What is the title of C.S. Lewis’s 1956 myth retelling about Orual and Cupid?

Till We Have Faces is C.S. Lewis’s 1956 myth retelling about Orual and Cupid.

The novel retells the ancient story of Cupid and Psyche from the viewpoint of Orual, Psyche’s older sister. Orual is the queen of the fictional kingdom of Glome, and her account challenges the reader to question memory, jealousy, love, and the reliability of a narrator’s self-justification.

Lewis described the book as a retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche, but it is not a simple reproduction of the classical version. The novel gives psychological and political depth to characters who receive less attention in earlier tellings. Its title comes from the idea that people must eventually confront the truth about themselves without masks.

Till We Have Faces was one of Lewis’s final major works of fiction and is often considered his most mature novel. It can be overlooked beside Narnia, but its dense symbolism and classical foundation make it especially important for understanding his interests in myth, religion, and human desire.