#478 The Dead Hand Loves You- Margaret Atwood
Jack Dace is the revered author of an international horror classic, The Dead Hand Loves You. The story has haunted him his entire life,
because of a contract he is bound to.
When he was writing the book he lived with three other
housemates, including Irene, the girl he was infatuated with. But he was
falling behind on paying rent and they were about to kick him out of the house.
So, with desperation and absolutely no foresight, he signs a contract with his
housemates. They will forgive his debt for equal shares in the profits of his
novel.
“In such ways are devil’s bargains made”
As it turns out his novel was a huge success and his friends
kept him to the contract—signed while hung-over at their kitchen table—for the
rest of their lives. The issue put a wedge between him and Irene, who married
one of the other roommates, and they didn’t speak to each other, except through
lawyers for most of following years. Now old, hanging on to the grudge, and a
torch for Irene, Jack strikes out to reconnect with the friends he has made
wealthy; for reconciliation? Retribution? Reckoning?
I like the story, the concept, although I don’t really feel
the love story here at all.
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