Editing C. S. Lewis (section)

===Janie Moore===
During his army training, Lewis shared a room with another cadet, Edward Courtnay Francis "Paddy" Moore (1898–1918). Maureen Moore, Paddy's sister, said that the two made a mutual pact{{sfn|Edwards|2007|p=133}} that if either died during the war, the survivor would take care of both of their families. Paddy was killed in action in 1918 and Lewis kept his promise. Paddy had earlier introduced Lewis to his mother, Janie King Moore, and a friendship quickly sprang up between Lewis, who was 18 when they met, and Janie, who was 45. The friendship with Moore was particularly important to Lewis while he was recovering from his wounds in hospital, as his father did not visit him.

Lewis lived with and cared for Moore until she was hospitalized in the late 1940s. He routinely introduced her as his mother, referred to her as such in letters, and developed a deeply affectionate friendship with her. Lewis's own mother had died when he was a child, while his father was distant, demanding, and eccentric.

Speculation regarding their relationship resurfaced with the 1990 publication of [[A. N. Wilson]]'s biography of Lewis. Wilson (who never met Lewis) attempted to make a case for their having been lovers for a time. Wilson's biography was not the first to address the question of Lewis's relationship with Moore. [[George Sayer (biographer)|George Sayer]] knew Lewis for 29 years, and he had sought to shed light on the relationship during the period of 14 years before Lewis's conversion to Christianity. In his biography ''Jack: A Life of C. S. Lewis'', he wrote:

{{blockquote |Were they lovers? [[Owen Barfield]], who knew Jack well in the 1920s, once said that he thought the likelihood was "fifty-fifty". Although she was twenty-six years older than Jack, she was still a handsome woman, and he was certainly infatuated with her. But it seems very odd, if they were lovers, that he would call her "mother". We know, too, that they did not share the same bedroom. It seems most likely that he was bound to her by the promise he had given to Paddy and that his promise was reinforced by his love for her as his second mother.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Jack: A Life of C. S. Lewis |last=Sayer |first=George |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |year=1997 |isbn=978-0340690680 |location=London |page=154}}</ref>}}

Later Sayer changed his mind. In the introduction to the 1997 edition of his biography of Lewis he wrote:

{{blockquote |I have had to alter my opinion of Lewis's relationship with Mrs. Moore. In chapter eight of this book I wrote that I was uncertain about whether they were lovers. Now after conversations with Mrs. Moore's daughter, Maureen, and a consideration of the way in which their bedrooms were arranged at The Kilns, I am quite certain that they were.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.impalapublications.com/blog/index.php?/archives/5185-C.S.-Lewis-and-Mrs-Janie-Moore,-by-James-OFee.html |title=C.S. Lewis and Mrs. Janie Moore, by James O'Fee |publisher=impalapublications.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170622015143/http://www.impalapublications.com/blog/index.php?%2Farchives%2F5185-C.S.-Lewis-and-Mrs-Janie-Moore%2C-by-James-OFee.html |archive-date=22 June 2017 |access-date=16 June 2019}}</ref>}}

However, the romantic nature of the relationship is doubted by other writers; for example, Philip Zaleski and Carol Zaleski write in ''The Fellowship'' that

{{blockquote |When—or whether—Lewis commenced an affair with Mrs. Moore remains unclear.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Fellowship |last=Zaleski |first=Philip and Carol |publisher=Farrar, Straus, and Giroux |year=2015 |isbn=978-0374154097 |location=New York |page=79}}</ref>}}

Lewis spoke well of Mrs. Moore throughout his life, saying to his friend George Sayer, "She was generous and taught me to be generous, too." In December 1917, Lewis wrote in a letter to his childhood friend Arthur Greeves that Janie and Greeves were "the two people who matter most to me in the world".

In 1930, Lewis moved into [[The Kilns]] with his brother Warnie, Mrs. Moore, and her daughter [[Maureen Dunbar|Maureen]]. The Kilns was a house in the district of [[Headington Quarry]] on the outskirts of Oxford, now part of the suburb of [[Risinghurst]]. They all contributed financially to the purchase of the house, which eventually passed to Maureen, who by then was [[Maureen Dunbar|Dame Maureen Dunbar]], when Warren died in 1973.

Moore had [[dementia]] in her later years and was eventually moved into a [[nursing home]], where she died in 1951. Lewis visited her every day in this home until her death.