What is the name of C.S. Lewis’s 1942 novel written as advice from a senior demon?

The Screwtape Letters is C.S. Lewis’s 1942 novel written as advice from a senior demon.

The book consists of letters from Screwtape, an experienced demon, to his inexperienced nephew Wormwood. Screwtape advises Wormwood on how to tempt and mislead a human patient. Lewis uses the unusual viewpoint to expose self-deception, distraction, pride, and other moral weaknesses.

The work first appeared in serial form in the Anglican newspaper The Guardian during 1941 and was published as a book in 1942. Its satirical structure makes the reader infer the author’s moral position from the demons’ distorted advice. Lewis later wrote a short epilogue, “Screwtape Proposes a Toast,” which was published separately before being included in later editions.

The title is sometimes confused with The Great Divorce, another Lewis work concerned with sin and the afterlife. The two books differ sharply in form: The Screwtape Letters is an epistolary satire, while The Great Divorce is an allegorical dream narrative.