Out of My Bone: The Letters of Joy Davidman

by Don W. King (Editor), Joy Davidman

Although best known as the wife of C.S. Lewis, Joy Davidman was an accomplished writer in her own right, with several published works to her credit. "Out of My Bone" tells Davidman's life story in her own words through her numerous letters.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Christian, Memoir, Essays, Christianity

426 pages, Hardcover

First published April 15, 2009

Reviews

[Gina Dalfonzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joy Davidman's incisive mind and irrepressible wit come through very clearly in her letters. The middle section gets rather tedious with her constant requests for money from her first husband -- I mean, she obviously needed it very badly, but in a collection of letters it does get a bit tiresome. Though I'm not fond of abridgments, I almost wonder if that part couldn't have been condensed a little. Also, the footnotes could have been better -- they went back and forth between being redundant, and hardly giving any information at all. All the same, the book made for worthwhile reading.

I couldn't help but notice that Joy had far less charity toward people in general than Lewis did, although she seemed to soften up a good deal after she married him. Perhaps he had a good effect on her in that regard!

[Christine Norvell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very grateful that Don King worked to collect and publish these letters. I know Joy Davidman now in a way even her poetry couldn't reveal.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

The collected letters of C.S. Lewis' wife, from her time as a youthful Communist, through her conversion to Christianity and eventual marriage to Lewis. The letters show her incisive mind and penetrating intellect, as well as the development of her thought over several decades.

[Justin Wiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read Joy Davidman’s brilliant book Smoke On The Mountain, Patti Patti Callahan Henry's incredible fictional work about her called Becoming Mrs. Lewis, my friend and C.S.Lewis scholar Don King’s Yet One More Spring A Critical Study of Joy Davidman, and lately I have been reading these collected letters that Don compiled and edited in his book Out of My Bone The Collected Letters of Joy Davidman, published in 2009.
Joy Davidman was a brilliant thinker, writer, and woman of faith. She was a Jewish woman from New York, was a published poet at a very young age, converted from atheism and communism to Christianity, went through a horrific divorce, met C. S. Lewis, moved to England, ended up marrying him, inspired him to write Till We Have Faces, The Four Loves, and Reflections The Psalms; she sadly got cancer, though wonder of wonders, she went into remission for four years, which was the happiest years of her, and Lewis’s life. Sadly the cancer came back, and Lewis suffered her loss and wrote his poignant book A Grief Observed. Her story is absolutely incredible, and it is an honor to be friends with her son Douglas Gresham, and it was incredible to get to see places in Oxford associated with her and Jack Lewis. If you have not read Don’s book, I highly recommend it.

[Kenneth Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well worth reading for anyone interested in Joy Davidman, American Communism, C.S. Lewis, Poetry, or even just historical letters.

[Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book begins with a brief introduction on who Joy Davidman is, which I imagine you already know if you are interested in the book, and the context for the different periods of letters. There is also a brief chronology of Joy's life. I've read about her, but I didn't realize that she died at age 45. The first section of letters takes place from 1936 to 1946. The next section is primarily 1948, which is shortly after her conversion to Christianity. The most famous section in this book is "The Longest Way Round," which is an autobiographical essay. We then see letters after her divorce from William Gresham, and lastly there are the letters to C.S. Lewis, which are probably the main reason people would by this book.

I've read other books before that are a compilation of letters, and it always amazes me the amount of work that goes into tracking down and compiling these letters. It's a daunting enough task when the person is famous and people go to great pain to save the letters, but for someone less well-known, like Davidman, it's all the more impressive. Like other books of people's letters, I found myself wishing for the full correspondence. It's nice to read what Davidman wrote, but you wish you could read the letters she was replying to for more context. Reading through someone's letters is a very personal glimpse into their soul. You see them raw and as they were at their best and worst. Davidman's letters were not always flattering and didn't always paint her in the best light, but they were authentic. I always feel a bit conflicted reading someone's letters, because I don't think I would want people to read my letters or emails. However, if that doesn't bother you and you are a fan of Davidman and C.S. Lewis, then this is a book you will want to read. It's certainly not the best book on Davidman I have read (her poetry book was much better), but it serves its purpose and has its place.

[Marilyn McEntyre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since Joy Davidman is known to most readers as the woman C.S. Lewis married late in life and lost to cancer four years later, it is likely that many readers will pick up her letters out of fondness for her husband’s work. But the letters quickly establish their own interest value. Davidman was an award-winning writer, a secular Jew and atheist who turned first to communism and then wholeheartedly to Christianity, though remaining generally acerbic about church people. The letters include material Lewis fans will be glad to see, but offer little intimate information about their lives together except that they were devoted to one another. Her account of that last illness is matter-of-fact; she writes as though it is one of the less interesting parts of her life, which was full of intellectual pursuits.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first section of letters were ones she wrote as reviews of books, etc. They were sassy and fun, but not as interesting as the later section of letters which were personal letters. She says what she means in a direct but kind way. She has a positive outlook on life even through her trials. I grew interested in this woman when I first saw the movie Shadowlands many years ago, and this book gives more insight into her life and her relationship with C.S. Lewis.