Spiritual Journey in Margaret Atwood's Surfacing

A quote from a short but complex book with a theme of spiritual journey woven through.

Anna invariably disappoints the Narrator. In her need to hide her natural state from David, Anna “blends and mutes herself so well he may not notice” (38), an interesting camouflage reference that doubles as a reference to her voice – muted. They are ‘best friend’ to one another, though the Narrator has known her only a couple of months. Anna is actually the person who has got closest to deciphering the Narrator’s life, albeit accidentally:

Everyone can do a little magic, she reads hands at parties, she says it’s a substitute for conversation. When she did mine she said “Do you know you have a twin?” I said No. “Are you positive,” she said, “because some of your lines are double.” Her index finger traced me: “You had a good childhood and then there’s this funny break.”

As we later find out, the Narrator does have another person to whom she was at one stage attached – her unborn baby – making this a remarkable piece of detective work by Anna.

Having heard reference to this book and its themes in various places, I hope to delve in to it soon. The thing is to find a time when I am in the right frame of mind. When will that be? Possibly when I'm not needed by others and can peel back a few layers and read with discernment of things spiritual, rather than purely academically.
For insight from others see: Academic Blog or Luminarium or Wikipedia.
Discussion questions from Reading Group Guides.
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