The first name of C.S. Lewis’s wife, the American writer who died in 1960, was Joy.
Joy Davidman was an American poet and writer who became closely associated with Lewis during the final years of his life. They first met in person in Oxford in 1952, after corresponding by letter. Their civil marriage took place in 1956, and an Anglican marriage ceremony followed in 1957.
Davidman was diagnosed with cancer, and Lewis’s account of her illness and death influenced A Grief Observed. She died on 13 July 1960 at the age of 45. The couple had a short marriage, but their relationship had a major effect on Lewis’s personal life and later writing.
Joy Davidman is sometimes confused with the fictional idea of “joy” that Lewis discusses in Surprised by Joy. The title of that earlier book refers to a spiritual and emotional experience, not to his future wife, and it was published before Lewis met Davidman.