The Robber Bride

By: Margaret Atwood

Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne

Length: 20 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

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)

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

Loved It

These are some strange women who I loved reading about. I don't think this is a book for a lot of people, but if you're a little off center you'll love it. The characters are over the top but that's what makes the story so great. I found the friendship between very different women especially interesting.I've had some meaningful friendships with people quite different from me. I hated for the book to end and started looking for another Margaret Atwood. Perfect narration

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.

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.

Amazing story of betrayal and forgiveness

Tony, Caris, and Roz are not perfect but they didn’t deserve the treatment they endured. This extremely well written story is about the lives of women from the 60s to the 90s and how to handle yourself with grace in the face of adversity. It’s also a bit about a deep seated naïveté we all harbor.

Favorite book!

This is my favorite book of all time. I have read it numerous times and never get tired of it. Every woman should read it. Everyone has known a Zenia - someone you hate it also admire. Someone who teaches about yourself. Love this book!

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.