What is the title of C.S. Lewis’s 1956 autobiographical book about his spiritual journey?

C.S. Lewis’s 1956 autobiographical book about his spiritual journey is Surprised by Joy. The book traces important stages in his childhood, education, return to belief, and eventual conversion to Christianity.

Lewis uses “joy” in a specialized sense: an intense longing or desire sparked by experiences of beauty, imagination, and literature. He presents these episodes as clues in his intellectual and spiritual development rather than as a conventional day-by-day autobiography.

The book is often confused with A Grief Observed, which records Lewis’s response to the death of his wife, Joy Davidman. Surprised by Joy predates that loss and focuses on the earlier formation of Lewis’s beliefs.