(The Handmaid’s Tale, Oryx and Crake, Alias Grace, The Blind Assassin, Year of the Flood, Cat’s Eye, The Edible Woman)
Known for her elegant and intelligent storytelling, Atwood is a versatile writer of novels, essays, poetry, and short stories. While her prose is a major appeal factor of her work, she also has a talent for creating very complicated and layered characters. Reworking fairy tales and myth play a large part in her fiction, as do women’s issues and feminism. Atwood delivers novels that are multi-layered and compelling.
If you like Atwood’s books, try:
A.S. Byatt (her themes and style are very similar to Atwood’s—try her short stories or her novel Possession)
Penelope Lively (if you enjoy Atwood’s exploration of women’s issues as well as her skill with layered psychological stories, you might like Lively’s Moon Tiger)
Margaret Drabble (her The Seven Sisters might appeal to Atwood fans after a novel told with great storytelling skill)
Marge Piercy (if you like Atwood’s strong characters and well-crafted storylines as well as her exploration of political issues, you might want to try Piercy’s work—He, She and It might appeal to those who like interwoven plotlines and historical periods. If you enjoy more straightforward contemporary stories, try The Longings of Women)
Joyce Carol Oates (if you enjoy Atwood’s sense of the psychological and her intricate storytelling, you might like Oates’ work—try beginning with We Were the Mulvaneys or any of her short stories)
Angela Carter (try her collection of intelligent, dark, feminist re-imaginings of fairytales, The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories)
CPL Readers Corner 