C. S. Lewis penned heartfelt letter for goddaughter after she outgrew the Narnia he built for her

C.S. Lewis, the legendary author behind the novel 'The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe,' dedicated the book to his goddaughter Lucy Barfield, who served as his inspiration while penning the character Lucy Pevensie — a brave, curious, and kind girl — from the Chronicles of Narnia. Unfortunately, by the time he'd finished writing, she had already outgrown the book's target audience. Lewis was heartbroken that she wouldn't be able to see herself in the tale. So, the writer decided to pen a beautiful letter for her that has now moved online users to tears. The letter shared on Reddit in November 2025 has drawn more than 12k likes so far.

In a post shared by u/RestauratorOrbis, Lewis's letter, printed on the first page of his book 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,' exhibits his close understanding of how childhood slips away as we embrace adulthood, picking up the weight of responsibilities as we go. He offers Lucy the hope to rediscover the child who once loved fairy tales and come back one day to dust off the book from his shelf. His letter read, "My Dear Lucy, I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result, you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think of it. I shall probably be too deaf to hear, and too old to understand a word you say, but I shall still be your affectionate Godfather, C. S. Lewis."

In a 2022 study from PubMed, older women from nursing homes were part of a reminiscence program that covered life themes, including childhood memories. As per the findings, it increased meaning in life, coping ability, and a "sense of coherence," which is the psychological feeling that life is structured and understandable. The study suggested that reflecting on childhood and other life stages plays an important role in our well-being. By encouraging his goddaughter to read the novel later in life, Lewis fosters the idea of staying connected to our inner child, which will carry enduring meaning.

While Lucy's reaction to her godfather's letter is unknown, Reddit users were sure moved to tears after the post went viral. u/Crazy_Whale101 wrote, "brb gotta cry about the passage of time and inevitable mental regression that comes with age." u/janie-jones shared, "There’s a beautiful section about Susan (the eldest Pevensie sister) outgrowing Narnia and not being able to go back. She dismisses her siblings’ descriptions of the world inside the wardrobe. She’s described as being 'no longer a friend of Narnia’ and ‘interested in nothing nowadays except nylons and lipstick and invitations.' This letter reminds me of that." u/VehaMeursault wrote, "My face when I'm never going to be this good a writer. One sentence in and I'm crying. Jesus."

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