Till We Have Faces

I had all four of my wisdom teeth pulled last Friday, and have been more or less an invalid since.  Although much of this time has been spent sleeping, I have done quite a bit of reading.  I chose to read Till We Have Faces because, for one, it has been praised and recommended to me several times within the past few months and, secondly, the title stood out to me as I'm waiting for the swelling to subside so I'll get my own face back.

I have been enthralled with the myth of Cupid and Psyche since I was a little girl.  The tale of losing and rediscovering love was very powerful to me from the first.  Till We Have Faces still contains these elements, but it is told in a drastically different way.  

Instead of being told from beautiful Psyche's perspective, the narrator is Orual, Psyche's ugly older sister, whose obsessive love for Psyche is jealous and possessive to the point where she would rather see Psyche killed than love and be loved by another.  

Orual's character is multifaceted.  One one hand, the reader pities her for her ugliness and agrees with her complaint against the gods.  On the other hand, the reader is angry with how selfish her love is, and how cruel she becomes through her jealousy.  As Orual veils her own face, she loses herself and becomes merely the "Queen."  She gains power and respect through this action, but her very being is lost.  

I do not wish to spoil this deeply philosophical work for anyone who has not read it, but I would suggest that they read it if the chance comes to them.