The Blind Assassin

Books | Fiction / Science Fiction / General

4.2

(624)

Margaret Atwood

The bestselling author of The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments weaves together strands of gothic suspense, romance, and science fiction into one utterly spellbinding narrative, beginning with the mysterious death of a young woman named Laura Chase in 1945. Decades later, Laura’s sister Iris recounts her memories of their childhood, and of the dramatic deaths that have punctuated their wealthy, eccentric family’s history. Intertwined with Iris’s account are chapters from the scandalous novel that made Laura famous, in which two illicit lovers amuse each other by spinning a tale of a blind killer on a distant planet. These richly layered stories-within-stories gradually illuminate the secrets that have long haunted the Chase family, coming together in a brilliant and astonishing final twist.

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Author

Margaret Atwood

Pages

544

Publisher

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Published Date

2007-12-18

ISBN

0307428176 9780307428172

Ratings

Google: 4

Community ReviewsSee all

"A novel within a novel, is touching deeply wounding novel, follows two sisters, and the things left unsaid between them. "

M B

Mary Bartel

"I really don't get the hype for this book. There's about four stories going on--the present of an older Iris, Iris' narrative about the past, Laura's novel, and the sci-fi story about a blind assassin and mute virgin told by the characters in Laura's story. For the first 100 pages or so I was completely lost, but eventually I sorted things out so for another 100 pages I kept waiting to get into the story. But not much happens. I kept asking what the point of the novel was, was there some hidden meaning I wasn't grasping? There's a twist at the end but if the 500+ pages was solely leading to that, well. And if I wasn't dreading getting old already, Iris certainly makes one feel that perhaps Laura driving her car off the cliff at 25 was the better option."

Liesl Prentice

"Just a brilliant and beautiful book. I love you, Margaret Atwood."

Chelsea F

"This book took me a while, but it was worth it. It's also a book you have to stay on top of, or you will be lost. The plot reveals and twists are satisfying, but with a name like The Blind Assassin, I was hoping this would be more like the sci-fi plots that Atwood gets into later. There is a bit of that here, and it's an interesting plot point. But I am a bear of little brain and sometimes need more fluff. I will add that Atwood is a fantastic writer, not that it's up for debate. So anything she writes is good reading."