Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis

Backlisted

Backlisted Podcast

Arts, Books, Leisure, Hobbies

4.7 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 10 February 2026

⏱️ 69 minutes

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Summary

Dr Rowan Williams, theologian, poet and former Archbishop of Canterbury, joins Andy and John for a thoughtful and moving discussion of Till We Have Faces (1956), the last novel by C.S. Lewis. This episode was recorded in London in June 2025. Although not as well-reviewed as his previous work, C.S. Lewis believed Till We Have Faces to be "far and away my best book". Over the 70 years since publication, critical opinion has risen in line with the author's estimation. The book shows a more troubled, less dogmatic side to Lewis that that displayed in The Case for Christianity or, for that matter, The Chronicles of Narnia. The novel is a retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche, a story that haunted Lewis ever since he was an undergraduate. It is an endlessly fascinating text that cannot be pinned down easily, and we were very fortunate to be able to discuss it with Rowan Williams, who has a lifetime of experience reading Lewis, and this book in particular. We hope you get as much from the conversation, and from reading the novel, as we have. * To purchase any of the books mentioned in this episode please visit our bookshop at uk.bookshop.org/shop/backlisted where all profits help to sustain this podcast and UK independent bookshops. * For information about everything mentioned in this episode visit www.backlisted.fm *If you'd like to support the show and join in with the book chat, listen without adverts, receive the show early and with extra bonus fortnightly episodes and exclusive writing, become a Patreon at www.patreon.com/backlisted *You can sign up to our free monthly newsletter here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, welcome to Backlisted. We've got an episode coming up for you today, which we recorded in spring 2025, with the very reverent Dr Rowan Williams, about, till we have faces by C.S. Lewis. We hope you enjoy the episode.
0:19.6	Before we get on to that, we've got some news for you.
0:22.6	This will be the final episode of Batlisted for a while.
0:26.2	We're taking a short break, aren't we?
0:28.1	We are.
0:29.4	We've decided we need to recharge our batteries and come back with some fresh ideas.
0:34.8	But the good news is, although there won't be new episodes of
0:38.3	backlisted this year, there's all manner of exciting things happening over at our Patreon,
0:44.0	which you can find at patreon.com forward slash backlisted. And I shall now hand over to my
0:50.2	colleague, Nikki Birch, to let you know some, though not all, of what's happening there.
0:56.3	Yeah, we have a really, really active patron community.
0:59.2	Thank you very much, guys, for supporting us.
1:01.3	So if you are a subscriber to our patron, you will continue to get an awful lot of book-related
1:07.0	podcasts and writing, particularly something I want to mention is that we're having a
1:12.4	monthly book club where we are going through the Booker Prize Winners list in random.
1:18.6	And our first one that we're going to read together is something to answer for by
1:23.1	Ph. Newby.
1:24.4	And we're actually going to do that as like a live show, online live show on Monday, March
1:29.6	the 16th at 7pm.
1:31.4	So if you'd like to join in, pick up the Ph. Newby book.
1:34.5	We should also say that something to answer for by P.H. Newby was the inaugural winner of the
1:40.3	Book of Prize for Fiction back in 1969.
	...

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