Which 1956 novel did C.S. Lewis describe as his personal favorite?

Till We Have Faces was the 1956 novel C.S. Lewis described as his personal favorite.

The book is a retelling of the ancient myth of Cupid and Psyche, narrated primarily by Orual, a queen of the fictional kingdom of Glome. Lewis presents the story as a serious literary novel rather than a children’s fantasy, exploring jealousy, religious doubt, grief, self-knowledge, and the difficulty of honestly confronting one’s motives.

Its title comes from the idea that people cannot truly meet or be understood until they have faces—an image connected with identity, truth, and the removal of disguises. The novel draws on classical mythology while reshaping it through Lewis’s Christian and philosophical concerns.

Till We Have Faces is sometimes overlooked beside Narnia, but Lewis regarded it highly. It was published in 1956, several years after the first Narnia novel and before his marriage to Joy Davidman in 1957.