Margaret Atwood’s Book Of Lives: A Memoir Of Sorts, talks about her hair styles – from long tight curls, to short hair.

Can you imagine a mother styling her daughter’s hair for almost 12 years? It is not simple styling, but a time consuming style of using a hot cylindrical curling tong to heat a segment of hair strands, to make them curl like a coiled spring. Think Shirley Temple ringlets. Shirley’s mom styled her hair from the age of 4, and made 56 ringlets on her crown. The author Peggy Atwood also experienced her mom curling her hair every morning, until she was 11 years old.

After her younger sister Ruth was born, Margaret Senior couldn’t cope with the styling and infant care so Peggy received a short hair cut.

One of my elementary school classmates also had Shirley Temple ringlets. When she entered middle school, she grew past the cute locks and her hair was shorn close to her scalp. The remaining crop was still curly, in the frizzy way.

I can’t reproduce M Atwood’s childhood photo here but you can look at old Shirley Temple’s photos to see her ringlets. Better still, buy her book, or borrow a copy of her book to look at her photos.

Book Of Lives: A Memoir Of Sorts by Margaret Atwood. If you buy something from this link, I may earn a small commission.

Here’s the link to our main book review on Book Of Lives: A Memoir Of Sorts .