“The past is so much safer, because whatever’s in it has already happened. It can’t be changed; so, in a way, there’s nothing to dread.” Margaret Atwood
Hello!
As a Canada lover I, of course, researched Canada’s authors. The first name that came up in google search was Margaret Atwood. I have not read anything by her or even heard of her before. What a shame, because this book was awesome! Margaret Atwood, born in 1939, is a Canadian novelist, literary critic and poet as well as an environmental activist. She has won a plethora or awards and has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize five times. You want to read a book by one of Canada’s greatest writers? If you are a fan of dystopian novels, read this review and her book.
This was a book that kept me reading and reading until I finished it. The main characters, Charmaine and Stan, in The Heart Goes Last are in a horrid situations. They have to live in their car after an economic collapse that created unemployment followed by instability and crime. Charmaine worked at a bar, simply to get by and earn some money until she found out about the Positron Prison. Selected people could sign up for this project and have been promised a comfortable apartment where they could stay for the rest of their lives. Haven’t had a proper shower in months, clean water or something decent to eat, this sounded great for Charmaine and Stan. This all sounds too good to be true and then there is usually some sort of catch. Any participant is granted assigned residence and employment but they do have to serve every other month at Positron Prison. Keeping the current situation in mind, this all sounds like a good idea and deal until Charmaine fell in love with another resident. Things go insane afterwards.
Overall, this book has romance, science fiction and adventure and is simply a great mix of a bit of everything. I have thought the entire time how this prison project would affect myself mentally if I would be in this situation. To be in a prison one month and then live in this great apartment the next just seems so strange and weird.
Charmaine and Stan’s adventure and love story becomes even more complicated when they try to trust each other again. Can you forgive someone after you found out they cheated on you? Is this possible? Can you live with the person again? And what does it all mean if you are able to forgive? How does your relationship look?
When I fished the book I thought how Atwood is able to write about all these different elements and has the plot all balanced out nicely to make it work, but she is more than capable of doing so. When I read this book, I literally could not put it down. You think that this story Atwood wrote is far-fetched and all this is never going to happen? I believe it is all possible, indeed.
Have you read the book? Do you like it? What did you think about it?
This is an awesome conversations with Margaret Atwood if you would like to listen and watch.
Thank you for reading my blog.
