All my road before me - C. S. Lewis

A rare glimpse into the early life of one of the most famous writers of the 20th Century, newly repackaged.

Friday 6 June (1926): A beautiful misty warm morning, the mist all transparent and luminous with concealed sunshine, wood pigeons making a noise in the grove, and a heavy dew. It suggested autumn and gave me a sudden whiff of what I used to call 'the real joy'.

C.S. Lewis made several short-lived attempts to keep a diary when he was a boy. At the age of 23, now an undergraduate at Oxford, he begins a new diary which will span five years. All My Road Before Me gives a rare glimpse into his private life. He is living with his newly acquired 'family' consisting of Mrs Moore, the mother of his room-mate who died in the War, and her daughter Maureen. It is a domestic situation open to question and 'Jack', as he is known, conceals the arrangement from his father.

These diaries chronicle the daily events of Lewis's life - his friendships, his likes and dislikes, his country walks, his books and his college work. The details of everyday life are interspersed with startling observations and reflections. The diary gives .a fascinating insight 'inside the skin' of this brilliant young academic, still an atheist, who is later to turn to Christian faith and become one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.