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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Barely any
Minimal physical violence; the cruelty is entirely psychological
Language
Barely any
Adult language
Sexual Content
Barely any
Brief adult content
Substance Use
Barely any
Some social drinking
Emotional Intensity
A lot
The entire novel is a study in the long-term effects of childhood psychological abuse; Cordelia's methods are chilling precisely because they leave no marks
What this book is about
Elaine Risley is a painter returning to Toronto for a retrospective of her work. The city floods her with memories of childhood—and specifically of Cordelia, her best friend whose sustained psychological cruelty shaped Elaine permanently. Atwood's semi-autobiographical novel is one of the finest explorations of girlhood cruelty in literature: how girls police each other, how sustained psychological abuse leaves marks that look like nothing to outsiders, and how Elaine spent decades building herself back into someone who could survive.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Sustained childhood psychological abuse depicted with uncomfortable precision
The lasting damage of what looks like ordinary girlhood
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