Matt
The education bestowed on Flora Poste by her parents had been expensive, athletic and prolonged: and when they died within a few weeks of one another during the annual epidemic of the influenza or Spanish Plague which occurred in her twentieth year, she was discovered to possess every art and grace save that of earning her own living.
Few characters in literary history have ever been introduced with such impact as Flora Poste, and fewer still manage to live up to that introduction for the length of the novel. But Flore Poste doesn't break a sweat, maintaining her poise in the face of everything the Starkadder family throws at her. Such an icon.
The education bestowed on Flora Poste by her parents had been expensive, athletic and prolonged: and when they died within a few weeks of one another during the annual epidemic of the influenza or Spanish Plague which occurred in her twentieth year, she was discovered to possess every art and grace save that of earning her own living.
Few characters in literary history have ever been introduced with such impact as Flora Poste, and fewer still manage to live up to that introduction for the length of the novel. But Flore Poste doesn't break a sweat, maintaining her poise in the face of everything the Starkadder family throws at her. Such an icon.
A book that I've always appreciated but couldn't say that I've enjoyed, the characters are all a bit too broken to want to connect with too deeply. I got a lot more out of this read after reading Atwood's memoirs though as it's clear that the story broadly maps on to her experience of starting a relationship with fellow author Graeme Gibson while his marriage to Shirley Gibson was slowly disintegrating.
Even with this newfound knowledge, I still came away from this re-read rooting for Elizabeth. She might be coldly calculating and deeply unhappy, but she's the only character who has at least a vague sense of what she wants and how to get it. Lesje and Nate are both shaped by circumstances, but by the time Lesje makes her fateful decision in the final chapters I really just wanted someone, ANYONE to talk some sense into her.
A book that I've always appreciated but couldn't say that I've enjoyed, the characters are all a bit too broken to want to connect with too deeply. I got a lot more out of this read after reading Atwood's memoirs though as it's clear that the story broadly maps on to her experience of starting a relationship with fellow author Graeme Gibson while his marriage to Shirley Gibson was slowly disintegrating.
Even with this newfound knowledge, I still came away from this re-read rooting for Elizabeth. She might be coldly calculating and deeply unhappy, but she's the only character who has at least a vague sense of what she wants and how to get it. Lesje and Nate are both shaped by circumstances, but by the time Lesje makes her fateful decision in the final chapters I really just wanted someone, ANYONE to talk some sense into her.
Added to listThe Year(s?) of Atwoodwith 6 books.
