Which C.S. Lewis novel retells the Cupid and Psyche myth from a first-person female viewpoint?

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Till We Have Faces retells the Cupid and Psyche myth from a first-person female viewpoint.

Published in 1956, the novel is narrated mainly by Orual, a princess in the fictional kingdom of Glome. Its plot draws on the ancient story of Cupid and Psyche, especially the version associated with Apuleius’s Metamorphoses, but Lewis substantially reshapes the characters, setting, and moral questions.

The novel examines jealousy, accusation, religious devotion, identity, and the difficulty of honestly seeing oneself and others. Its title comes from the novel’s concern with hidden motives and the need for a true self rather than a public mask.

Till We Have Faces was Lewis’s last completed novel. It is often considered one of his most psychologically complex works, and Lewis himself regarded it highly, although it has never reached the popular familiarity of the Narnia books.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Oct. 2026

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