My Atwood Project, Part 18: Old Babes in the Wood, and Cut and Thirst

This last (for now?) collection of fifteen short stories, Old Babes in the Wood (2023), is bookended with a few stories about Nell and Tig, who are stand-ins for Atwood and her long-term partner Graeme Gibson, as she explains in the memoir -- see my post on Moral Disorder. 

"My Evil Mother," also issued as a standalone ebook in 2022, continues with the exploration of Atwood's mother figures. As most are, this one is cool and practical, but also maybe a witch. The story ends with you asking yourself about the fictions that parents create in order to protect their children. 

"Impatient Griselda" imagines a quarantine where  humans are helped by aliens who look like octopuses. The alien tells a quarantine group the story of the Griselda sisters: Patient Griselda marries an abusive noble, while Impatient Griselda follows her and works in the kitchen until she can seize her moment. When one of the humans questions this version of "Patient Griselda," which only has one young woman in it, the alien entertainer defends their version. A delightful example of strangemaking.

Another example is “Metempsychosis: Or, the Journey of the Soul” which “corrects” misconceptions about reincarnation by telling of a snail reincarnated as a customer service representative. What could they possibly have done to deserve this?? Also, note that neither the extraterrestrial nor the snail fits into binary male/female categories.

Two stories about historical figures, George Orwell and Hypatia of Alexandria, imagine interviews with them from beyond the grave.

One of the most intriguing stories is "Freeforall," which imagines a different way that the situation in The Handmaid's Tale could have gone. In both worlds, fertility is declining. Here, the cause is a rampant virus. The solution is Houses, which raise uninfected children and trade them for marriage. The Freeforall is an area in each city where infected people must live, much like the pleeblands in the MaddAddam series. 

For Atwood, writing about the dead often means writing about what they read. Atwood's farewell story to her father in Moral Disorder includes his enjoyment of a book about a failed expedition; here, her farewell to Graeme, “Wooden Box,” includes his enjoyment of the French inspector Maigret stories. “A Dusty Lunch” is a tribute to Graeme’s father, and includes letters and poems from his war days. 

"Airborne: A Symposium" introduces us to the trio of Chrissy, Leonie, and Myrna, who will reappear in "Cut and Thirst" (2024) which I found much more entertaining. In this latter story, an ebook standalone, the three aging women friends rally around Fern. When Fern left a self-important old white male out of her anthology, he and his cronies punished her with literary criticism. Don't they deserve to die? Or at least to eat Ex-Lax brownies?

The collection is a lovely mix of Atwood staples: the autobiographical, the speculative, strangemaking, contemporary women, historical figures, retelling of a fairy tale. I hope it’s not her last, but if it is, it’s an excellent representation of her breadth and talent.

I've reached the end of my fiction rereading project, and will post on my reflections soon. Stay tuned!