by Margaret Atwood
When a gallery in Toronto wants to do a retrospective of her work, Elaine Risley returns to the city of her youth and finds herself reliving important moments from her childhood and adolescence. She revisits her trio of childhood friends and their casual cruelties. She rediscovers her teenage years and the forces that help shape her into an artist. And she reexamines her first marriage and its implications on her present. Will what she learns free her from the ghosts of her past? Or will a part of her still remain prisoner?
I avoided reading Margaret Atwood for years because of all of the hype around her as "the best Canadian writer of our times." What if I didn't like her? Or worse, what if I really liked her and suddenly became compelled to spend my scant money on her complete works or start parroting lines from her books to my peers? Well, I'm afraid the worst happened. This book spoke to me. It moved me. The politics of childhood stay with us all of our lives. Cat's Eye is a wonderful read because it's so vivid, and it reminds me that reminiscing on the simplicity of our childhoods can be misleading--everyday wasn't just running around on the playground and seeing your favourite teacher at school. Children can be cruel, even the kind ones. But you can't have the sour without the sweet in life, and I'd definitely categorize time spent reading this book as "sweet" time. You'll be happy to know, however, that I've kept my favourite lines to myself.
View my suggested books by Margaret Atwood
Hi Jessica,
ReplyDeleteI've been looking for a good book to read; something literary. I think I'm going to pick this one up. I haven't yet read anything from Margaret Atwood, but after reading your review, this one seems like a good place to start.
Miranda