their relationship grew from a dialogue about faith, writing, and poetry into a deep friendship and a timeless love story. In JOY, Santamaria brings fresh insight to this fascinating story, revealing the truth behind the Shadowlands tale and guiding readers through the spiritual journey that defined Davidman’s life.
About the Author
ABIGAIL SANTAMARIA earned an MFA in nonfiction writing from Columbia University and has been awarded fellowships from the Ragdale Foundation, Jentel Arts, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She lives in New York City with her family. JOY is her first book.
JOY: Poet, Seeker, and the Woman Who Captivated C.S. Lewis by Abigail Santamaria
Publication Date: August 4, 2015 * $28.00 hardcover * ISBN 978-0-151-01371-5
Also available as an e-book
