Stone Mattress

북극을 배경으로 펼쳐지는 마거릿 애트우드의 차갑고 시린 단편 소설입니다. 첫 문장에서부터 저자는 독자에게 주인공이 무슨 짓을 저질렀는지 이야기하면서 호기심을 자극합니다.

“At the outset Verna had not intended to kill anyone. What she had in mind was a vacation, pure and simple. Take a breather, do some inner accounting, shed worn skin. The Arctic suits her: there’s something inherently calming in the vast cool sweeps of ice and rock and sea and sky, undisturbed by cities and highways and trees and the other distractions that clutter up the landscape to the south.”