5 STARS!

I do not have enough adjectives in my vocabulary to describe this book--it was enchanting, magical, enticing, etc. I did not want to put it down and finished it sadly in under a day.

I read the Narnia books when I was younger but am not as in to fantasy reading but I read the previous book by the author, Becoming Mrs. Lewis, and I was captivated by the story of Joy Davidson. This story was equally captivating and took me on such an adventure.

The author is a fantastic storyteller and took me on such a journey in this book. I particularly fell in love with the characters of Megs, George, Paidig, Jack and Marnie. This book gave me so much to think about and I am deeply appreciative of that. I look forward to reading it again in the future for a new and different experience.

Thanks so much to the publisher and netgalley for the arc. The opinions are my own.

This review will be posted on my blog (www.kroosreadsandreviews.blogspot.com), bookbub, goodreads and netgalley.

The scenes where Ms Callahan is describing the college student of Mega coming home and the descriptions of the sights and smells before and after she turns the knob to the front door were so vivid and compelling. It reminded me so much of sights and sounds from my own childhood home the passages made me FEEL homesick even though I haven't been back home in 20 years! The scenes she sets up are so warm and cozy even though its winter outside the characters doors. Such a cozy opening to her novel what a great way to start out.

This isn't so much about a boys question as it is a journey for a brother and sister to make a they experience storytelling fron a master himself. When George explains he's IN the story I know exactly what he's referring to and what he means as I do the same thing as well. Such an active vibrant imagination doesn't make it hard. I really identified with these characters and found them completely relatable even though im 42 years old!🤣
I'm sure this book will be a HUGE hit and if its not then I'd say they marketing strategy didn't work very well... Ahem... There is NO WAY for people to NOT love this tale. For Narnia is real!

Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for this advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

There are books that you read and books that you devour. I absolutely devoured this book and it has taken me weeks to be able to totally process and write this review.

I believe that this is a book that Patti Callahan was destined to write and she did an amazing job with this book. Her love of Narnia and C.S. Lewis shine very bright throughout this entire book!!

The main question in this book is Where did Narnia come from? George is 8 years old and has a heart condition that does not allow him to do much. He reads The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and is is totally fascinated with it!!!! It is all he can talk about!! His sister Megs is a student at Oxford and George wants her to find the answer to his question from Mr. Lewis. Megs begins to have chats with Mr. Lewis and his brother, Warnie. They tell her stories that she takes home to tell her brother.

Will Megs be able to understand their stories so that she will have the answer for her ailing brother??

This is a magical book that touched my heart deeply. It is a story of deep sibling love, a quest for answers and the wonderful world of Narnia. This book will be the debut novel for Harper Muse and they picked an amazing book to be their first out in the world.

Thank you to Harper Muse, NetGalley and Patti Callahan for an early digital copy.

****Coming out October 19, 2021*****

Thanks to Harper Muse and Netgalley, I was chosen as an early reviewer.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Patti Callahan writes this magical and heartfelt book exploring the question: Where did Narnia come from? This book draws you in from the first page and is hard to put down until the very last page!

It’s1950’s, Meg is attending Somerville college. She has a brother George who is bed bound because he has a life threatening heart condition that no one can do anything about. George becomes fascinated with the book The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S Lewis after his Aunt gifts it to him. Meg comes home on the weekends in order to spend time with George and is convinced by George to read him this book. George knows that C.S.Lewis is a professor at Meg’s college, so he wants Meg to ask the question is Narnia real and how did it begin? Meg knows even though she doesn’t have the courage, she doesn’t want to disappoint George. Will Meg to get the answers George is looking for?
It clearly shows what a sister will do for her brother out of love and what lengths she is willing to go to fulfill his last wish. A heartfelt book that will not disappoint. Be sure to add this book to your TBR list for the fall.

“Maybe we are each and every one of us born with our own stories, and we must decide how to tell those stories with our own life, or in a book . . . Or could it be that all our stories come from one larger story?”

