Cat's Eye

by Margaret Atwood · 1988

When celebrated painter Elaine Risley returns to Toronto for a retrospective of her work, the city forces her to confront the tangled memories of her youth. The novel follows Elaine as vivid recollections of a fierce childhood trio—girls who taught her the politics of friendship, longing, and betrayal—rise to the surface. Through humor, compassion, and unsettling insight, Elaine must untangle the knots of her identity as daughter, lover, artist, and woman, seeking release from the haunting shadows of her past.