What was the name of C.S. Lewis’s wife who was born in the United States?

C.S. Lewis’s wife who was born in the United States was Joy Davidman. She was an American poet and writer whom Lewis married in a civil ceremony in 1956.

Davidman was born in New York City in 1915 and became known for her poetry, novels, and religious writing. She first met Lewis through correspondence and later moved to England. Their relationship developed from friendship into marriage, although the civil ceremony was initially arranged partly to protect her legal status in Britain.

The couple later had a Christian marriage ceremony in 1957, conducted by Lewis’s friend Reverend Peter Bide. Their marriage was brief because Davidman died of cancer in 1960. Lewis later reflected on grief and bereavement in A Grief Observed, published under a pseudonym.

Davidman is sometimes remembered only as Lewis’s wife, but she had an independent literary career and intellectual identity. Her life and relationship with Lewis also inspired the play and film Shadowlands.