The Robber Bride

By: Margaret Atwood

Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne

From the best-selling author of The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments - one of Margaret Atwood’s most unforgettable characters lurks at the center of this intricate novel like a spider in a web. The glamorous, irresistible, unscrupulous Zenia is nothing less than a fairy-tale villain in the memories of her former friends.

Roz, Charis, and Tony - university classmates decades ago - were reunited at Zenia’s funeral and have met monthly for lunch ever since, obsessively retracing the destructive swath she once cut through their lives. A brilliantly inventive fabulist, Zenia had a talent for exploiting her friends’ weaknesses, wielding intimacy as a weapon and cheating them of money, time, sympathy, and men.

But one day, five years after her funeral, they are shocked to catch sight of Zenia: Even her death appears to have been yet another fiction. As the three women plot to confront their larger-than-life nemesis, Atwood proves herself a gleefully acute observer of the treacherous shoals of friendship, trust, desire, and power.

©2011 Margaret Atwood (P)2011 Random House

Critic reviews

"Moving amid these three women, touching up their portraits with one perfect detail after another, conjuring Zenia from their memories and tears, Atwood is in her glory. What a treasure she is, and what a fine new book she has written" ( Newsweek)

Perfect audio book.

Great story, I wish there was part 2. Beautiful language. Attwood is my new favorite author.

Twisty mystery

Every time I thought I had the plot figured out, it twisted away from me, until the very end. The 4 women the story is about are drastically different but their lives/fates are hopelessly intertwined. Highly recommend.

One of Atwood’s harder books

What I liked about this book is that it really got inside of these different women’s lives and thinking. It was interesting in how deeply Atwood explored what these three very different women thought and how they experienced the protagonist’s awful behavior. This alone brings to mind the idea that we see the world as we are (not as it is). Added to that is a protagonist who quickly assessed the women and fine tuned her outer story to match their inner turmoils. For all that, I may re-listen to the story soon.

What I didn’t like is that the story often left me feeling dreadful. Additionally, some parts are told in a sort of dreamy way that had my mind wandering more than listening. It was hard to pay attention. (Ahh, me seeing the world as I am.) So that all makes the book hard. I think some may find that hardness delighting and others turned off. I’m just “cool but hard” one star down for me.

Second Margaret Atwood

…and likely there will be no third. Narrator’s voice is probably appealing to most listeners but the childish quality and occasional whistle/hisses were rather off-putting. The writing style of Ms. Atwood is beloved by millions and incredibly successful , but just too dismal for me.

Entertaining, but loooooong

The Robber Bride isn’t what I expected. After The Blind Assassin, which feels much darker (though humorous at times) I was hoping this would be as enthralling.

Robber Bride seems as though it was written quickly. Grocery-store fiction; the newsprint pulp best-sellers found in cheap rows on wire shelves as you pass by on your way to the checkout counter. Entertaining, but not the way I prefer to spend money.

Good beach-read (though you’ll be sunburnt to finish this) bathtubbing reads (hope you have a gigantic water heater), big giant laugh-track mass-market checkout-from-your-long-stressful-day for a solid week sort of read. Fun, but too many parties night after night, with as many hangovers. Funny, life of said party at high points throughout the book, but followed by wee hours when one feels it’s time to go home.

I listened at high-octane mode; 1.5 & 2; fast track to complete the destination. My God! But go Boyce!

BORED with her own novel?

It started off strong but ended with a well-written whimper. The prose was strong, the characters were interesting, but in the end it just seemed a little too predictable a tad too structured. By the concluding sentence, it almost felt as if Atwood was bored with her own novel.

Everything a Novel Should Be

I really enjoyed this book, and particularly, the writing style of the author. She is able to go backwards and forwards in the timeline, and use long descriptors without the story feeling bogged down or awkward.

I enjoyed “seeing” the inner perspectives of each of the three women: Tony, Charis and Roz as they come in contact with the dark figure of Xenia.

There are so many memorable quotes from the text, but I especially love the one which addresses the male gaze, expressing so brutally straightforward and yet so relevant to the context of the story of these women.

This book is everything a novel aspires to be: a commentary on life; realistic fiction; humorously-entertaining examination of romantic attachment.

Engrossing

This story is so well written and the narrator is perfect. MargeretAtwood is brilliant once again.

Hate it/Like it

The narrator takes a while to get used to but isn’t awful.
The women in the story are walked all over by men and the misogyny is hard to get past.
Ending is not suspenseful or satisfying

Excellent rendition of one of my favorite books!

Margaret Atwood has long been one of my favorite authors, and this is among her best stories. Beautifully read, perfectly paced.