''The Blind Assassin'' is a novel by the
Canadian writer
Margaret Atwood
Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of non-fiction, nin ...
. It was first published by
McClelland and Stewart in 2000. The book is set in the fictional
Ontario town of Port Ticonderoga and in
Toronto. It is narrated from the present day, referring to previous events that span the twentieth century but mostly the 1930s and 1940s. It is a work of
historical fiction
Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...
with the major events of Canadian history forming an important backdrop, for example, the
On-to-Ottawa Trek
The On-to-Ottawa Trek was a mass protest movement in Canada in 1935 sparked by unrest among unemployed single men in federal relief camps principally in Western Canada. Federal relief camps were brought in under Prime Minister R. B. Bennett’ ...
and a 1934
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
rally at
Maple Leaf Gardens. Greater verisimilitude is given by a series of newspaper articles commenting on events and on the novel's characters from a distance.
The work was awarded the
Booker Prize
The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...
in 2000 and the
Hammett Prize in 2001 and also received a number of other nominations.
Plot summary
The novel's
protagonist
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
, Iris Chase, and her sister Laura, grow up well-off but motherless in a small town in southern Ontario. As an old woman, Iris recalls the events and relationships of her childhood, youth and middle age, including her unhappy marriage to Toronto businessman Richard Griffen. The book includes a
novel within a novel, the
eponymous ''Blind Assassin'',
a
roman à clef attributed to Laura but published by Iris. It is about Alex Thomas, a politically radical author of
pulp science fiction who has an ambiguous relationship with the sisters. That
embedded story
A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story (within the first one). Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometimes c ...
itself contains a third tale, a science fiction story told by Alex's fictional counterpart to the second novel's protagonist, believed to be Laura's fictional counterpart.
The novel takes the form of a gradual revelation illuminating both Iris's youth and her old age before coming to the pivotal events of her and Laura's lives around the time of the Second World War. Laura and Iris live in a house called Avilion. Their mother dies at a young age leaving Reenie, the caretaker, to take on full responsibility for the girls. As the novel unfolds, and the novel-within-a-novel becomes ever more obviously inspired by real events, Iris, not Laura, is revealed to be the novel-within-a-novel's true author and protagonist. Though the novel-within-a-novel had long been believed to be inspired by Laura's romance with Alex, it is revealed that ''The Blind Assassin'' was written by Iris based on her
extramarital affair with Alex. Iris later published the work in Laura's name after Laura committed suicide upon learning of Alex's death in the war. Following the suicide, Iris realizes through her sister's journals that Richard had been raping Laura for much of their marriage, blackmailing her to comply with him by threatening to turn Alex in to the authorities. Iris takes her young daughter Aimee and flees her home, threatening to reveal that Richard had impregnated Laura and forced an abortion on her. This move estranges Iris from the last people who were supporting her, and creates bitterness between her and the grown Aimee. Iris deceives Richard into believing that Laura was the one having an affair with Alex Thomas, which drives him to commit suicide. The novel ends as Iris dies, leaving the truth to be discovered in her unpublished autobiography that she leaves to her sole surviving granddaughter.
Main characters
* Iris Chase Griffen: The narrator and protagonist of the tale.
* Laura Chase: Iris's sister, whose suicide opens the book and who is named as the author of the novel within.
* Richard E. Griffen: Iris's ruthless, older husband with political ambitions.
* Winifred Griffen Prior: Iris's fashionable, manipulative, and social-climbing sister-in-law.
* Alex Thomas: A young author with Communist sympathies who takes refuge in Avilion with the sisters' help.
* Cpt. Norval Chase: The father of Iris and Laura. After being seriously injured in World War I and later widowed, he begrudgingly runs the family button business while descending into alcoholism and depression.
* Reenie: The loyal Chase family housekeeper who becomes like a mother to Iris and Laura.
* Myra Sturgess: Reenie's daughter (possibly by Cpt Chase), who aids Iris in her old age.
* Aimee Adelia Griffen: Iris's daughter.
* Sabrina Griffen: Iris's granddaughter.
Reception
Reception was mixed. A reviewer for ''
Salon
Salon may refer to:
Common meanings
* Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments
* French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home
* Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment
Arts and entertainment
* Salon (P ...
'' described the book as a "cunning tale ... sketched with Atwood's trademark dark humor and deft hand." The ''
Christian Science Monitor'' critic commented on "Atwood's crisp wit and steely realism" and said the book "brilliantly ... works to flesh out the dime-novel culture of the 1930s and to emphasize the precarious position of women." ''
The New York Times'' critic
Thomas Mallon was unimpressed, calling the book "overlong and badly written".
Adam Mars-Jones
Adam Mars-Jones (born 26 October 1954) is a British novelist and literary and film critic.
Early life and education
Mars-Jones was born in London, to Sir William Mars-Jones (1915–1999), a Welsh High Court judge and a President of the London ...
in ''
The Guardian'' was less negative but characterized the book as a "romantic tale" with political elements bolted on.
The novel was awarded the
Booker Prize
The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...
in 2000 and the
Hammett Prize in 2001. It was also nominated for
Governor General's Award in 2000,
Orange Prize for Fiction
The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...
, and the
International Dublin Literary Award in 2002.
''
Time'' magazine named it the best novel of 2000 and included it in its list of the 100 greatest English-language novels since 1923.
As of 2019, The Blind Assassin is Atwood's second highest-selling novel after
The Handmaid's Tale, having sold over half a million copies of hard-cover and paper-back combined. Sales of the novel jumped tenfold in 2000 after receiving the Booker Prize.
See also
*
Southern Ontario Gothic
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blind Assassin, The
Novels set in Toronto
Novels by Margaret Atwood
Metafictional novels
Postmodern novels
McClelland & Stewart books
Booker Prize-winning works
Great Depression novels
2000 Canadian novels
Nonlinear narrative novels