Dark Lady by Margaret Atwood was an interesting final piece of the Gavin puzzle. Or the Constance puzzle, though, to me, Gavin seems to be the biggest part of all three stories, even though he is the worst of all the characters.

I really enjoyed how Atwood set up this story, from the point of view of Tin. I would argue that the story (at least the plot) is about Jorrie. She is the driving force behind the narrative and the one that ties the story back in with Gavin. However, because the story is from the point of view of Tin, Atwood can really be honest about Jorrie and analyze her. If the story had been from Jorrie’s point of view, yes, we probably would have gotten more about her inner thoughts and the “other layers” that Tin mentions at the end, but we would not have gotten how ridiculous the gold flakes on her face look or the information about how much botox she has gotten. Tin is able to provide a perspective of Jorrie that she would not necessarily realize or admit and we get a fuller view of her. He is also her twin that knows her very well so we do get to see some of her insecurities and close past as well. I think it was a really smart way for Atwood to set up the story. Jorrie seems like she would be a very unreliable narrator.

The idea of aging has been present in all three stories. Growing old (I’m assuming) is a pretty big emotional dilemma so it gave Atwood a lot of material to work with.

I really enjoyed the aspect of returning characters. We were able to confirm that Gavin died. Constance definitely seemed much stranger in Gavin’s story and Jorrie’s story than she did in her own. It was interesting to see her from different perspectives. Reynolds seemed much more immature in Dark Lady though.