returns to Toronto, the city of her youth, for a retrospective of her art. Engulfed by vivid images of the past, she reminisces about a trio of girls who initiated her into the fierce politics of childhood and its secret world of friendship, longing, and betrayal. Elaine must come to terms with her own identity as a daughter, a lover, and artist, and woman—but above all she must seek release from her haunting memories. Disturbing, hilarious, and compassionate."
I loved this novel to bits, and it scared me way out of my comfort zone. It was one of the most intensely revealing reflections on childhood and its impact on grown-up life I have ever encountered, simply because the story is so common, and so universal, and so typical. The idea of confronting a childhood bully with one's memories is terrifying, especially as one can never trust the mind to behave as a grown-up when confronted with deeply hidden childhood fears and wishes.
It touched on a deeply personal aspect of my life. The desperation of trying to understand culture and social realities. The complexity of relationships between women of nearly all ages is often a difficult thing to fully comprehend let alone commit to paper. Generally, we find it easier to communicate with men. While with other women you are forever grasping at straws, unable to determine which layer of superficiality you are dealing with and which of your layers of feigned cordiality or fabricated fellow feeling may win their favour. But Atwood, the mistress of the craft that she is, has brought the private, secretive world of female bonding's alive and demolished one of the greatest pop culture stereotypes ever - that of the mean girl.
Elaine isn't a very likable character, she does terrible things and becomes a bully in her own right but you can't help but relate to her. She is such a viscerally real person that could be any one of us. She acts believably in every situation, even if it didn't shown her in the best light.
But Atwood, in her typical style doesn't keep to one theme. While exploring the effects of bullying, Atwood also explores the themes of womanhood and the terrible ways the girls assert dominance and how this snide womanhood follows us into adulthood. This is an exceptional novel and one that I had a difficult time setting aside. The writing is razor-sharp. Based on what I’ve read so far, it seems Atwood doesn’t gravitate towards sentimentality. It works especially well here. There’s much more than what I’ve relayed in this review – you’ll find dry humor, thoughts on marriage, feminism, aging, as well as a child’s exploration of religion. This one, along with Alias Grace, is definitely a clear favourite.
Age Rating 15+. Sex, sexuality, bullying, Adult Topics.
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