**Letters to Malcolm**

The final book by Lewis, completed a few months before his death: twenty-two letters to an imaginary old friend about prayer, its difficulties, distractions, and joys. The freest and most intimate of Lewis's works.

Malcolm, his wife Betty, and their son George are fictional, but the tone is that of a genuine correspondence between two mature men.

In brief

• Original title — Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer
• First publication — 1964
• Genre — Fictional letters (spirituality)
• First English edition — Geoffrey Bles, London, January 1964 (posthumous)
• Availability in bookstores — Out of print: no new editions after 2000 in catalogues; used copies and in libraries.
• Reading level — Intermediate
• For whom — For readers who pray or who want to understand what prayer means.
• Year — 1964

Other English titles

• If God Listened: Letters to Malcolm on Prayer

On screen

• Narnia-related reflections on prayer can be found in the films The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair.

Going further

• Réflexions sur les Psaumes
• Lucy Pevensie
• Biographie de C.S. Lewis (2) : des Inklings à Narnia, 1932-1963

Trivia

Lewis had attempted in 1952 to write a book on prayer, without success. He revisited the project in the form of letters in 1963 and completed it before his death in November. The book was published two months later.

Narnian reflections of this book can be found in Lucy's conversations with Aslan, especially in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and Prince Caspian.

Today's reader will find the familiar tone of the letters well-suited to a modern audience, wary of being lectured. Lewis admits his distractions and dry spells, making the book valuable for those who pray but struggle to do so, and interesting for those who merely wonder what prayer is.

In the book

Lewis's final book, completed a few months before his death: twenty-two letters to an imaginary old friend about prayer, its difficulties, distractions, and joys. The freest and most intimate of Lewis's works.

On screen

Lewis's final book, completed a few months before his death: twenty-two letters to an imaginary old friend about prayer, its difficulties, distractions, and joys. The freest and most intimate of Lewis's works.

Did you know

Lewis's final book, completed a few months before his death: twenty-two letters to an imaginary old friend about prayer, its difficulties, distractions, and joices. The freest and most intimate of Lewis's works.

Sources

• https://www.pintswithjack.com/csl-in-france/
• https://lafree.ch/les-livres-de-c-s-lewis-traduits-en-francais/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letters_to_Malcolm,_Chiefly_on_Prayer