3.5 stars

Any book I read after the epic conclusion to Hobb’s Realm of the Elderling series was bound to feel a bit flat, so I thought I’d turn to the queen that is Atwood! Although I ‘only’ rated this one a 3.5, that’s in relation to other Atwoods - an Atwood 3.5 is still better than most!

In another author’s hands Moral Disorder might have been dull. A series of interconnected vignettes, pinpointing crucial moments, periods and scenarios in one woman’s life through her childhood as an unwilling babysitter to her surprise younger sister, born when she was 11, to middle aged to old when she’s looking after her ailing parents. Many reviews label the book mundane, and while some mean that critically, others praise what Atwood makes out of the mundane - I’m in the latter camp.

It’s like Atwood has some secret door into the human psyche that she can open up and peer through, plucking memories directly from your childhood or adolescence and weaving them into her stories, only slightly altered, but otherwise a universal experience.

My favourites were the two childhood stories, followed by the beginning of the protagonist’s involvement with Tig and Oona and their life on a higgledy piggledy farm. I’d recommend for already-fans of Atwood for more of her dry wit and keen observations, although not a life-altering one!