Which C.S. Lewis book is narrated by the fictional character Orual?

Till We Have Faces is narrated by the fictional character Orual.

Orual is the princess and later queen of Glome, a fictional kingdom influenced by the ancient world. She tells the story retrospectively, presenting her accusations against the gods and her account of the events surrounding her half-sister Psyche.

This first-person structure is central to the novel’s meaning. Orual’s narration is intelligent and forceful, but it is also shaped by grief, possessiveness, and limited self-knowledge. As the story develops, her understanding of her own actions changes.

Lewis called the book a retelling of the Cupid and Psyche myth, but it is not narrated by Psyche herself. That distinction matters: the novel’s emotional power comes from hearing the myth through Orual’s complicated perspective. The narrator’s identity is therefore a key literary fact, not merely a character detail.