The Robber Bride
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Caitra, TonyTT, Brenda, and ArtichokeHeart.
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Rebecca Adler, Molly Peterson, MUtopia, seesaw, and Abby Bowman.
Book Details
Written by Margaret Atwood.
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($15.00)
Editorial Review (from Amazon.com)
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.
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TonyTT thinks this book is Good.
The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood
The Robber Bride is the story of four women who meet during college and who remain in touch over the years. The plot is involved and more than a little mysterious but the real strength of this novel is the development of four main characters. Atwood gives each of them an incredibly detailed and authentic back story. By the end of the novel you know these women and their histories and you understand the unexpected conclusion and the subsequent reactions of her characters. You even find out where the title, The Robber Bride, comes from.
Margret Atwood is a Canadian who has written a number of best sellers including The Handmaids Tale, the work for which she is most noted and which was made into a major motion picture. Her story telling voice is calm and assured and this novel, like all her novels, moves through its twists and turns with a deft and light hand. All of her stories are very realistic regardless of how outlandish her subject matter. I believed all of her characters in The Robber Bride and her narrative style kept my attention throughout the entire story.
This is a story of the relationships and friendships of these four women and how the events in their individual lives shaped and affected the bond that joined them together.