The first part of the book is written from the perspective of Psyche's older sister Orual, as an accusation against the gods. The story is set in the fictive kingdom of Glome, a primitive city-state whose people have occasional contact with civilized Hellenistic Greece. In the second part of the book, the narrator undergoes a change of mindset (Lewis would use the term "conversion") and understands that her initial accusation was tainted by her own failings and shortcomings, and that the gods are lovingly present in humans' lives.