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Margaret Atwood
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My Evil Mother: A Short Story Kindle Edition

by Margaret Atwood (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 29,616 ratings
#1 Best Seller in 45-Minute Science Fiction & Fantasy Short Reads
See all formats and editions

A #1 Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestseller.

A bittersweet short story about mothers, daughters, and the witches’ brew of love—and control—that binds them, by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments.

Life is hard enough for a teenage girl in 1950s suburbia without having a mother who may—or may not—be a witch. A single mother at that. Sure, she fits in with her starched dresses, string of pearls, and floral aprons. Then there are the hushed and mystical consultations with neighborhood women in distress. The unsavory, mysterious plants in the flower beds. The divined warning to steer clear of a boyfriend whose fate is certainly doomed. But as the daughter of this bewitching homemaker comes of age and her mother’s claims become more and more outlandish, she begins to question everything she once took for granted.

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  1. Print length
    32 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Amazon Original Stories
  5. Publication date
    April 1, 2022
  6. File size
    5951 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
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  10. See all details
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Popular Highlights in this book
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  1. “You were such a sensitive child. So easily wounded. So I told you those things. I didn’t want you to feel defenseless in the face of life. Life can be harsh. I wanted you to feel protected, and to know that there was a greater power watching over you. That the Universe was taking a personal interest.”
    Highlighted by 2,307 Kindle readers
  2. The protector was her, the greater power was her, the Universe that took an interest was her as well; always her. “I love you,” I said.
    Highlighted by 2,005 Kindle readers
  3. “It’s hard living with someone who’s always right. Even when it turned out that she was. It can be . . . alarming.”
    Highlighted by 1,764 Kindle readers
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“There’s a perfect balance of silliness and poignancy in My Evil Mother, which is really a story about the fantasies we never give up about our mothers…What loving mother wouldn’t cast a spell of protection around her children if she could?” —Ron Charles, Washington Post

About the Author

Margaret Atwood is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than fifty books of fiction, poetry, critical essays, and graphic novels, including The Handmaid’s Tale and its sequel, The Testaments, cowinner of the 2019 Booker Prize. Among her other numerous awards: the Franz Kafka International Literary Prize, the PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Los Angeles Times Innovator’s Award. She lives in Toronto.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09T971KPQ
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Amazon Original Stories (April 1, 2022)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 1, 2022
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 5951 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 32 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 29,616 ratings

About the author

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Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood

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Margaret Atwood is the author of more than fifty books of fiction, poetry and critical essays. Her novels include Cat's Eye, The Robber Bride, Alias Grace, The Blind Assassin and the MaddAddam trilogy. Her 1985 classic, The Handmaid's Tale, went back into the bestseller charts with the election of Donald Trump, when the Handmaids became a symbol of resistance against the disempowerment of women, and with the 2017 release of the award-winning Channel 4 TV series. ‘Her sequel, The Testaments, was published in 2019. It was an instant international bestseller and won the Booker Prize.’

Atwood has won numerous awards including the Booker Prize, the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Imagination in Service to Society, the Franz Kafka Prize, the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade and the PEN USA Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2019 she was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour for services to literature. She has also worked as a cartoonist, illustrator, librettist, playwright and puppeteer. She lives in Toronto, Canada.

Photo credit: Liam Sharp

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
29,616 global ratings
A Mother’s Love
5 Stars
A Mother’s Love
What we mothers wouldn’t do for our children. I absolutely loved this short story about a single mother and her only daughter. What would you do if your mother told you crazy yet deliciously tantalizing tales? Would you tell your own daughter these tales? Did her mother tell them to her?
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Top reviews from the United States

Nancy Jo
5.0 out of 5 stars great quick read - very believable
Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2024
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Loved this story . Many can relate in many ways
I will search out other books by this author . Margaret Atwood
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Rose
4.0 out of 5 stars Amusing.
Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2024
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This quick little read is amusing . A quick read for short wait for the doctors office, waiting on the kids at practice, or while your kids are napping. Entertaining.
One person found this helpful
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Bria Morris
3.0 out of 5 stars fast read
Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2024
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This is definitely a fast read if you are trying to reach your reading goal. Im not too sure how I feel about the book overall.
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Gabriela
5.0 out of 5 stars Pure gold!
Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2024
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Long time fan of Margaret Atwood, I still get surprised at how great of a write she is! This short story is just perfect in the way it juggles madness and wisdom, love and hurt and the mix is somehow pure joy.
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mark simonson
5.0 out of 5 stars great afternoon reading
Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2024
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What a lovely surprise. The whole story made me smile. Powerful women wielding the power of love What a gift.
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DnD Munnings
4.0 out of 5 stars Cute!
Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2024
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This short story was very entertaining and imaginative with well written funny events through it. Well worth the little time it took to enjoyably read.
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Kimberly Giles
5.0 out of 5 stars Great quick read
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2024
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What an endearing story. Now I want to tell my adolescent kid her grandmother was a witch! Short and sweet. Excellent author!
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Lee Armstrong
2.0 out of 5 stars Zombie-like Through the Night
Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2023
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"I moved Zombie-like through the night. I was chained to a cemetery fence listening to a reading of the most boring story I could imagine." Then I woke up from this nightmare. My Kindle was still open to "My Evil Mother" by Margaret Atwood. I didn't care about the characters. It was like the story played itself out and stopped trying. We get through a daughter's admittedly strange upbringing where she thinks her mother is a witch and her father is a garden gnome, only to find out that her mother was just strange and blocked her father's attempts to write to her and took credit for presents he sent to her. That's the story. Sorry for the spoiler, but there's not much else here. Night, night. Zzzz.
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Linda
5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable story
Reviewed in Canada on April 14, 2024
Verified Purchase
Very cool short story. It kept me interested to the very last page. Margret Atwood you are a genius and have never disappointed. Thanks
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Cliente Kindle
5.0 out of 5 stars Leitura agradável
Reviewed in Brazil on December 1, 2022
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É um texto bem escrito sobre as nuances do relacionamento mãe e filha. A forma que ele está escrito te prende do início ao fim. Não é uma leitura pesada. E o fim é bem característico.
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Bill
5.0 out of 5 stars She mixes humour with serious and always makes me smile.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 8, 2024
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A Short amusing tale worth a read. Margaret Atwood has a wicked sense of humour and writes compelling fiction always.
One person found this helpful
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Smitha vishwanath
5.0 out of 5 stars Thoroughly enjoyed this book
Reviewed in India on June 24, 2023
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Margaret Atwood’s storytelling is magical, her writing luxurious and witty. This was a beautiful story of mothers and teenage daughters and how at a certain age, most daughters believe their mothers to be ‘evil’.
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Leselustig
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully Wicked
Reviewed in Germany on March 10, 2023
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Love this story, she‘s just the best!
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