LIFETIME LEARNING ANNOUNCES 2024 WASHINGTON CO. READ BOOK
Lifetime Learning Brenham has revealed its selection for the 16th Annual Washington County READ: “Once Upon a Wardrobe” by Patti Callahan.
Callahan’s novel unravels the origin of the beloved fantasyland Narnia created by author C.S. Lewis. Eight year-old George begs his older sister, Megs, a student at Oxford, to ask Lewis, an English professor, where Narnia comes from and if it is real. Lewis declines to answer directly, instead giving her a map of clues by telling stories of his own life. Each time Megs returns home to share with George, they begin her retelling with “once upon a wardrobe, not very long ago, and not very far away.”
George, who is also gravely ill, uses his imagination to see into the world beyond his bedroom window. However, the ever-rational Megs, a math major, firmly believes that imagination is just for children’s books. Megs eventually comes to understand how stories can allow people to “see with other eyes and feel with other hearts.”
Callahan is a New York Times best-selling author of 17 books since 2004. She has been the recipient of many awards, including the Harper Lee Distinguished Writer of the Year in 2020.
Lifetime Learning will host a free community reception on October 8th at 5:30 p.m. at Unity Theatre, featuring an author presentation, dramatic reading, book signing and refreshments.
To learn more, visit www.lifetimelearningbrenham.org.