Up to Canada

I have moved from the South/East hemispheres to the North/West hemispheres with Surfacing by Margaret Atwood. I enjoyed Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Oryx and Crake, and am hoping to enjoy this one as much. So far I am just dumbfounded by the narrator's lack of emotional attachment to her family. Even so it is interesting so I shouldn't have too much trouble getting through it. The only barrier (as usual) is time.