A review by jess_esa
Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis

slow-paced

5.0

Buckle in friends, because I loved this one.

I wouldn’t have picked this up without seeing a staff recommendation at a bookshop recently and truly didn’t expect it to be one of the best examples of character writing I’ve seen period. Genuinely, just wow. 

I’ve read most of C. S Lewis’s fiction, but I haven’t had much experience with his non-fiction, and from what I’ve heard this is heavily inspired by his text The Four Loves which explores the different loves described in Greek thought. I will say this is the best of his fiction that I’ve read.

It’s worth mentioning that as a Christian theologian, Lewis draws heavily on Christianity and infuses it into all of his work and this book is no exception, it’s everywhere. As someone who did not grow up Christian but enjoys theology, I find this very interesting but it’s certainly worth bearing in mind. I think the end is where it is perhaps too heavy-handed.

Till We Have Faces is a retelling of the Eros and Psyche myth and sticks very closely to the text, up until a point, but is entirely focused on the interiority of Psyche’s older sister Orual. This novel is essentially Orual failing to deal with her attachment issues, self-delusion, and possessive love until she’s forced to confront the pain she’s caused everyone she’s cared for in a stunning second act.

It’s unbelievably frustrating to be in this character’s head while she resents the people close to her for having a life outside of her, and perceives ill will at every imagined slight, further pushing her into her wretchedness. She’s such a real type of person that I can only liken her to Hamlet, in that C.S Lewis —like Shakespeare —has managed to capture so accurately the mind of someone who is in a prison of their own making. 

Orual relies on self-delusion so acutely that after losing Psyche, she leans on her alter ego as the Queen so that she doesn’t have to confront reality, something she never was capable of doing anyway “already so wounded that all my life had been but a hiding and staunching of that wound”. 

While Psyche undergoes trials at the hands of the gods before achieving transformation, Orual must unpack her own life of distortion to finally see what’s underneath “I the swollen spider, squat at its center, gorged with men’s stolen lives” before herself facing a literal trial. 

While Orual is certainly the meatiest character in this book, it’s possible to dig into any of the side characters as deeply, particularly Fox, Psyche, and Ungit, Lewis’ fascinating distorted version of Aphrodite that is deeply entwined spiritually with Orual.

I could probably talk all day about this book so, safe to say, I highly recommend it.