Mythlore—the scholarly, peer-reviewed journal published by the Mythopoeic Society that focuses on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and the genres of myth and fantasy—has just published a review of Marsha Daigle-Williamson’s Reflecting the Eternal: Dante’s Divine Comedy in the Novels of C.S. Lewis. Here is a small snippet:

“Although others have observed Dantean parallels and allusions in C.S. Lewis’s fiction, Marsha Daigle-Williamson’s Reflecting the Eternal is the first book to examine the Divine Comedy’s presence in all of Lewis’s novels. This fact makes it an important and groundbreaking work of criticism for both Lewis scholars and other passionate readers of his work. The book contains enough specific, original examples of convincing parallelism and allusion to make it an invaluable resource for scholars, yet it is not overburdened with critical jargon that would render it heavy going for general readers….

Everything said, in the end there is no denying that Daigle-Williamson’s achievement in this book is monumental, as it demonstrates for the first time the extent of allusion to a great (many would say the greatest) medieval poet by a great twentieth-century mythopoeic writer. The groundbreaking status of this work of criticism makes it a must for all libraries with C.S. Lewis collections and a vast source for new insights into Lewis’s fiction for serious researchers, for anyone teaching a course with Lewis on the syllabus, for upper-level secondary and post-secondary students, and, not least, for general readers.”

—Paul R. Rovang, Mythlore, Fall/Winter 2016, http://www.mythsoc.org/mythlore.htm

For more information about Reflecting the Eternal: Dante’s Divine Comedy in the Novels of C.S. Lewis, check out this blog series on the book, this author interview with Marsha Daigle-Williamson, this blog post on Reflecting the Eternal‘s unique and beautiful cover design, and our website.