What is the name of C.S. Lewis’s 1956 retelling of the Cupid and Psyche myth?

Till We Have Faces is C.S. Lewis’s 1956 retelling of the Cupid and Psyche myth. It was his last completed novel and is often regarded as one of his most psychologically complex works.

The novel is narrated by Orual, queen of the fictional kingdom of Glome. Its plot reworks elements from the ancient story of Cupid and Psyche, especially the relationship between a mortal woman and a mysterious divine husband. Lewis changes the perspective and concentrates on jealousy, grief, self-knowledge, and the difficulty of understanding the gods.

Lewis published the book in 1956, presenting it as a revision of a story he had known since his classical education. The title comes from the novel’s concern with hidden identity and the need for people to confront their true selves. It is divided into two parts, with the second part revisiting and interpreting the accusations made in the first.

Unlike the Narnia books, Till We Have Faces is adult literary fiction. Its classical subject and unusual narrator can make it less immediately familiar, but it is central to discussions of Lewis’s mature fiction.