Cat's Eye

It remains a pleasure to reread novels, this one for the first time in circa 30 years. The prompt for doing so is the imminent publication of Atwood's memoirs. In an interview relating to them, she references Cat's Eye, and the autobiographical overlap should not be dismissed. There is also an extended sense of poignancy reading the novel as an adult: the events of one's childhood may never escape you, but they become increasingly trivial as time moves on. If Lord of the Flies depicts (masculine) bullying from a certain era, then Cat's Eye does the same — for girls — from a different one. What is more remarkable is that although narrator Elaine's childhood tormentors do evil things, they are just children and know no better. The adults are worse, especially Mrs. Smeath, the mother of her then friend Grace. Elaine gradually turns the tables (the phrase ‘just deserts’ features), overcoming both her childhood foes (especially Cordelia) as a teenager, and enjoying a cathartic revenge on Mrs. Smeath via her art. The subtle genius of Atwood, however, is to show that victory remains pyrrhic. The past may be a foreign country, but it can continue to cloud the present. 9.5 out of 10.

By Margaret Atwood