Book Review: “Hag Seed” by Margaret Atwood

by fljustice | Oct 6, 2018 | Books, Fiction, Reviews

Hag Seed

by Margaret Atwood

The Blurb:

Felix is at the top of his game as Artistic Director of the Makeshiweg Theatre Festival. His productions have amazed and confounded. Now he’s staging a Tempest like no other: not only will it boost his reputation, it will heal emotional wounds. Or that was the plan. Instead, after an act of unforeseen treachery, Felix is living in exile in a backwoods hovel, haunted by memories of his beloved lost daughter, Miranda. And also brewing revenge.  After twelve years, revenge finally arrives in the shape of a theatre course at a nearby prison. Here, Felix and his inmate actors will put on his Tempest and snare the traitors who destroyed him. It’s magic!  Margaret Atwood’s novel take on Shakespeare’s play of enchantment, retribution, and second chances leads us on an interactive, illusion-ridden journey filled with new surprises and wonders of its own.

My Review

I love Margaret Atwood and have read nearly everything she’s written. She’s experiencing a renaissance now because of the Hulu award-winning TV series based on her 1986 dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale.If you’ve wondered way some women have been showing up in full-length red gowns and white bonnets to protest legislation limiting a women’s right choose or other restrictive laws—this book/show is why. If you haven’t read the book—you should. But I digress…

Hag Seed (a reference to the “monster” Caliban) did not disappoint. The publisher, Hogarth Books, is putting out a series of novels by famous authors retelling Shakespeare’s plays. I’ve read two others in the series and this one is my favorite—so far. Atwood drew “The Tempest” and gave us a workman-like effort with touches of whimsy. She employs the “play within a play” trope where the main character Felix/Prospero is teaching and directing “The Tempest” in a prison literacy program, while simultaneously living out the plot of the play. (more…)