"Brilliantly realized, intellectually provocative and maddeningly
suspenseful."
-
Maclean'
s
"Atwood confirms her status as the outstanding novelist of our
age."
-
Sunday Times (U.K.)
"Atwood not only crafts an eerie, unsettling tale of murder and
obsession, but also a stunning portrait of the lives of women in
another time."
-
Kirkus Reviews
"A masterpiece…perhaps Atwood's best, most important novel to
date."
-
Ottawa Citizen
"A great book of such wit, wisdom and dazzling storytelling that it
leaves me in no doubt that Atwood is the most outstanding novelist
currently writing in English."
-
Sydney Morning Herald
"Atwood's humor has never been slyer, her command of complex
material more adept, her eroticism franker.…This is a stupendous
performance. . . ."
-
Booklist
"[Atwood] has surpassed herself, writing with a glittering, singing
intensity.…"
-
New York Review of Books
"Stunning.…Atwood is in perfect control. And her fusion of real
events and fiction is as contemporary as it is ingenious."
-
Calgary Herald
"A rare and splendid novel that pulls you in and won't let
go.…"
-
Washington Post Book World
"Atwood's imaginative control of her period flows, irresistible and
superb.…[She] has pushed the art to its extremes and the result is
devastating. This, surely, is as far as a novel can go."
-
Independent on Sunday (U.K.)
"Seductive, beautifully articulated.…Brilliantly conceived and
executed.…"
-
San Francisco Chronicle
"Astonishing.…"
-
Financial Post
"A sublime read.…As satisfying as the best whodunit."
-
London Free Press
"An absorbing and brilliantly told story."
-
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
From the Hardcover edition.
1. This novel is rooted in physical reality, on one hand, and
floats free of it, on the other, as Atwood describes physical
things in either organic, raw terms (the "tongue-coloured settee")
or with otherworldly, more ephemeral images (the laundry like
"angels rejoicing, although without any heads"). How do such
descriptions deepen and reinforce the themes in the novel?
2. The daily and seasonal rhythm of household work is described
in detail. What role does this play in the novel in regard to its
pace?
3. Atwood employs two main points of view and voices in the
novel. Do you trust one more than the other? As the story
progresses, does Grace's voice (in dialogue) in Simon's part of the
story change? If so, how and why?
4. Grace's and Simon's stories are linked, and they have a
kinship on surface and deeper levels. For instance, they both
eavesdrop or spy as children, and later, each stays in a house that
would have been better left sooner or not entered at all. Discuss
other similarities or differences in the twinning of their stories
and their psyches.
5. Atwood offers a vision of the dual nature of people, houses,
appearances, and more. How does she make use of darkness and light,
and to what purpose?
6. In a letter to his friend Dr. Edward Murchie, Simon Jordan
writes, "Not to know -- to snatch at hints and portents, at
intimations, at tantalizing whispers -- it is as bad as being
haunted." How are the characters in this story affected by the
things they don't know?
7. How and why does Atwood conceal Grace's innocence or guilt
throughout the novel? At what points does one become clearer than
the other and at what points does it become unclear?