--- product_id: 17574262 title: "Surfacing" price: "£17.30" currency: GBP in_stock: true reviews_count: 8 url: https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/17574262-surfacing store_origin: GB region: United Kingdom --- # Surfacing **Price:** £17.30 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Surfacing - **How much does it cost?** £17.30 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.uk](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/17574262-surfacing) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Surfacing [Atwood, Margaret] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Surfacing Review: I love this and will probably read it a few more times, if lucky, before I shed my mortal coil. - This is an amazing novel, which I've now read three or four times. I see more in it every time I read it. It's a double or triple mystery: the mystery of the narrator's life (she revisits her isolated childhood home on the shores of a distant Canadian lake), the mystery of her parents' lives (her father is missing, possibly dead, but what was he doing?), the mystery of the broken yet essential relationship between the narrator and her parents ... and these are only some of the mysteries that make this such a vital book. And I love the writing style, which carefully replicates how the narrator's mind thinks; like all human thinking, there is plenty of free association and non-logical [at least at first reading] jumps. Is this a challenge for a reader? No, I don't really think it is a major challenge, i.e., too difficult to follow the narrator's train of thought. But the novel rewards careful reading. Review: A disappointment for a huge Atwood fan - SURFACING by Margaret Atwood 2/22/04 SURFACING by Margaret Atwood is a short novel that starts out as a story of a young woman who is in search of her missing father. Taking place in a wilderness area on an island in Quebec, the main character brings with her 3 friends (a boyfriend and another couple) and the four of them live on her family's old property, now rundown and in need of a lot of love and care. While the four spend their time "roughing it", she goes about plotting on how to figure out where her father is, or whether he is still alive. This was a very difficult book for me to read. I'm going to say this straight out, that SURFACING by Margaret Atwood was a disappointment for me. Although I'm not going to give it a rating lower than 3 stars, coming from an author that I consider my favorite, it was difficult to read such a book that I found was not her best work. Some may disagree with me, but I found this book somewhat lacking, and that because this was one of her earlier novels, I felt that Atwood was still figuring out her style of writing. The attention to detail to the Canadian wilderness was wonderful, however, and I could imagine myself there with these four adults, scrounging for food and fishing for dinner. I'm having a hard time describing how I feel about this book, as I had so much hoped for something better from Atwood. I don't think any fan should dismiss this book. It is a must read, if one would like an overview of Atwood's entire literary collection. However, I would recommend that any new reader not read this book first, as it might disappoint and prevent one in picking up another Atwood book. I still find that THE BLIND ASSASSIN is by far her best novel so far, followed closely by THE HANDMAID'S TALE. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #216,867 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #482 in Literary Criticism & Theory #4,354 in Women's Domestic Life Fiction #5,985 in Literary Fiction (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 3.6 out of 5 stars 1,786 Reviews | ## Images ![Surfacing - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61rVrHn+D9L.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I love this and will probably read it a few more times, if lucky, before I shed my mortal coil. *by A***R on February 7, 2025* This is an amazing novel, which I've now read three or four times. I see more in it every time I read it. It's a double or triple mystery: the mystery of the narrator's life (she revisits her isolated childhood home on the shores of a distant Canadian lake), the mystery of her parents' lives (her father is missing, possibly dead, but what was he doing?), the mystery of the broken yet essential relationship between the narrator and her parents ... and these are only some of the mysteries that make this such a vital book. And I love the writing style, which carefully replicates how the narrator's mind thinks; like all human thinking, there is plenty of free association and non-logical [at least at first reading] jumps. Is this a challenge for a reader? No, I don't really think it is a major challenge, i.e., too difficult to follow the narrator's train of thought. But the novel rewards careful reading. ### ⭐⭐⭐ A disappointment for a huge Atwood fan *by R***Y on February 22, 2004* SURFACING by Margaret Atwood 2/22/04 SURFACING by Margaret Atwood is a short novel that starts out as a story of a young woman who is in search of her missing father. Taking place in a wilderness area on an island in Quebec, the main character brings with her 3 friends (a boyfriend and another couple) and the four of them live on her family's old property, now rundown and in need of a lot of love and care. While the four spend their time "roughing it", she goes about plotting on how to figure out where her father is, or whether he is still alive. This was a very difficult book for me to read. I'm going to say this straight out, that SURFACING by Margaret Atwood was a disappointment for me. Although I'm not going to give it a rating lower than 3 stars, coming from an author that I consider my favorite, it was difficult to read such a book that I found was not her best work. Some may disagree with me, but I found this book somewhat lacking, and that because this was one of her earlier novels, I felt that Atwood was still figuring out her style of writing. The attention to detail to the Canadian wilderness was wonderful, however, and I could imagine myself there with these four adults, scrounging for food and fishing for dinner. I'm having a hard time describing how I feel about this book, as I had so much hoped for something better from Atwood. I don't think any fan should dismiss this book. It is a must read, if one would like an overview of Atwood's entire literary collection. However, I would recommend that any new reader not read this book first, as it might disappoint and prevent one in picking up another Atwood book. I still find that THE BLIND ASSASSIN is by far her best novel so far, followed closely by THE HANDMAID'S TALE. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Beautifully written, but failed to engage me *by J***L on May 22, 2022* Excellent writing as usual. Atwood is a wizard when it comes to describing even the simplest things with rich visual details and gorgeous metaphors, so it's never a waste of time reading her. But the story itself was not very exciting. Not all her work needs to be as thrilling as "The Handmaid's Tale", but I expected more from the character's personal journey. The pace of the action is satisfactory and yet, the pace of the character's inner voice isn't. I did not feel engaged. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/17574262-surfacing](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/17574262-surfacing) --- *Product available on Desertcart United Kingdom* *Store origin: GB* *Last updated: 2026-05-16*