Orual tries everything in her power to prevent Psyche from being taken away from her to no avail. Then one day, a jealous Goddess demands that Psyche is given as a sacrifice to the terrifying God of the Mountain. Unloved, overlooked and without the prospect of ever getting married, Orual’s one source of happiness comes in the form of a beautiful, perfect half-sister whom she effectively cares for as her own daughter. It tells her story from the moment she is born as the ugly, deformed child of a minor King in the fictitious Kingdom of Glome. Her tale, told in two parts, is one of love and loss: The novel’s is narrated by Orual as though written by her as an accusation against the Gods and their unjust, capricious whims. He addresses this by retelling the myth from the perspective of Psyche’s sister, Orual. I didn’t know this book existed until it was recommended to me! A retelling of Cupid and Psyche, Till We Have Faces is Lewis’ last book, one that was years in the making and a work that is the result of Lewis’ fixation on what he thought was the original tale’s lack of internal logic when it comes to Psyche’s sisters’ actions. As one reward level, backers were given the opportunity to pick an Old School title for one of us to read and review online. This is another entry in a series of Old School Wednesdays posts, brought to you by the amazing folks who supported us on Kickstarter. Set against the backdrop of Glome, a barbaric, pre-Christian world, the struggles between sacred and profane love are illuminated as Orual learns that we cannot understand the intent of the gods “till we have faces” and sincerity in our souls and selves. Much to Orual’s frustration, Psyche is loved by Cupid, the god of love himself, setting the troubled Orual on a path of moral development. This is the story of Orual, Psyche’s embittered and ugly older sister, who posessively and harmfully loves Psyche. Lewis reworks the classical myth of Cupid and Psyche into an enduring piece of contemporary fiction. In this timeless tale of two mortal princesses- one beautiful and one unattractive- C.S. What better way to snap out of a reading fugue than to take a mini-vacation into the past? We came up with the idea towards the end of 2012, when both Ana and Thea were feeling exhausted from the never-ending inundation of New and Shiny (and often over-hyped) books. Old School Wednesdays is a regular Book Smuggler feature.

Till they have faces