Review: Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan Is an Enchanting Tale That C.S. Lewis Would Applaud

Booknerdian
Nov 26, 2024
5 min read

Updated: Dec 23, 2024

If you’ve read C.S. Lewis’ book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, you will be enthralled by this heartfelt and magical tale spun by Callahan that recaptures the magic of Narnia in an entirely unexpected and imaginative way.

As Lewis himself once said, “Sometimes fairy stories may say best what needs to be said.” Callahan proves that fairytales aren’t just for children in this wonderfully poignant and moving story about a girl and her brother.

Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan book review

What Is Once Upon a Wardrobe About?

Megs Devonshire is a college student at Oxford University in 1950 studying mathematics and physics. Her 8-year-old brother, George, is fascinated by The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and when he learns C.S. Lewis is an English tutor at Megs’ university, George presses her to ask him where Narnia came from.

The issue is urgent. Due to a heart condition, George only has a short time to live. To fulfill her brother’s wish, Megs becomes a regular visitor at the Kilns—the property owned by Lewis and his brother, Warnie. Desperate for a straight answer regarding Narnia’s origins, Megs finds that Lewis doesn’t speak in absolutes but only offers stories about his life so that she can draw her own conclusions. Megs writes the stories in a notebook and reads them to George each time she returns home. They agree that each story she begin, “Once upon a wardrobe, not very long ago, and not very far away...”

George’s imagination soars during the storytelling. He even astounds his family with his artistic renditions of each one, and nearly all of his drawings include a lion.

With every new story, Megs changes, and her transformation is summed up best by Padraig, an Irish boy from college who makes her “stomach feel as if a swarm of bees have burst from their hive.” Padraig explains, “The way stories change us can’t be explained. It can only be felt. Like love.”

At the crux, Once Upon a Wardrobe is about the life-changing magic of stories, whether they are triumphant or sad, and it celebrates the emotional bond between two siblings.

Review: Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan Is a Delicious Blend of Fact and Fiction

Callahan has done impeccable research on C.S. Lewis to craft a tale that brings him to life while writing in a gorgeous prose style reminiscent of the man himself.

The author lays out the significant events in Lewis’ life that would have profoundly affected him, such as the early loss of his mother, his horrible experience at boarding schools, his time on the front lines in World War I, and his participation in Operation Pied Piper.

Callahan takes the facts and uses her own creative license to extrapolate them into something meaningful.

The reader also gains insight into how the first book in the Chronicles of Narnia may have developed. For example, Lewis noticed a place on a map of Italy called Narni, and he, a professor, welcomed children into his home during World War II, just like the professor did in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It’s also suggested that the genesis for the book’s Cair Paravel may have sprung from Lewis’ visits to Dunluce Castle in Ireland.

The author hides nuggets of truth through the novel, and the reader mines them with a sense of wonder and discovery.

The Book Nerd Weighs in on Once Upon a Wardrobe

I first read the Chronicles of Narnia in the seventh grade and found them gripping. I’ll bet you did too. I couldn’t wait for my own children to read them, especially now that we could watch a few movies as a follow-up to provide a visual.

As a Christian teenager, I remember being in awe of the symbolism in the novels, especially the first one, since they read more like a Christian allegories. Lewis didn’t plan to write them in this fashion, but it happened just the same. I loved this, since it reminded me of how Jesus often talked in parables.

Callahan incorporates a similar style—never putting any of the answers in black and white but expecting the reader to do the deciphering.

Once Upon a Wardrobe proves, once again, that Callahan is a master storyteller.

No thread is left untied. The book is filled with wisdom and insight and is pure magic from beginning to end. Just as George was captivated listening to Megs’ share her latest Lewis stories, I was equally transfixed to each page, and like George, I wanted to hear every story right away, even though I simultaneously didn’t want it to end.

The writing is skillful, the plot is clever, and the story is profound.

I have only one criticism of this exquisite novel, and that is the absence of the Gospel message. Since Lewis shares truths of Christianity in The Chronicles of Narnia symbolically rather than verbally, perhaps Callahan is taking the same approach.

Megs does refer to the “world that awaited him [George]” and supposes that he finally got to hear the “mighty roar of a lion,” but the emphasis in Once Upon a Wardrobe is on the power of stories rather than the power of God. Even Callahan’s editor writes, “I’ve always believed that if we can find our way to Narnia, we can find our way home.” The sentiment is nice, but in an age where everyone is pursuing their “own truth,” readers need a healthy dose of the REAL truth. George hopes to see the lion and tepidly believes that he’s already everywhere (omnipresent), but his “faith” hinges more on wishful thinking than absolute truth that he can count on.

In fact, Meg marvels that Lewis never tries to make her think, feel, or believe anything. He just shares stories and lets her decide what to do with them. This isn’t how sharing the Gospel works. In the Great Commission, Jesus commanded his followers to go make disciples of all nations and to share what He had taught them.

Aside from Once Upon a Wardrobe failing to convey the same spiritual messages and glorify God like Lewis’ Narnia novels do, it’s still a riveting tale that you will definitely want to read.