The Heart Goes Last and other Recent Releases by Margaret Atwood

On September 29, Margaret Atwood's eagerly anticipated The Heart Goes Last is released. The Unbound Writers will blog about the book in the upcoming weeks, and we'd love you to add your comments about her new book. As a further enticement to go out and get it now, here are some words of praise from Publisher's Weekly:

“In The Heart Goes Last, bestselling author Margaret Atwood tells the story of Charmaine and Stan, a couple living in their car and surviving almost entirely on tips. Their lives take a drastic turn, however, when they sign up for a ‘social experiment’ that provides them with jobs and a home. The caveat, though, is that the couple must do a stint in a prison cell every second month, while an ‘alternate’ pair occupies their house. According to the publisher, Charmaine and Stan become obsessed with their alternates, and ‘the pressures of conformity, mistrust, guilt and sexual desire begin to take over.”

Back in June, Ms. Atwood also released a collection of nine short stories called Stone Mattress.

Just two reviews:

“Witty and frequently biting ... this book’s stories offer characters a chance to put their own understandings of gallantry, courage and revenge to the test, in ways both mundane and extraordinary.”
—The New York Times Book Review

”In Stone Mattress [Atwood is] having a high old time dancing over the dark swamps of Horror on the wings of satirical wit ... Look at these tales as eight icily refreshing arsenic Popsicles followed by a baked Alaska laced with anthrax, all served with impeccable style and aplomb. Enjoy!”
—Ursula K Le Guin, Financial Times”

She also contributed a story to another anthology, Loosed Upon the World: The Saga Anthology of Climate Fiction, edited by John Joseph Adams. This anthology is focused on "cli-fi", or science fiction in which climate change is a primary factor. Of course the MaddAddam trilogy which we are appreciating in three weekly blogs was very influential to this sub-genre. Other contributors include author Paolo Bacigalupi, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Seanan McGuire.