The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood
Summary:
Margaret Atwood’s The Robber Bride is inspired by “The Robber Bridegroom,” a wonderfully grisly tale from the Brothers Grimm in which an evil groom lures three maidens into his lair and devours them, one by one. But in her version, Atwood brilliantly recasts the monster as Zenia, a villainess of demonic proportions, and sets her loose in the lives of three friends, Tony, Charis, and Roz. All three “have lost men, spirit, money, and time to their old college acquaintance, Zenia. At various times, and in various emotional disguises, Zenia has insinuated her way into their lives and practically demolished them.
To Tony, who almost lost her husband and jeopardized her academic career, Zenia is ‘a lurking enemy commando.’ To Roz, who did lose her husband and almost her magazine, Zenia is ‘a cold and treacherous bitch.’ To Charis, who lost a boyfriend, quarts of vegetable juice and some pet chickens, Zenia is a kind of zombie, maybe ‘soulless’” (Lorrie Moore, New York Times Book Review). In love and war, illusion and deceit, Zenia’s subterranean malevolence takes us deep into her enemies’ pasts.
My Review:
This was my first Atwood experience. I feel like I’ve been hiding under a rock somewhere because I have not read any of her other books – and I wouldn’t have read this one if it weren’t for the 1001 Books list.
I’m fascinated by how this book was written – taking the lives of three very different, very unique women and binding them together through the actions of one very vicious woman.
Tony – the short, war-loving woman. She has a tendency to speak, think and write backwards as an escape and a way of protecting herself. She is stubborn, protective, loyal and enjoys a routine set in stone. As I read her history I began to understand her actions, her wishes and her desires.. and most of all I began to understand her complete and total hatred of Zenia.
Charis – Karen, in another live. Out of all three women, her childhood was the most traumatic, from physical abuse at he hand of her mother to traumatic abuse at the hands of her uncle, Charis believes in auras, in new age material and can see auras of those around her. Yet none of this saves her when it comes to Zenia sweeping into her life and taking advantage of her soft heart.
Roz – The mother of three, the sullen Larry and hilarious teen girls. Atwood nails these two teenage girls and I appreciated the give and tug of their relationship with their mother. Roz deals with her own sort of abuse from her husband, Mitch, and… in my mind, has little excuse to hate what Zenia does to her… I shouldn’t say that, perhaps she should be the least surprised about what happens. She’s a savvy woman, she knows what will happen, it’s happened before – but she plays her own twisted games with it all.
And finally there’s Zenia. We, the readers, get to know her through her actions, her words toward the three woman affected in this book. She is the worst nightmare of every wife and mother, girlfriend and lover. She is complicated but clear, and as I read about some aspects of what she did and began to form a picture of her in my mind I can’t really say I was surprised by her, but her actions still surprised me .. if that makes sense. It was a strange feeling and one that kept me up reading until the wee hours of the morning for some sort of resolution.
This was a fascinating book and I intend to seek out other Atwood novels now. What do you all recommend I check out next?
