The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Robber Bride
Book Review: A disappointment from a favorite author
Summary: 2 Stars
Margaret Atwood is a cut above the rest. "The Handmaid's Tale" and "Alias Grace" were unique and gripping works of fiction with characteristic traces of Atwood's element of science fiction/fantasy. This book, however, was very disappointing. It ambled on and on, and although Atwood shows off her exceptional talent through a diverse range of character portrayal, the plot left much to be desired. Don't bother.Book Review: A genuine portrait of women's friendships
Summary: 4 Stars
In The Robber Bride, Atwood examines the friendships among three very different women, sympathetically but not sentimentally. She explores themes of ambivalence - envy versus fear, history versus acceptance - while keeping the mystery story moving forward. These well-developed characters are worth getting to know.Book Review: A good read
Summary: 4 Stars
This is ostensibly the story of three women who lose both their men and piece of themselves to a shifting illusion called Zenia. She alternately seduces and dumps the men belonging to Toni, a bespectacled war historian, Charis, a self-doubting but enlightened earth mother, and Roz, an irrepressible business woman and mother of three.As the story unfolds through flashbacks, it becomes apparent that Zenia is not what she seems. This is really the story of how we so often refuse to see the truth about ourselves and our loved ones. Zenia is a mirror held up to each of our heroines (the ordinary kind) to reflect these truths.
The characterizations are wonderful. As the reader you get to go on a delicious voyeuristic romp through each of the three women's lives.
Overall, an enjoyable read with a good mix of entertainment and thought-provoking material.
Book Review: A women's story
Summary: 4 Stars
I really enjoyed this very funny and well written novel about three quite different women, Toni, Roz and Charise who have all been burnt badly by the same woman, Zenia, a femme fatale and "the robber bride". While the reader comes to know the three women through detailed accounts of their childhood years, Zenia and her motivations remain a mystery, at the very least she is a skilled liar and unscrupulous. One by one Zenia steals their men and their money, and they are all in turn led down the garden path by her, their own inner weaknesses making them easy targets for a predator like Zenia.Some parts of the story were a bit far fetched. All the women seemed like caricatures, Toni the eccentric intellectual, Charise the spiritual New Age type and Roz the rich business woman, though this added to the comedy. It was hard to believe that all three women had only ever had one love in their lives, also Zenia seemed without a soul and the others without a libido.
Fine literature it is not but a great entertaining read none the less, especially for women who have ever encountered a "Zenia". Descriptions of Toronto were great too, neat to have a place I lived in described so well in a novel.
Book Review: An unexpected surprise!
Summary: 4 Stars
All the characters in this superbly-written novel are symapthetic, human people that you can't help liking, at least just a little. All except one. The main character, Zenia, is a wholly detestable person who evokes NO sympathy or tender feelings whatsoever.
Atwood is considered to be among the upper echelons of Canadian literary figures, along with Robertson Davies, Farley Mowat, and Margaret Laurence. In my humble opinion, with Robber Bride, she has outshone them all. This is my first foray into Atwood's writing, but rest assured, it is an archetypal Canadian experience, like the cottage party, that I will definitely repeat.
Believable characters and situations, albeit fantastic, make this novel a treat to read, to become immersed in. It leaves one with a bit of a warm, fuzzy feeling in the end -- a warm fuzzy feeling that wears spiked heels, chains and leather.