Cat's Eye book review

Margaret Atwood's Cat's Eye tells the tale of remembered adolescence from the perspective of Elaine Risley, a middle-aged artist on a return trip to her hometown of Toronto. This reflection doesn't come with rosy-hued nostalgia. Instead, Risely enacts an emotional dissection of her grade school tormentors, her high school reciprocity and the affect these phases of her life had on her adulthood and artistry. Atwood subtly links the chapters of Risley's contemporary life with those of her past through revisited locations and fleeting, reawakened memories of her childhood friend/enemy Cordelia, who, for better or worse, was the biggest influence in Risley's life. Remarkable for Atwood's spectacular prose and its uncompromisingly honest take on adolescent interaction and its lifelong ramifications, Cat's Eye should be required reading for everyone at least a decade away from their teens.

-A