Entwined with this saga are marvelous excerpts of Laura's posthumously published novel -- an erotic cult classic called ''The Blind Assassin,'' detailing the illicit affair between an unnamed strike organizer and an heiress, during which the man relates a clever, bedtime sci-fi yarn about a blind assassin who falls for a mute sacrificial virgin. Atwood performs a spectacular literary sleight of hand, fashioning a bewitching, brilliantly layered story of how people see only what they wish to -- and how terrible the consequences of not voicing the truth can be.


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