Cat's Eye (novel)
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| Author | Margaret Atwood |
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| Cover artist | T. M. Craan, design; Jamie Bennet, illustration (first edition, hardback) |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | McClelland and Stewart |
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Publication date
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September 1988 |
| Media type | Hardback, Paperback, E-book |
| Pages | 420 (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | (first edition, hardback) |
| OCLC | 19271117 |
| 813/.54 20 | |
| LC Class | PR9199.3.A8 C38 1988b |
| Preceded by | The Handmaid's Tale |
| Followed by | Wilderness Tips |
Cat's Eye is a 1988 novel by Canadian writer Margaret Atwood about controversial painter Elaine Risley, who vividly reflects on her childhood and teenage years. Her strongest memories are of Cordelia, who was the leader of a trio of girls who were both very cruel and very kind to her in ways that tint Elaine's perceptions of relationships and her world — not to mention her art — into her middle years. The novel unfolds in mid-20th century Canada, from World War II to the late 1980s, and includes a look at many of the cultural elements of that time period, including feminism and various modern art movements. The book was a finalist for the 1988 Governor General's Award and for the 1989 Booker Prize.
Elaine and her brother play marbles as children; Elaine keeps a prized possession, a cat's eye marble, in her childhood plastic red purse. The cat's eye later appears as a common motif in Elaine's paintings, linked with those she perceived to be an ally, although she does not remember why it is associated with those feelings. Elaine rediscovers the red purse years later, and as she looks through it, she regains all the memories she had lost: "her life entire".
After being lured back to her childhood home of Toronto for a retrospective show of her art, Elaine reminisces about her childhood. At the age of eight she becomes friends with Carol and Grace, and, through their eyes, realises that her atypical background of constant travel with her entomologist father and independent mother has left her ill-equipped for conventional expectations of femininity. Although initially awkward and naive of childhood politics and social structure, Elaine is accepted, even admired by her new friends. Her lifestyle, even now, is exotic to the others. Elaine, after fantasizing about having girl friends during her nomadic brief existence, begins to settle in and enjoy her new life and new school.
After her first full year of attending traditional grade school, during her summer break, her parents return her to their previous life of travel and insect exploration. After a four month absence, Elaine returns home to her friends for the next school year.
Upon her return, Elaine finds the dynamic of her group has been altered with the addition of the new girl, Cordelia. Elaine is first drawn in by Cordelia but after a period, sensing her inability to recognize the cruelty, Elaine is bullied by the three girls, her supposed "best friends."
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