The Blind Assassin

Ten days after World War II concludes, Iris Chase Griffen's younger sister, Laura, drives her car off a bridge, forever cementing a family tragedy. Decades later, an elderly Iris, frail and reflecting on her life, begins to recount the complex, often scandalous, history of her wealthy Canadian family, revealing secrets, betrayals, and the dramatic events that shaped their fates. Intertwined with Iris's retrospective are chapters from Laura's posthumously published novel, 'The Blind Assassin,' a sensational work that earned her literary fame. This novel-within-a-novel describes a clandestine affair between a wealthy socialite and a pulp fiction writer, who in turn crafts a fantastical tale of a blind assassin on a distant planet. As these narratives twist and merge, exploring themes of memory, desire, sacrifice, and the deceptive nature of truth, Margaret Atwood masterfully constructs a labyrinthine mystery leading to a brilliant and astonishing final revelation about the true authorship and meaning of 'The Blind Assassin' and the lives it profoundly impacts.