The Blind Assassin

In this stunning work that reveals surprising layers one after another and comes to a clever and utterly gratifying shock at the end, Margaret Atwood elevates the craft of storytelling to new heights. The Blind Assassin is an intricately detailed and extraordinarily satisfying story, masterfully rendered in a manner that perfectly encapsulates the slang terms and cliches of the 1930s and 1940s.

"My sister drove a car off the bridge ten days after the war ended" is how it begins, a poignant and straightforward statement. These are spoken by Iris, who follows up her brief description of her sister Laura's 1945 death with an inquest report stating that it was an accidental death. However, at the very moment the reader is ready to become lost in Laura's tale, Atwood unveils a book within a novel. This science fiction tale, titled The Blind Assassin, is recounted by two unidentified lovers who first meet in seedy backstreet lodgings. When we return to Iris, it is through a 1947 newspaper article announcing the discovery of a sailboat carrying the dead body of her husband, a distinguished industrialist.

Margaret Atwood has been producing remarkably inventive and imaginative works of literature for the last 25 years. She pushes the boundaries of her abilities in The Blind Assassin like never before, writing a very serious but fascinating book. Once again, Atwood demonstrates her brilliance, courage, and excitement as a writer in The Blind Assassin. It's certain to become a classic, much like The Handmaid's Tale.