Naked Tree: Love Sonnets to C.S. Lewis and Other Poems - Softcover

Marjorie Lamp Mead-- Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College Those seeking to better understand the brilliant and complicated writer Joy Davidman would do well to spend time with this vivid collection of her verse, much of it previously unpublished and only recently made available due to the generosity of her son Douglas Gresham. . . . In the poignant intensity of these poems, you will meet the gifted poet who so captivated C. S. Lewis and eventually became his beloved wife. Andrew Lazo-- coeditor of "Mere Christians: Inspiring Stories of Encounters with C. S. Lewis" Astounding! With "A Naked Tree, " Don King has made an extraordinary and permanent contribution that rattles the foundations of what we thought we knew not only about Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis but also about twentieth-century poetry. Along with her earlier works, Davidman's poignant love poems to Lewis, filled with playfulness, pathos, longing, and sheer humanness, will captivate a wide array of readers for years to come. This carefully curated volume brings to new light a literary love life that ranks among the most compelling in recent memory. Bravo! Bruce L. Edwards-- editor of "C. S. Lewis: Life, Works, and Legacy" (4 volumes) Don King here continues his remarkable streak of extraordinary editorial achievements illuminating the life and literary legacy of Joy Davidman. This volume provides unprecedented access to the full chronological range and power of Davidman's poetry. . . . Bravo! Lyle W. Dorsett-- author of "And God Came In: The Extraordinary Story of Joy Davidman" A superbly edited book and an important primary source that reveals both Davidman's love for C. S. Lewis and her considerable talent as a poet. " Marjorie Lamp Mead -- Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College -Those seeking to better understand the brilliant and complicated writer Joy Davidman would do well to spend time with this vivid collection of her verse, much of it previously unpublished and only recently made available due to the generosity of her son Douglas Gresham. . . . In the poignant intensity of these poems, you will meet the gifted poet who so captivated C. S. Lewis and eventually became his beloved wife.-Andrew Lazo -- coeditor of Mere Christians: Inspiring Stories of Encounters with C. S. Lewis -Astounding! With A Naked Tree, Don King has made an extraordinary and permanent contribution that rattles the foundations of what we thought we knew not only about Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis but also about twentieth-century poetry. Along with her earlier works, Davidman's poignant love poems to Lewis, filled with playfulness, pathos, longing, and sheer humanness, will captivate a wide array of readers for years to come. This carefully curated volume brings to new light a literary love life that ranks among the most compelling in recent memory. Bravo!-Bruce L. Edwards -- editor of C. S. Lewis: Life, Works, and Legacy (4 volumes) -Don King here continues his remarkable streak of extraordinary editorial achievements illuminating the life and literary legacy of Joy Davidman. This volume provides unprecedented access to the full chronological range and power of Davidman's poetry. . . . Bravo!-Lyle W. Dorsett -- author of And God Came In: The Extraordinary Story of Joy Davidman -A superbly edited book and an important primary source that reveals both Davidman's love for C. S. Lewis and her considerable talent as a poet.-World -In A Naked Tree, Davidman's gift to Lewis becomes a gift to the reader. Her sonnets exalt a virtue many do not appreciate in a woman: earnest romantic pursuit. Davidman's demeanor recoils at the idea that bravery is reserved for boys. She proves herself a Ruth with rhythm. Using tight and true lines, painfully personal, she wins the affection and protection of a man who held her at arm's length for far too long. And for that, you love her.- Marjorie Lamp Mead Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College "Those seeking to better understand the brilliant and complicated writer Joy Davidman would do well to spend time with this vivid collection of her verse, much of it previously unpublished and only recently made available due to the generosity of her son Douglas Gresham. . . . In the poignant intensity of these poems, you will meet the gifted poet who so captivated C. S. Lewis and eventually became his beloved wife." Andrew Lazo coeditor of "Mere Christians: Inspiring Stories of Encounters with C. S. Lewis" "Astounding! With "A Naked Tree, " Don King has made an extraordinary and permanent contribution that rattles the foundations of what we thought we knew not only about Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis but also about twentieth-century poetry. Along with her earlier works, Davidman's poignant love poems to Lewis, filled with playfulness, pathos, longing, and sheer humanness, will captivate a wide array of readers for years to come. This carefully curated volume brings to new light a literary love life that ranks among the most compelling in recent memory. Bravo!" Bruce L. Edwards editor of "C. S. Lewis: Life, Works, and Legacy" (4 volumes) "Don King here continues his remarkable streak of extraordinary editorial achievements illuminating the life and literary legacy of Joy Davidman. This volume provides unprecedented access to the full chronological range and power of Davidman's poetry. . . . Bravo!" Lyle W. Dorsett author of "And God Came In: The Extraordinary Story of Joy Davidman" "A superbly edited book and an important primary source that reveals both Davidman's love for C. S. Lewis and her considerable talent as a poet." "World" "In "A Naked Tree, " Davidman's gift to Lewis becomes a gift to the reader. Her sonnets exalt a virtue many do not appreciate in a woman: earnest romantic pursuit. Davidman's demeanor recoils at the idea that bravery is reserved for boys. She proves herself a Ruth with rhythm. Using tight and true lines, painfully personal, she wins the affection and protection of a man who held her at arm's length for far too long. And for that, you love her.""

Although best known as C. S. Lewis's wife, Joy Davidman (1915-1960) was a gifted writer herself who published, among other things, a volume of poetry and two novels in her short lifetime. This book is the first comprehensive collection of Davidman's poetry, including her published collection Letters to a Comrade (1938), forty other published poems, and more than two hundred previously unpublished poems. Of special interest is her sequence of forty-five love sonnets to C. S. Lewis, which offer stunning evidence of Davidman's spiritual struggles with regard to her feelings for Lewis, her sense of God's working in her lonely life, and her mounting frustration with Lewis for keeping her at arm's length emotionally and physically. This moving collection of poems lends credence to Davidman's stature as an important twentieth-century American poet.