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Till We Have Faces
A Myth Retold
368 pages
A fierce, confessional reckoning with the gods that exposes the dark, possessive underbelly of human love.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like unearthing a forgotten, ancient manuscript written by a fiercely intelligent, deeply wounded soul. It is a steady, deliberate burn of a novel that wraps you in an austere, shadowy atmosphere, grounding the ethereal elements of myth in the dirt, blood, and politics of a barbarian kingdom. The narrative voice is intensely confessional, pulling you into a bitter grievance against the divine before slowly, masterfully turning the mirror back on the narrator—and the reader. It is less a story of magic and monsters than a profound psychological excavation of jealousy, possessiveness, and the terrifying nature of divine love. This will deeply satisfy readers who want their mythic retellings to grapple with heavy philosophical and spiritual truths.
- Mood
- austere
- shadowy
- mythic
- haunting
- Tone
- confessional
- bitter
- philosophical
- earnest
- searching
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- possessive love vs. divine love · self-deception · the silence of the divine · jealousy and grief · spiritual transformation
- The writing
- The prose is stark, earthy, and muscular, grounding soaring theological questions in the brutal realism of an ancient, barbaric world.
- The arc
- The journey moves from a bitter, self-justifying grievance against the heavens to a shattering, humbling revelation of self-knowledge and grace.
- Who it's for
- For readers who crave mythic retellings that prioritize psychological and spiritual wrestling over simple magic.
Content notes
- emotional abuse
- human sacrifice
- grief
- violence
- illness
About the book
C.S. Lewis once described Till We Have Faces as his best work. It is a retelling of the Psyche myth with a subtle Christian bent. One of my professors, Dr. Jim Hand, once posed the question, "Is Psyche a case of spirit becoming flesh, or flesh becoming spirit?" It is a great novel with much depth.
Description from Open Library.
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