"But what if she discovers the truth? What he suspects is the truth. That he’s patchwork, a tin man, his heart stuffed with sawdust."

As with all relationships, this was not easy. It is not a happy, feel-good read. The story does not leave you with the big answers revealed. It is quite a sad and depressing glimpse into the lives of three equally unhappy main characters: Elizabeth, the CONTROLLING bitch. Nate, the doormat who only comes alive when he is running. And Lesje, who drifts through life, connecting with dinosaurs, not people. As well as being unhappy, all three are unlikable. All three have gravely unfulfilled lives. If they could, honestly, be said to be living. They are a mess, outwardly and inwardly -- even their homes are in a state of disrepair.

At the core of the story is Elizabeth and Nate's open marriage and the ripple effect on everyone involved. You might think, (in a smug, judge-y way) well -- that's the problem right there! But the story has many layers, for Atwood also gives you the backstory of three unhappy childhoods -- and, for some, generations of unhappy families. The dominant character presiding over all is Elizabeth. She is more fully formed than the other two and I think Atwood has done this on purpose. Like her Auntie Muriel, she steamrolls everyone into doing what she wants and how she wants it. She must look like the winner, to the detriment of everyone else. What is left in her wake is the empty, emotionless wreckage. (including herself, as she will see.) As Lesje ruminates near the end of the story, "She could not, she knew, match the almost flamboyant melodrama of Elizabeth's [childhood] ... in any competition for unhappy childhoods she would lose."

As always, there are huge themes tackled but not in a moralizing or in-your-face way. (Atwood is oh-so subtle, oh-so crafty, always brilliant.) Themes of marriage, adultery, mental health, suicide, emotional abuse, self-worth, fulfillment, cultural discrimination, etc, all within the domestic arena. Atwood's writing is always deep and thoughtful (her exceptional intelligence is just too much for my brain!) As I stated earlier, the story did not leave me with the feeling that these characters will live happily ever after. Sadly, our three main characters' relationships seem to be going the route of Lesje's beloved dinosaurs -- the road to extinction. It is unlike anything I have read before and although grim, I am not sorry to have sat with these characters for a little while. After reading one of her books, Atwood makes me feel just a little bit smarter. Just a little bit wiser. This one also made me feel a whole lot better about my life and the lovely people I happily call my family.