Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
"Bear is a strange and wonderful book, plausible as kitchens, but shapely as a folktale, and with the same disturbing resonance."-- Margaret Atwood
A librarian is called to a remote Canadian island to inventory the estate of a secretive Colonel whose most surprising secret is a bear. Even more surprising is the passion that begins to develop between the woman and the large, powerful animal.
Synopsis
Controversial, unsettling, shocking. This is the story of a 27-year-old, lonely, woman who, alone on an island, who discovers an obsessive passion--one that breaks an ancient taboo and that could very well become deadly.
Lou, a shy and secretive young librarian is called to a remote Canadian island to inventory the estate of the recently deceased Colonel Cary. In a cabin on the island, she discovers the colonel had a secret as well. A bear is chained inside. Fascinated, Lou brings the bear into the house and slowly gains the animal's trust. She sinks her fingers into the bear's fur--and soon realizes her darkest desire is for this large, powerful animal to be her lover.
But there's more to the story than the price to be paid for forbidden passion. This novel by award-winning author Marian Engel works within the logic of a fever dream as the young woman comes to an even greater, and unexpected, understanding of herself.
Bear was first published in 1976 and won the Canadian Governor General's Award for English-language fiction. The novel has retained its power to shock, disturb, and move readers today.