A review by thebacklistborrower
Life Before Man by Margaret Atwood

slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

A book where nobody is happy and everybody cheats on everybody else (in many cases (but not all), with consent by the partner), the title is both ironic and a little funny. Like many Atwood novels, the book is heavy with the lives of women, with just a few men to act as foils. 

I don’t think it was the intent that I felt the most for the husband, Nate, of the main couple. His wife Elizabeth regrets marrying him, and initiated an open relationship so they could remain together by appearances for their two daughters and society, but she could still sleep around (and encourage him to do the same, albeit imo he did this with clearly less interest). Nate was trained as a lawyer, but was struggling to make ends meet as a classic wooden toy maker, as he saw this as being more fulfilling, while still benefitting society. It was truly endearing, but leaves Elizabeth as the primary breadwinner with her job at the Royal Ontario Museum. 

Things start to fall apart when Nate ends up with Elizabeth’s coworker, Lesja, who doesn’t really get people, preferring to fantasize about a life amongst the dinosaurs. Elizabeth finds a new lover after her previous lover (also a co-worker) commits suicide, and their carefully crafted life begins to strain as Nate and Elizabeth both demand more from each other. 

It wasn’t my favourite Atwood book, but I was eager to find out how it ended and kept reading.