The Edible Woman "Ever since her engagement, the strangest thing has been happening to Marian McAlpin: she can't eat.  First meat.  Then eggs, vegetables, cake, pumpkin seeds—everything!  Worse yet, she has the crazy feeling that she's  being eaten.  Marian ought to feel consumed with passion, but she really just feels...consumed.  A brilliant and powerful work rich in irony and metaphor,  The Edible Woman is an unforgettable masterpiece by a true master of contemporary literary fiction."  —The Publisher. Home Biography Novels Short Fiction Poetry Site Awards Excerpts from The Edible Woman Extract, Ch. 1: "I know I was all right on Friday" - Virago Guides Extract: "I had to return from lunch" - Virago Brief Excerpts - Nascitur.com Plot Synopses Synopsis - Literary Encyclopedia Book Reviews New York Times Review, 1970 Time Magazine, 1970 Essays on The Edible Woman You Are What You Eat: The Politics of Eating in the Novels of Margaret Atwood - Emma Parker Anti-edibles: Capitalism and Schizophrenia in Margaret Atwood's The Edible Woman - Jennifer Hobgood Atwood and Laurence: Poet and Novelist - Linda Hutcheon Taming of Externals: A Linguistic Study of Character Transformation in The Edible Woman - J. Patterson Are Women Edible? - Kenneth Hermansson The Edible Atwood, from Page to Stage - Dave Carley Study Guides and Miscellaneous Resources Reader's Companion to The Edible Woman - Books@Random Dave Carley's Play "Edible Woman" to Margaret Atwood's Novels to Margaret Atwood Luminarium Copyright ©1996-2007 Anniina Jokinen. All Rights Reserved. Book cover images remain under the copyright of their respective copyright owners. This page created on December 18, 2006 by Anniina Jokinen. Last updated January 3, 2007. About this Website | Luminarium Privacy Statement. Margaret Atwood's first novel, The Edible Woman, was published in 1969. The story about a woman who cannot eat and feels as if she herself is being eaten, was well ahead of its time in discussing eating disorders at a time when anorexia, bulimia, etc. were not widely discussed. Margaret Atwood has since gone on to become not just a major Canadian Writer, and a woman writer (whom some would call a Feminist Writer), but an award-winning author of English literature. Her works include novels, short stories, poetry, etc.