The Journals of Susanna Moodie | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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The Journals of Susanna Moodie

The Journals of Susanna Moodie, by Margaret Atwood (1970).

The Journals of Susanna Moodie, by Margaret Atwood (1970). In these poems, Atwood recreates the life of a 19th-century English settler in Canada, exploring the irrational and mythic dimensions of human experience. Journal 1 (1832-40) follows Susanna Moodie as she lands at Québec and, alien and dispossessed, struggles to accommodate the confusion and terror of life in the bush; Journal 2 (1840-71) finds Mrs Moodie in Belleville, haunted by dreams of the wilderness, but beginning to accept an alternate reality and a dual vision; and Journal 3 (1871-1969) takes Mrs Moodie into death and beyond, when she appears in the present, fully a part of the land she once despised. This collection, with its laconic style and intricate structure, is considered one of Atwood's major poetic achievements.

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