“Ten days after the war ended, my sister Laura drove a car off a bridge.” Iris Chase Griffen, married at eighteen to a wealthy industrialist but now poor and eighty-two, recalls her far from exemplary life, and the events leading up to her sister’s death, gradually revealing the carefully guarded Chase family secrets. Among these is a novel that earned the dead Laura Chase not only notoriety but also a devoted cult following. Sexually explicit for its time, The Blind Assassin describes a risky affair in the turbulent thirties between a wealthy young woman and a man on the run. During their secret meetings in rented rooms, the lovers concoct a pulp fantasy set on a distant planet. As the invented story twists through love and sacrifice and betrayal, so does the real one; while events in both move closer to war and catastrophe. By turns lyrical, outrageous, formidable, compelling and funny, this is a novel filled with deep humour and dark drama that comes together in a brilliant and astonishing final twist.

“Ten days after the war ended, my sister Laura drove a car off a bridge.” These words are spoken by Iris Chase Griffen, married at eighteen to a wealthy industrialist but now poor and eighty-two. Iris recalls her far from exemplary life, and the events leading up to her sister’s death, gradually revealing the carefully guarded Chase family secrets. Among these is “The Blind Assassin,” a novel that earned the dead Laura Chase not only notoriety but also a devoted cult following. Sexually explicit for its time, it was a pulp fantasy improvised by two unnamed lovers who meet secretly in rented rooms and seedy cafés. As this novel-within-a-novel twists and turns through love and jealousy, self-sacrifice and betrayal, so does the real narrative, as both move closer to war and catastrophe. Margaret Atwood’s Booker Prize-winning sensation combines elements of gothic drama, romantic suspense, and science fiction fantasy in a spellbinding tale.

Unlock the more straightforward side of The Blind Assassin with this concise and insightful summary and analysis! This engaging summary presents an analysis of The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood, a complex novel about the power of the written word and its ability to deceive. It is told from the perspective of Iris Chase, a woman in her eighties looking back on the events of her youth, when she and her sister Laura fell in love with the same man: the charming radical and storyteller Alex Thomas. Laura had fictionalised her love affair with him in an award-winning novel that Iris published posthumously after Laura’s suicide, but as Iris unravels the tangled threads of past deceit, it soon becomes clear that nothing is as it seems... The Blind Assassin was the winner of the 2000 Man Booker Prize, and remains one of Atwood’s best-known novels. Find out everything you need to know about The Blind Assassin in a fraction of the time! This in-depth and informative reading guide brings you: • A complete plot summary • Character studies • Key themes and symbols • Questions for further reflection Why choose BrightSummaries.com? Available in print and digital format, our publications are designed to accompany you on your reading journey. The clear and concise style makes for easy understanding, providing the perfect opportunity to improve your literary knowledge in no time. See the very best of literature in a whole new light with BrightSummaries.com!

A collection of original essays by well-known Atwood scholars offering contemporary critical readings and assessments of three well known Atwood texts.

Study on the novels of Margaret Atwood, b. 1939, Canadian litterateur.