RAR #273: Imagining the Childhood of C.S. Lewis, with Judith McQuoid

Many of you will already know that I am a huge fan of The Chronicles of Narnia. Today, I want to introduce my fellow Narnia lovers to a new book that jumped right off the shelf as soon as I saw it. 

Giant is a middle-grade novel by debut author Judith McQuoid where we meet Davy, a fictional working class boy from East Belfast, Ireland who is sent to work in the wealthy Lewis household in 1908. There, he forges a friendship with Jacks–as C.S. Lewis was known to his friends and family–over books, stories, and building worlds of imagination and adventure.

Giant is a must-read for Narnia fans that adds a whole new depth of experience to C.S. Lewis’s world and will help you read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in a fresh way. And today, I’m chatting with the author about what inspired her to write the book, how much of the story is fictionalized, and how the process of writing the book shaped her identity. And you’re going to love her Irish accent! 

In this episode, you’ll hear: 

• The way her dad’s love of Narnia and Lewis’s Belfast heritage inspired Judith to write this story 
• How Judith started with a “skeleton” draft and added layers of detail and depth with revisions
• The faith that carried Judith through the ups and downs of creating Giant

Learn more about Sarah Mackenzie:

• Read-Aloud Revival
• Waxwing Books
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Find the rest of the show notes at: readaloudrevival.com/judith-mcquoid