Till We Have Faces

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 castes 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.”