BY THE ACCLAIMED AUTHOR OF THE HANDMAID’S TALE
‘Irresistible . . . This book is about life for all of us. She is one of our finest novelists. Read it’ THE TIMES
‘Fantastic writing . . . a sharp study of a very female torture’ GUARDIAN
Elaine Risley, a painter, returns to Toronto to find herself overwhelmed by her past. Memories of childhood – unbearable betrayals and cruelties – surface relentlessly, forcing her to confront the spectre of Cordelia, once her best friend and tormentor, who has haunted her for forty years.
‘Nightmarish, evocative, heartbreaking’ NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
‘A brilliant, three-dimensional mosaic’ BOSTON GLOBE
‘The best book in a long time on female friendships . . . remarkable, funny and serious, brimming with uncanny wisdom’ COSMOPOLITAN
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Reviews
I read this when I was about sixteen and remember its menace. It is about the potential toxicity in female friendships, which is a contentious issue. Atwood is never pigeonholed, she's wry and has a poet's eye
A brilliant, three-dimensional mosaic . . . the story of Elaine's childhood is so real and heartbreaking you want to stand up in your seat and cheer