The Blind Assassin: Margaret Atwood

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood is described as the winner of the Man Booker Prize. The source also notes Atwood as the author of The Handmaid's Tale and Alias Grace. The novel centres on Laura Chase’s older sister, Iris, who married at eighteen to a politically prominent industrialist and is now poor at eighty-two.

Living in Port Ticonderoga, a town once dominated by their family before the First War, Iris reflects on her life while coping with an unreliable body. Her memories return repeatedly to the events surrounding Laura’s tragic death, including the publication of The Blind Assassin, a novel that brought Laura notoriety and a devoted cult following.

Key details

• Author: Margaret Atwood
• Winner of the Man Booker Prize
• References The Handmaid's Tale and Alias Grace as other works by the author
• Set in Port Ticonderoga and includes events before the First War

Synopsis

Iris looks back on a life she does not consider exemplary, focusing on the circumstances around her sister’s death and the impact of the book that made Laura famous. The source describes The Blind Assassin as sexually explicit for its time and centred on a risky affair in the turbulent thirties between a wealthy young woman and a man on the run.

In secret meetings in rented rooms, the lovers invent a pulp fantasy set on Planet Zycron. As the imagined narrative moves through love, sacrifice and betrayal, the real story also shifts, with both strands drawing closer to war and catastrophe.