Two of Me

Lori A. Dunn is an ESL teacher and editor of the Toronto women’s
magazine Feminie.

Atwood’s short novel is essentially a psycho-journey of a woman trying
to find her healing path. Leaving behind her husband and daughter,
Shelly travels to her home town to face the demons of her memories
first-hand. And the reader is present in her mind as those memories
begin pouring out. The ending is almost truncated; the reader is left
not knowing the result of the healing process, aware only that the
healing has begun.

In this powerful novel, Atwood pulls off a difficult premise with ease;
her writing style is comfortably conversational and eerily believable.
The flashback sequences are ushered in with almost no confusion due to
the time change, and are vividly played out.

The result: an almost embarrassingly personal book that could very well
be the closest some people will ever get to that level of emotional
distress. Two of Me is almost impossible to read casually.