It’s December of 1950 in Worcestershire, England, and eight-year-old George Henry Devonshire knows that “the heart he was born with isn’t strong enough, and they’ve done all they can.” But during his solitary days spent reading in his room, George has become captivated by a beautiful new myth called The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. Now his fragile life has one focus: to discover where Narnia comes from.

His college-age sister Megs, who adores him and would do anything for him, realizes this is a matter of life and death for George. So she seeks out a friendship with C. S. Lewis to discover the answer. Lewis answers her questions with stories, which she then brings home to George. Each storytelling session beginning with, “Once upon a wardrobe . . .”

As Megs and George work through the personal history C. S. Lewis shares with them in story-form, they discover truths about the world and themselves and where their own stories begin.

Author Patti Callahan shares much of C. S. Lewis’s life, personality, and beliefs through these interactions with the fictional Megs. Both those who are “meeting” Jack for the first time and longtime Lewis fans are sure to find themselves enchanted as they read.

I savored this heartwarming tale. It made me smile and brought me to tears.

A must-read for fans of Narnia, C. S. Lewis & author Patti Callahan (Becoming Mrs. Lewis, Surviving Savannah). Don’t miss it!

Thank you to Patti Callahan, Harper Muse, and NetGalley for my opportunity to read & review.

Some favorite quotes:

“George takes something of this world and travels to another as if the story world and the real world run right alongside each other. Or maybe they are inside each other.”

“For a breath or two, I wonder about this magical world we live in. It’s a mystery we can never understand. For a moment, a small and breath-holding moment, I know it to be true: there is more, something more I can’t see, a vivid truth that can’t be described by logic or words alone, a truth that delights the heart.”

“He longs to climb inside the wardrobe and watch the story come together just as it happened. He doesn’t want to change the author’s life; he wants to watch it turn into something else new, something with snow, a white witch, and a lion that calls to George even in his sleep, its roar far off and deep, both comforting and terrifying.”

“I once believed they battled each other—imagination and reason—that they stood in sharp contrast one to the other.” . . . “Reason is how we get to the truth, but imagination is how we find meaning.”

“Stars are made of dust and nitrogen; they are balls of gas and hydrogen. But that isn’t what a star is; it’s only what it is made of.”

This was absolutely stunning! The characters were full of life and the plot was captivating and well-paced. This is a new favorite and one I'll return to again and again! Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book.

Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan is an amazing work of literature. It is one of those special stories that is as unforgettable as the Lion, Witch and Wardrobe. It brings the world of C.S. Lewis to life in a way that reminds us why we love Narnia Series. If you do love the series you will want to read this book.

Best book I have read in a very long time.

An ARC of the book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley which I voluntarily chose to read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

MOVING AND MAGICAL
🦁 A poignant and magical story, in which young terminally ill George asks his older sister Megs to find out how C.S. Lewis created Narnia. Megs will do anything for her beloved brother, and goes to the Oxford don’s house to ask. She has tea with Lewis and his brother Warnie, who over a series of sessions relate tales from their childhood. As Callahan writes, “The way the stories change us can’t be explained ... It can only be felt. Like love.”

🦁 This luminous and beautifully written book reveals love to George, Megs and its readers. The characters felt so authentic, especially young George, and I sensed a holy presence as I read, filling me with joy. A transformative experience, certainly, and Callahan’s best yet!

Pub Date 19 Oct 2021
#OnceUponaWardrobe #NetGalley

Thanks to Patti Callahan Henry, @Harper Muse Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

#pattichenry #harpermuse #netgalley #onceuponawardrobe #fictiononcslewis #narniafiction #CSLewisbooks #warnielewisfiction #booknerdigans #bookstagramcommunity #generalfictionforadults

A sweet and sad story filled with charm. A cast of characters that are larger than life. And a setting so real you feel like you could be there. All of this makes a fantastic book.

