Which C.S. Lewis autobiography recounts his spiritual journey from childhood to Christianity?

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Surprised by Joy is C.S. Lewis’s autobiography recounting his intellectual and spiritual journey toward Christianity. It was published in 1955.

The book describes Lewis’s childhood, education, developing imagination, friendships, reading, service in the First World War, and movement from atheism toward belief. Its title refers to moments of intense longing or imaginative delight that Lewis called “joy,” not simply to ordinary happiness.

Surprised by Joy ends before the full story of Lewis’s marriage and later public career. It is therefore different from A Grief Observed, which deals with bereavement after Joy Davidman’s death. The Problem of Pain is also a Christian apologetic work, not an autobiography.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Oct. 2026

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