What was C.S. Lewis’s first published novel?

The Pilgrim’s Regress was C.S. Lewis’s first published novel.

Published in 1933, the book is an allegorical journey by a character named John through a landscape shaped by religious, philosophical, and intellectual ideas. Its title deliberately recalls John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, but Lewis’s work addresses the modern debates and arguments that influenced his own intellectual life.

Lewis wrote the novel after his return to Christian belief, though it is not a straightforward autobiography. The book was initially difficult for some readers because its allegorical figures and references were not always obvious. Lewis later added a preface explaining many of the allusions. His later novels became more widely known, but The Pilgrim’s Regress remains the starting point of his published fiction.