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Once upon a Wardrobe

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Once upon a Wardrobe

By: Patti Callahan
Narrated by: Fiona Hardingham
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About this listen

College student Megs Devonshire sets out to fulfill her younger brother George’s last wish by uncovering the truth behind his favorite story. What transpires is 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.”

  • From the New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Book of Flora Lea
  • A captivating, standalone historical novel combining fact and fiction
  • An emotional journey into the books and stories that make us who we are
©2021 Patti Callahan (P)2021 Harper Muse
20th Century Biographical Fiction Fiction Romance Women's Fiction Student Heartfelt
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What listeners say about Once upon a Wardrobe

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  • Overall
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An unusual and moving story

This was an unusual and moving story mixing facts and fiction that involve CS Lewis (the author of the Narnia series of stories).
The story revolves around the protagonist (a young university student and her brother) so the actual plot is about them rather than a simple biography of the famous author.
The narrator is excellent and her range of voices helps to differentiate the characters extremely well. I also thought that her Irish accents (both North and South) were very good.
A couple of tiny niggles I had was that the book is set in 1950 and some of the details about England were unrealistic for that time, also a few Americanisms crept in, telling me that the author is from the US.
However these were minor points and overall I really enjoyed this audio book. Bit of a tear jerker at times (so be warned if you are out in public and don't want to be seen walking around with tears running down your face.)

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing!

This is a book that NEEDS to be read then left then read again. Beautiful!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Thought provoking

This book is a thought-provoking and insightful experience; investigating the significance of stories …. and I loved it. If you have any interest in the importance of stories in the human experience or in CSLewis himself then I highly recommend this tale. Be prepared to want to read it more than once!!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Wonderful book

Very sad but very pure. A lovely story this is definitely one I will share with my family.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful storywriting

A story within a story within a story. Full of love and life and living it as we may. Poignant and happy and sad, all in one. A magical read.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Beyond wonderful

Such a beautiful tale that moved me deeply. It was read perfectly and is one of my best audiobooks of 2021

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Please do yourself a favour and listen to this book

A beautiful book .
I found myself lost in this book and the telling.
A wonderful narrator keeps your interest to the end.
I will wait a while and listen again

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what a great story and beautifully read.

i originally bought this in book form but due to hardly having much free time the next best thing was in audio book.
fiona hardinghams narration is flawless and couldn't imagine anyone else bringing this beautiful story to life.
i found my self still sitting in my car after my journey to and from work waiting till the chapter had finished i was that gripped.
i will be looking at other books by patti callahan due to her attention to detail and amazing story telling. this is by far one of my favourite books and will revisit it again soon.
really worth a listen

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

door to your imagination

Well narrated incudes social history and magical thinking outside the box,poignant and heart warming

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Didn't enjoy as I'd hoped

Some quite distracting false Irish accents. C.S. Lewis, having been educated largely in English schools before attending Oxford, spoke with a received English accent as an adult. (A little searching online confirms this.)
For some characters the narrator raised her voice unnecessarily, making chronically sick child sound overly energetic.
Quite a sweet little story, but I can't say I enjoyed it. Tenuous references to the Narnia books could have been made stronger perhaps. A bit disappointing as a great fan of Lewis's works.

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