(Borrowed from NY Public Library on 40th St.) Margaret Atwood's 1983 collection of short stories has a folkloric title, but all the tales are reality-based. Bluebeard's Egg derives from a folk tale read by a housewife in a narrative fiction course. The fantasy parallels her own marriage which is beginning to show cracks. I enjoyed all the stories, particularly Scarlet Ibis and Significant Moments in the Life of My Mother. In the former, a woman recounts a tourist-trap boat ride with her grumpy husband and whiny daughter. In the later, the narrator recalls moments from her childhood and her mother's life. I liked Betty also about a woman recalling a childhood neighbor who endured a then-taboo divorce and how it changed her. Atwood documents the little details that make up our lives with compassion and precision.
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