Laura Chase's older sister Iris, married at eighteen to a politically
prominent industrialist but now poor and eighty-two, is living in Port
Ticonderoga, a town dominated by their once-prosperous family before
the First World War.
Iris reflects on her far from exemplary life, in particular the events
surrounding her sister's tragic death. Chief among these was the
publication of The Blind Assassin, a novel which earned the dead Laura
Chase not only notoriety but also a devoted cult following. Sexually
explicit for its time, The Blind Assassin describes a risky affair in
the turbulent thirties between a wealthy young woman and a man on the
run.
During their secret meetings in rented rooms, the lovers concoct a
pulp fantasy set on Planet Zycron. As the invented story twists
through love and sacrifice and betrayal, so does the real one; whilst
events in both move closer to war and catastrophe.
This week's book is The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood and we'll not be meeting at The Fletcher Moss on William Street in Didsbury but will be meeting online — contact us for details.
