Which 1956 novel did C.S. Lewis describe as his best work?

Till We Have Faces is the 1956 novel C.S. Lewis described as his best work.

The novel retells the myth of Cupid and Psyche from the viewpoint of Orual, a princess and later queen. Instead of presenting the familiar story through the gods or through Psyche alone, Lewis gives the narrative to a human character struggling with jealousy, grief, love, and the limits of self-knowledge.

Published in 1956, the book was Lewis’s last work of fiction for adults. Its title refers to the movement from hidden or distorted identities toward truthful self-recognition. The novel is often discussed alongside Lewis’s Christian writing, but its setting and structure are rooted in classical mythology and philosophical fiction.

Till We Have Faces is sometimes overlooked beside The Chronicles of Narnia and The Screwtape Letters. Lewis himself valued it highly and regarded it as his finest novel, making the title a particularly useful fact for distinguishing his adult fiction from his more famous children’s books.