‘Hag-Seed’ by Margaret Atwood

My Review (4 stars out of 5)

Theatre director Felix loves working at the Makeshiweg Theatre Festival. Planning a ground-breaking production of The Tempest, he suddenly finds himself booted out by the treacherous Tony. Relegated to living in a wooden shack, Felix is provoked by thoughts of vengeance, and haunted by memories of his dead daughter, Miranda. However, given an opportunity to work with inmates of a prison, Felix sees the chance to get his own back on those who did him wrong.

This is a bit different to the other books I’ve read by this author (The Blind Assassin, The Robber Bride, Surfacing etc) as it follows (roughly) the plot of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Not knowing the play too well, I did find it a little confusing at times, though for scholars of the play, I’m sure it’ll make a lot more sense. The hero, Felix, is an engaging character, as are those of the prisoners—PPod, 8Handz, Leggs, Bent Pencil etc—and for the most part, the story is an entertaining one. However, like some other reviewers, the last few chapters—where the prisoners/actors explain what they think might have happened to their characters following the play—seemed irrelevant, and written more for readers with scholarly interests in The Tempest.

An entertaining and unusual story.

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