THE HEART GOES LAST

By Margaret Atwood

With an author as prolific as Margaret Atwood, it seems I can always find another of her books to read. I don’t remember how this 2015 novel made its way onto my reading list, but it is a fascinating story with plenty of psychological tricks and thrills, like so many of Atwood’s better-known works.

Set in the midst of a social and economic collapse that is not so hard to imagine in our near future, middle-aged couple Stan and Charmaine make the life-changing choice to join an alternative community in exchange for jobs, food and housing security. The town uses a rotating schedule of jobs and has a very interesting relationship with the local prison.  I don’t want to give too much away because Atwood unfolds the facts as carefully and brilliantly as ever, and the sense of dystopian horror somehow crept up on me.

In addition to the weirdness of discovering the rules and machinations of their new town, Stan and Charmaine deal with all of the troubles, heartaches and joys of a marriage that has lasted through many ups and downs. Each faces several moral tests separately, and together must decide how much their relationship ultimately means to them.

I can’t say that this book is particularly uplifting, but it will suck you into a (slightly) alternative world and keep you guessing the whole time. (Lily)