An irresistibly compelling storyline, with poignant flashbacks into the past - a girl growing up in a disturbing household, with a domineering mother and aloof father, making her turn to food for escape and all the nasty experiences that go with it - and then the unexpected and well-desired actual escape to a new life, first abroad, then back in Canada, a change of identity, dealing with weird acquaintances/partners, finding love (or resemblance of it), discovering a talent she didn't know she had, and then another, forced, escape... all this with a master touch of an accomplished author (even at the start of her novel writing!), a quality that makes you want to read on and on, enjoying the flow of the narration, with unexpected twists and turns, to the utmost. My only mini-grudge is with the ending, I wanted it more explicit. But otherwise, quite a read... and quite an imagination! ( )

Published in 1976, this book is Margaret Atwood’s third novel. It follows Joan Foster, a woman who has fled to Italy, looking back on her life. She was born in Canada to an overbearing mother and absent father. Her beautiful perfectionistic mother is disappointed in her daughter, and constantly criticizes her. Joan copes by overeating, leading to body image issues and depression. Joan’s childhood difficulties are brought to bear on her romantic relationships. She looks for an escape and eventually finds an outlet by writing “costume romances.”

It reflects upon women’s issues, such as the role of women in society and the over-emphasis on beauty. Joan hides her dysfunctional past behind a layer of lies and elaborate deceptions, leading to deep unhappiness of her own making. Joan is a master of avoidance, refusing to admit the real cause of her problems. She ends up in a vicious cycle of denial and victimhood. The overall themes are being true to oneself and confronting childhood traumas, though these ideas lie between the lines.

Toward the end, Joan’s life becomes as outlandish as one of her costume romances. I preferred the first two-thirds. The last third contains quite a lot of satire, and the ending is over-the-top. But overall, I have to admire the creative and bold attempt to mirror Joan’s novels in her life. I did not quite figure this out until I was finished reading it. I think I would have appreciated it more if I had known ahead of time. Hence, I am including it in my review. ( )

Joan Foster is not dead, but she has contrived to make everyone believe that she is, so that she can escape the complications of her marriage and life. It is Atwood in a flippant and comical mood, with a great deal of fun but not as much substance as you generally expect of her.

If you have ever wanted to disappear and start over, have no one know anything about you, and do it all right the next time around, you will understand Joan. She has had an unusual childhood, with an oppressive mother and all but absent father. She has transformed from an obese girl to a thin, beautiful woman (but as with so many, the "fat" girl is alive inside her and whispers in her ear at the worst of times). Joan reinvents herself time and again until she arrives at the extreme of faking her death. She deals with this ultimate separation much as I think any of us would. Much of what she is running from is still with her in exile and she finds the loneliness and lack of identity not exactly what she had pictured.

I had read this book before, back in the 1990s. I remembered little of it, but I think being so much younger and at a different life stage than the one I am at now made it more relatable back then. I am downgrading it from the original 4-stars to a 3-star rating, not because it is not a good read, it is just not on the same level with the Atwood novels that followed and shook my world. ( )

Not my favourite and so many years since I read it there were only a very few pages I had any memory of. Still a really interesting read and mixes so many different genre styles and themes, covert as well as overt! I read this really quickly so I obviously found it hard to put down. However at bottom pretty bleak despite the laughs although the protagonist is still pretty young at the end (I think) and a better future is still open. ( )

A wild but readable story of a woman and the multiple lives she leads. I'm not sure the body depictions are what we'd consider culturally acceptable (potential fat-shamibg?), so that's my content warning. ( )