Which 1956 C.S. Lewis book is a novel about Orual, queen of Glome?

Till We Have Faces is C.S. Lewis’s 1956 novel about Orual, queen of Glome.

The novel retells the ancient myth of Cupid and Psyche from the viewpoint of Orual, Psyche’s older sister. Orual is the narrator and eventual queen of the fictional kingdom of Glome. Her account explores love, jealousy, grief, religious doubt, and the difficulty of seeing oneself honestly.

Lewis described the book as a retelling of the myth and regarded it as one of his most mature imaginative works. Unlike the Narnia books, it is not a children’s fantasy series and does not use a portal-world structure. Its setting draws on the atmosphere of the ancient world without simply reproducing a classical source.

The title comes from the idea that people cannot meaningfully present accusations or appeals until they have recognizable identities, or “faces.” Readers sometimes mistake it for a work of apologetics because Lewis wrote many nonfiction religious books, but this title is a novel.