Lady Oracle

Lady Oracle
by Margaret Atwood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is an early Atwood novel (1976) and it is the same mix of timelines that she uses in later novels. It is the story of Joan, a Canadian woman writer, and the various aspects of her life over the years. Because of the timeline shifting even though you are in Joan's head the whole time there is a good amount of suspense about what is going to happen to her. As in Blind Assassin there is another story, a 'costume gothic' Joan is writing mixed into the novel. The story is compelling and somewhat twisty, there are weird and intriguing characters, and astute observations about the world. A typically wonderful Atwood novel.
I loved this observation. The speaker is Polish and he is talking about English:

"I myself once wished to be a writer, I wished to be like Tolstoy, you understand; but now I am exiled from my own language, and this one is fit for nothing but to make hoardings with. It has no music, it does not sing, it is always trying to sell you something." (p. 147)

This is my first post for the 13th Canadian Book Challenge.