Absolutely anyone who loves C.S.Lewis, maybe even anyone who has read the Chronicles of Narnia, should read this book. It is delightful, moving, imaginative, and extremely well researched. It’s a cliché, but I truly could not put it down. Each time I did, I couldn’t wait to get back to it. The main character, Megs, is a 17 year old Oxford freshman, asked by her 8 year old dying brother to find out where Narnia came from. Megs, an aspiring mathematician, is changed by seeking the answer directly from C.S. Lewis himself. Instead of a direct answer, she receives stories. But wonderful stories. Patti Callahan is a master storyteller herself. Her descriptions are rich with evocative imagery. I recommend this book to men and women of all ages.

“You can take what hurts and aches and perform magic with it so it becomes something else, something that never would have been, except you make it so with your spells and stories and with your life...” -Patti Callahan, Once Upon A Wardrobe

I’m sitting in a puddle of my own tears. So. That’s something to start with. This is the novel that Patti Callahan was born to write. It’s truly what she was meant to publish, I can tell you that. You can feel it on every single line of every single page how deeply personal and emotional this book is for her, and how much she feels for and respects C. S. Lewis and the legacy he has. All of this which you would know if you read her previous work of historical fiction, Becoming Mrs. Lewis which chronicles the love affair between Lewis and his wife Joy Davidman.

This book though, is set mostly before that story, and tells the tale of a young 8 year old boy who is ill and knows he most likely will not see 9, who has read the story about four children and a magical wardrobe and a talking lion and a wicked white witch....in a land named Narnia....and the only thing he wants....is to know where it came from and how C. S. Lewis created the world....so he tasks his sister, a student where Lewis was a professor at Oxford to meet him and get some answers. I don’t want to say anything else because you must read it for yourself and find out how special it is.

My ARC provided by NetGalley is obviously an extremely early galley and does not yet have Patti Callahan’s authors note attached to it, and I’m just dying to learn more about the research she put into this novel and where she developed some of these stories from C. S. Lewis...it’s absolutely fascinating. I loved it, beyond more than my wildest dreams and I now want to go back and read the Narnia books again!

“The way stories change us can’t be explained....It can only be felt...Like love.” -Patti Callahan, Once Upon A Wardrobe

All the Stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Once Upon A Wardrobe will leave readers on the verge of tears if not actually crying at the beauty and the insight of what should be a sad story, but is instead so uplifting. Meg undertakes a mission for her young extremely ill brother that will change both their lives. George wants to know how C. S. Lewis came up with Narnia, but instead of a direct answer Jack, as he was known, and his brother Warnie tell her stories about their lives. The retelling of the stories to George result in more questions, more stories, and finally an understanding of how imagination and reality are intertwined. It’s a book that begs to be read in one sitting and then read again. Beautifully written imagery and intriguing characterizations draw readers into the settings as well as the plot. This is a book no serious reader should miss. I voluntarily reviewed an advance copy of this book from NetGalley. Most highly recommend.

This was a touching story about a brother and sister, George and Megs. Eight year old George is very sick with a heart condition and loves "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe". He asks Megs to seek out C.S. Lewis and to find out where Narnia came from. Megs does finally meet with C.S. Lewis and his brother and they do share stories about their lives, in turn she shares these stories with George.

I am a huge fan of Patti Callahan. Her writing is exquisite. This story was beautifully written and I may have shed a few tears. I highly recommend this heartwarming story.

Once Upon a Wardrobe is a story about a brother and sister who are brought closer together through the magical stories of C.S. Lewis. George is a young boy battling a terminal illness who is obsessed with 'The lion, the witch, and the wardrobe.' His older sister Megs, seeks to bring comfort and hope to her brother as his illness progresses. She strikes up a friendship with C.S. Lewis and his brother, trying to understand if Narnia is real, to satisfy George's questions. C.S. Lewis and his brother reminisce about their childhood helping Meg and George understand that stories begin in the dark, where imagination and wonder illuminate truths, myths, and love that can only be felt and seen when we stop asking questions and start acknowledging the beauty of life.

This was a touching story that shone a bright light on the power of stories, family, and heart.