My Evil Mother: A Short Story
From Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments, comes a short story that sits somewhere between suburban comedy and quiet unease. It's the 1950s, and growing up is already awkward enough without a mother who might, possibly, be a witch. She looks the part of a respectable housewife, pearls and floral aprons included. But then there are the strange plants lurking in the flower beds, the hushed gatherings with troubled women from the neighbourhood, and the eerily accurate warning to stay away from a particular boyfriend before things go badly wrong. The suspicion builds slowly, almost tenderly. As the daughter grows older and her mother's pronouncements grow stranger, she starts pulling apart assumptions she'd never previously thought to question. Atwood writes this peculiar relationship with characteristic wit and a light but precise touch, finding genuine warmth inside a story about power, love, and the very odd business of being raised by someone you can't quite figure out. Short it may be, but it lingers.
- Author: Margaret Atwood
- Publisher: Amazon Original Stories
- Genre: Contemporary Fiction
- ISBN: 978-1662504495
- Pages: 32 pages