It is no surprise to discover, on the publication of "Life Before Man," that the Canadian Margaret Atwood is a writer of importance, with a deep understanding of human behavior, a beautiful understated style and, rarest of all, broad scope—an awareness of wide stretches of time and space….

That she is gifted was clear even in her first novel, "The Edible Woman," though that satiric feminist book tends toward the lightness of the confection that is its central image. "Surfacing," her second novel, is an accomplished work and was recognized as such by feminists, even though the work is not politically feminist. It is a sparely written, strong, lyrical recounting of a woman's return to her childhood home in a near-wilderness…. "Surfacing" is vivid and deeply felt.

"Lady Oracle," her third novel, proved a disappointment. Despite some lively sections, it is eventually weighed down by the unwieldy...