A Severe Mercy
by Sheldon Vanauken
1977, 238 pp.
Rating: 4
National Book Award Winner
This memoir is a book about life, marriage, friendship, and faith. Vanauken tells the story of how he and his wife’s relationship changed from an intense, romantic love to one controlled by their Christian beliefs. That is not to say that their love wasn’t intense or romantic after their conversion, but it did change significantly. He also details his wife’s illness, death, and his own grief process afterwards.
Most interesting to me were the letters exchanged between the Vanaukens (mostly Sheldon) and C.S. Lewis. The couple met Lewis while at Oxford and kept up a healthy correspondence with him after they moved back to the States. Lewis is my favorite author, so it was interesting to hear his viewpoints on a much more personal level. These exchanges were my favorite parts of the book.
- Amy – June 18, 2007
- I read this book and really enjoyed it too and agree that the exchanges with Lewis were my favorite part of the book.
I have so many Lewis books that I want to read(and in fact, own) but I never get them read. I need to link them to a challenge and then I will complete them.
Maybe in 2008.
I am a great fan of C.S. Lewis, in fact, my friend and I are doing a study of The Great Divorce this summer. I remember reading A Severe Mercy in college, no, I think it was Surprised By Joy, but anyway, I want to pick it up again. Thanks for reminding me.
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