It should be no secret to readers of this blog that I’m a fan of C.S. Lewis. I have a fairly good collection of his works as well as books about him. I always have one of those books on my current reading list, and almost every day read at least a few pages in it.

Part of that fascination includes the Inklings, the writers’ group that Lewis formed with Tolkien and others, of which he was probably the key member. Lewis and Tolkien got together to share their works as early as 1932, and slowly others joined them. The years of World War 2 was their heyday. They kind of disbanded around 1947 and became a semi-regular fellowship group for the next ten or so year. I reviewed a book about them, The Oxford Inklings by Colin Duriez. I’ve read that book twice, and am sure I will again.

Another book about the Inklings published the same year, 2015, was The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings: J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams. Written by Philip and Carol Zaleski, I came across this book while searching for something else. I thought the e-book was a little over-priced, but decided to get it anyway, using gift card money for the purchase.

I have to say this book didn’t disappoint in any way. While all the Inklings are mentioned, it covered the four main members listed in the title. They are the four who achieved literary distinction. The others were not all authors; some were merely friends of Lewis or one of the others. I think the weighting of each of these four in the book was about equal. Certainly Lewis and Tolkien achieved greater and longer-lasting distinction, but Williams and Barfield were no slouchers in the literary world.

I knew much less about Williams and Barfield going into this book, really not a lot more than that they were Inklings and friends of Lewis and did some writing.  I leave the book with greater appreciation of their life’s works and of their influence on fellow Inklings.

The Zeleskis delve into the private and professional lives of these four: their marriages, their children, their academic standing. Williams and Barfield had less than ideal marriages. One might say dealing with that was unnecessary in a book such as this, but I feel it helped me to understand them. Perhaps a full biography would give a more even-handed approach to those personal items, but what I read was useful.

I give this book 5-stars, and will take the time to cross-post this on Amazon.  I hope to read it again sometime. I have one other Inklings book I want to get and read, then will, someday, read all my Inklings books back-to-back. What a fun month that will be.