Which American writer became C.S. Lewis’s wife in a civil marriage in 1956?

The American writer who became C.S. Lewis’s wife in a civil marriage in 1956 was Joy Davidman.

Davidman and Lewis were legally married at Oxford Register Office on 23 April 1956. Their civil marriage initially served practical purposes connected with Davidman’s immigration status, but the relationship later became a deep personal partnership. A Christian marriage ceremony followed in 1957 at the Church of England parish church in Oxford.

Davidman was an American poet and writer who had converted to Christianity before meeting Lewis. Their relationship inspired later accounts, including Lewis’s A Grief Observed, written after Davidman’s death from cancer in 1960. The marriage and its emotional consequences became a significant part of Lewis’s biography.

Davidman is sometimes remembered only through films or dramatizations, but she was also an accomplished author in her own right. Her correspondence and literary work provide important context for understanding Lewis’s later life.