Once Upon a Wardrobe

Seventeen-year-old Megs is studying mathematics at Somerville College—one of the few Oxford colleges for women. Megs is delighted to be at Oxford and worked hard to earn her scholarship, but she misses her home and family. She sees the other students having fun but feels like she doesn’t fit in.

When Megs arrives at her family home in Worcestershire, she goes straight to George’s bedroom. Finding his bed empty, she and her mother frantically search the house. Finally, Megs notices that the wardrobe door is ajar and finds George inside. Mrs. Devonshire reveals that George often sits in the wardrobe since reading his new book and has lost interest in Beatrix Potter’s stories. Her own favorite author is the mystery writer Dorothy L. Sayers.

George questions Megs about C. S. Lewis. Megs confirms that she has seen the author but has never met him, as Lewis is a tutor of English literature at Magdalen College, where women are prohibited. Megs admits that she has not read Lewis’s new book, as it is for children. George insists that “it’s a book for everyone” (13). When Megs explains that Narnia is no more real than Wonderland in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, George disagrees, asserting that he needs to know “where it came from” (13). Recognizing how much it means to her brother, Megs promises to find out. Before she returns to Oxford, Megs offers to read a few pages of Lewis’s book to George. After reading the entire book, she cries at the end and realizes that she has missed her train.

Megs attends a public talk by C. S. Lewis on Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queen. The lecture focuses on medieval motifs and the moral message of poetry. Although Megs is uninterested in literature, Lewis makes the subject engaging. Afterward, Megs follows Lewis to his home, the Kilns, but fails to summon the courage to speak to him. She is tempted to make up a story for George about the origins of Narnia but decides that she cannot lie to her brother. The next day, Megs returns to the Kilns, lurking in the woodland behind the house. Overhearing the inhabitants, she realizes that Lewis lives with his brother, Warren (or “Warnie”).

On her third visit to the Kilns, Megs reflects on the magical-looking frozen landscape and begins to see how it could have inspired Narnia. Surprised by Warnie’s voice addressing her, she falls off a rock and into the snow. She apologizes for trespassing, but Warnie assures her that other visitors have come looking for Narnia. Megs explains that her brother is ill and that he wants to know about Narnia’s origins. Warnie invites her inside to meet his brother, whom he calls Jack. Both men are welcoming, and the house is warm. Like George, Lewis denies that his latest book is for children. He says that he might not be able to answer George’s question directly but can tell Megs some stories.

Lewis recounts how he and Warnie invented a land called Boxen when they were children. He describes their childhood home called Little Lea in Ireland.

Megs tells George about her meeting with Lewis and Warnie. She explains that the author would not let her take notes, insisting that she must write down what she remembered afterward. George declares that Megs must start the story properly instead of launching straight into it. They agree on the opening, “Once Upon a Wardrobe, not very long ago and not far away” (32). George pictures the story as Megs tells it.

In County Down, Belfast, eight-year-old Lewis and 11-year-old Warnie lived with their mother, Flora; father, Albert; and grandfather. They also had a nanny named Lizzie and a tutor, Annie. Lewis called himself Jack because he did not like his real name, Clive Staples. Little Lea’s attic had a view of the sea and the mountains, and Lewis and Warnie imagined where the ships they could see were heading. Warnie always guessed India, while Lewis asserted that they were going to “Animal-Land.” Lewis drew maps of Animal-Land and portraits of its inhabitants. The anthropomorphic animal characters were inspired by Beatrix Potter’s creations, such as Squirrel Nutkin. Lewis dreaded his brother’s forthcoming departure for boarding school in England. Warnie suggested that they combine India and Animal-Land into a new kingdom called Boxen. While he was away, his brother could write to him about the adventures that took place in their imaginary land.

Lewis was physically fragile and often ill. When confined to bed, he passed the time reading, as the house was full of books. Lizzie also told him Irish tales about fairies. Inspired by the stories, Warnie made a miniature garden in a biscuit tin resembling the fairy world. Lewis cherished it when Warnie went away to the Wynyard School in Hertfordshire.

In Warnie’s absence, Lewis’s mother consoled him by reading The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin. She also read the autobiographical story her son had written titled My Life. Flora praised the story, declaring that her son was a natural writer. She surprised him by revealing she was once a writer, too.

George appears to be asleep, and Megs worries that she has bored him. However, her brother is imagining the scenes she described. George explains that he can enter a story in his mind, and Megs continues.

Returning home for the holidays, Warnie revealed that the headmaster of the Wynyard School, Reverend Capron (nicknamed “Oldie”), read all his pupils’ letters before they were posted. The only aspect of school life that he enjoyed was outdoor sports. Lewis reflected that he would not share Warnie’s enthusiasm, as the missing joint in his thumbs made him clumsy. Warnie pointed out that his brother’s skill was as an artist, illustrated by his notebooks full of stories and drawings.

When Megs recounts Lewis’s belief that “ink is the great cure for all human ills” (51), George asks Megs to bring him some notebooks and colored pencils. He wants to write and draw just as Lewis did at his age. Alone with her mother, Megs notices how she has visibly aged. Suddenly, Megs is overwhelmed with grief at the thought of George’s death. She struggles to accept the unanimous medical opinion that nothing more can be done for George.