Mythopoeic Press
Books by and about writers of mythopoeic and fantastic literature
Books by and about writers of mythopoeic and fantastic literature
In Plain Sight Behind a Wardrobe Door:
Essays on C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia
by Joe R. ChristopherISBN: 978-1-887726-41-2
Published: July 2026
(purchase below)
In Plain Sight Behind a Wardrobe Door brings together insights from a lifetime of thoughtful and influential scholarship by Joe R. Christopher on C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia. Featuring essays spanning more than fifty years, this volume highlights Christopher’s vision of the Narniad as a carefully wrought secondary world infused with fairy tales, romance traditions, myth, medieval storytelling, and Christian thought.
Showcasing Christopher’s meticulous precision and quiet wit, these essays explore Narnia’s timelines and landscapes, its use of fantasy conventions, and its moral logic, while also tracing Lewis’s connections to writers such as Dante, Spenser, George MacDonald, and J.R.R. Tolkien. In one section focused on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Christopher addresses some of the most contested and enduring questions in Narnian criticism with balance, clarity, and historical depth.
This collection invites readers to rediscover Narnia as a layered imaginative world that rewards patient, attentive reading. Accessible yet deeply informed, In Plain Sight Behind a Wardrobe Door will appeal to devoted fans of Narnia, as well as to teachers, students, and general readers interested in fantasy, myth, and the Inklings.
Contents
Foreword by Jason Fisher
A Lifetime in the Shadow of the Inklings
Introduction to The Chronicles
Part 1: Thoughts on The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronology of The Chronicles
The Geography of The Chronicles
The Genre of The Chronicles
The Literary Classification of The Chronicles
The World of Narnia
Part 2: Essays and Notes on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Through Darkest Narnia with Gun and Camera
C.S. Lewis’s Two Satyrs
A Four-Fold Interpretation of the Narnian Father Christmas
A Dead Blue-Bottle in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Part 3: Special Studies
J.R.R. Tolkien, Narnian Exile
Narnian Angelology
Two Different Marches: Comments on “Narnian Suite”
Mount Purgatory Arises Near Narnia
Alice’s Adventures in Narnia; Or Through the Wardrobe, and What Alice Found There
Brief Biography and Summary of Professional Achievements of Joe R. Christopher
Index
A Lifetime in the Shadow of the Inklings
Introduction to The Chronicles
Part 1: Thoughts on The Chronicles of Narnia
Part 2: Essays and Notes on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Part 3: Special Studies
Brief Biography and Summary of Professional Achievements of Joe R. Christopher
Index
In Plain Sight Behind a Wardrobe Door:Essays on C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia
Published in July 2026; available both in print and electronic formats
Trade paperback format ($19.95) will be available soon. Watch this space.
Buy in Kindle format from Amazon: $9.99
Buy in other ebook versions (from Draft2Digital) $9.99