A woman returns to the Canadian wilderness to search for her missing father. With her are her boyfriend and another couple. As the search continues, she begins to shed civilization — language, logic, clothing — and something primal surfaces. Atwood's second novel and her most radical feminist statement.
Sexual content — raw and unsentimental.
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Moods: Primal Feminist Wilderness Psychological
Tropes: Return to Nature Missing Father Identity Dissolution Canadian Wilderness
Her second novel — rawer and more experimental than her later work.
Both — the physical wilderness mirrors psychological dissolution.
More challenging than Handmaid's Tale — deeply rewarding.