Bluebeard’s Egg

In this acclaimed collection of twelve stories, Margaret Atwood probes the territory of childhood memories and the casual cruelty men and women inflict upon each other and themselves. She looks behind the familiar world of family summers at remote lakes, ordinary lives, and unexpected loves, and she unearths profound truths. A melancholy, teenage love is swept away by a Canadian hurricane, while a tired, middle-aged affection is rekindled by the spectacle of rare Jamaican birds; a potter tries to come to terms with the group of poets who so smother her that she is driven into the arms of her accountant; and, in the title story, the Bluebeard legend is retold as an ironic tale of marital deception. Stark and scathing at times, humorous and compassionate at others, Bluebeard’s Egg confirms once again Atwood’s reputation as the preeminent chronicler of our times.

Included in this novel: Bluebeard’s Egg; Significant Moments in the Life of My Mother; Hurricane Hazel; Loulou; or The Domestic Life of the Language; Uglypuss; Betty; Spring Song of the Frogs; Scarlet Ibis; The Salt Garden; The Sin Eater; The Sunrise; Unearthing Suite