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Till We Have Faces

A Myth Retold
By C S Lewis
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Till We Have Faces retells the ancient tale of Psyche through the perspective of her eldest sister, Orual. Born ugly and a princess, Orual struggles with grief, jealousy, and love as she watches her beautiful sister, Psyche, face sacrifice demanded by the priest of Ungit. When Psyche survives, Orual’s blinded devotion turns to bitterness and blame against the gods. This novel is a profound exploration of love, envy, loss, and faith, probing the complexities of human emotions and divine mystery.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$5100

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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for readers interested in mythology reimagined, philosophical fiction, and deep emotional narratives. Suitable for those who appreciate C S Lewis’s reflective style and themes of spirituality and human fallibility.

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"C.S. Lewis signature book"--Back cover.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

This twist on an old story is an exploration of love—between sisters, between friends, between teacher and pupil, between men and women. Till We Have Faces is retold through the eyes of Psyche's oldest sister, Orual.

Orual was born ugly and even though she's a princess, she struggles with the death of her mother and the friction between her sisters. There are two lights in Orual's life. One is her tutor, the Fox, a Greek slave captured through war. The other is her much younger sister Istra, later nicknamed Psyche, born from Orual's father's second marriage. Istra is beautiful and sweet and good but far from being jealous of her, Orual loves her as a daughter.

When the priest of Ungit says that Psyche's great beauty is an insult to the goddess and she must be sacrificed, Orual fights to prevent this. When Orual expects to find her sister dead, she finds her well and thriving. But why can't Orual see what everyone else sees? Blinded by her jealous love, Orual casts blame on the duplicity of gods. What is the truth? What is real?

Lewis's novel is a brilliant examination of envy, loss, betrayal, blame, grief, guilt, and conversion. Why must holy places be dark places? Lewis reminds us of our own fallibility and the role of a higher power in our lives. "Holy places are dark places. It is life and strength, not knowledge and words, that we get in them. Holy wisdom is not clear and thin like water, but thick and dark like blood."

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780062565419

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 14 February 2017

Country: United States

Imprint: Collins

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 28.0mm

Width: 135.0mm

Height: 201.0mm

Weight: 295g

Pages: 368

Collections

C S Lewis C.S. Lewis Classic Fiction Fiction General Fiction Literary Fiction

About the Author

Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably one of the most influential writers of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English Literature at Oxford University until 1954, when he was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement. He wrote more than thirty books, allowing him to reach a vast audience, and his works continue to attract thousands of new readers every year. His most distinguished and popular accomplishments include Out of the Silent Planet, The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, and the universally acknowledged classics in The Chronicles of Narnia. To date, the Narnia books have sold over 100 million copies and have been transformed into three major motion pictures.

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