Book Reviews of Cat's Eye

It's classic margaret Atwood at her best -- the story of a woman in her fifties coming to terms with being a woman, an artist, a wife, and a friend. It bounces back and forth between the story of her relationships with her childhood friends and her brother, and her later life as a grown woman with a husband and children of her own. Atwood as usual can really get into a woman's head.

Returning to the city of her youth for a retrospective of her art, controversial painter Elaine Risley is engulfed by vivid images of the past. Strongest of all is the figure of Cordelia, leader of the 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, an artist, and a woman - but above all, she must seek release from Cordelia's haunting memory. Disturbing, hilarious, and compassionate, Cat's Eye is a breathtaking contemporary novel of a woman grappling with the tangled knot of her life.