Which C.S. Lewis novel was first published in 1956 and retells the Cupid and Psyche myth?

Till We Have Faces was first published in 1956 and retells the myth of Cupid and Psyche.

The novel is C.S. Lewis’s final completed work of fiction. Its narrator is Orual, a princess of Glome, who tells the story of her relationship with her half-sister Psyche and her bitter accusations against the gods. The book draws on the ancient Cupid and Psyche story associated with Apuleius’s Metamorphoses.

Lewis recasts the myth in a psychologically complex setting rather than presenting a simple allegory. Themes include jealousy, possessive love, religious mystery, self-knowledge, and the difficulty of honestly confronting one’s own motives. Lewis considered it one of his most mature literary achievements.

The title comes from the novel’s concern with hidden identity and the need to speak truthfully. Readers sometimes label it a straightforward Christian allegory, but its classical source, first-person narration, and moral ambiguity make it notably different from the Narnia books.