Merrie Gresham's story: Step-daughter-in-law to C.S. Lewis My Rejection and Restoration: Filmed at Rathvinden House, County Carlow, Ireland

At six, Merrie was rejected by her mother, who wanted to join a religious order and couldn’t be burdened with looking after her. Instead, Merrie was raised by nuns and was trained by them in nursing. Having never known the security of being loved, Merrie thought she had found love at last when she met a boy in her teens. But, her world collapsed when instead, she found herself pregnant and alone. Worse still, there was no way she could confess to the nuns…

Sometime later, it meant absolutely nothing to Merrie that the young man who was continually asking her to marry him was the stepson of C. S. Lewis, one of the most famous writers of the twentieth century. She rejected Douglas Gresham’s proposal for three years before eventually agreeing to marriage. But the life of bliss she had hoped for didn’t materialise, mainly because an unpleasant memory of something that had happened in her teens wouldn’t leave, even though decades had now passed. Instead of maturing into a happy person, anger became a dominant emotion in Merrie’s life. She didn’t want life to be like that but didn’t know how to change. But one day, in a very unexpected way, Merrie took the first step towards her road to recovery.

Camera and Production by John Callister