A Severe Mercy...

"To hold her in my arms against the twilight and be her comrade for ever - this was all I wanted so long as my life should last..."

A Severe Mercy

is the autobiography of Sheldon Vanauken and his wife Davy, their all consuming love, their friendship with C. S. Lewis, their search for faith and eventual loss.

Published: 1977

Author: Sheldon Vanauken

Purchase at: Amazon

MY REVIEW

This book started off slow and slowly drew me in. It wasn't until the fourth chapter when C. S. Lewis was introduced that I started to feel connected. The writing seemed over-dramatic and picture perfect. It almost had an unrealistic feel to it. I wanted to say, "No body's love is this perfect", but as the book progressed and as I became used to Vanauken's writing this was no longer an issue. I think he had to be that over-the-top in his description of their love in order for the reader to see and feel the depth of the transformation, so that we could know that to love Christ more than each other was an extreme devotion. When I read the final page and closed the book I said, "That was a good book."

If you are a C. S. Lewis fan you will most certainly appreciate it. It contains 18 letters written to Vanauken by Lewis. This book would be great for a discussion group. I didn't start out thinking I would like it, but I did. I think I will have to read it again to fully understand it. I give it three stars. It was definitely a good book and I have a feeling I will give it more stars after the reread.

Try it and let me know what you think.

HAPPY READING!!!