The Robber Bride in Q&A with Margaret Atwood

Dec 23, 2008 Edan rated it really liked it

My sister Lauren once said something both wise and ridiculous, and I think Atwood's beautiful, readable, and funny novel echoes the sentiment: "Women are crazy. Men are stupid." In The Robber Bride we get a peek into the lives of three women: petite academic Tony, new age, delicate Charis, and gregarious, fashionable Roz; the histories of their marriages, their childhoods, and their current day-to-day experiences in 1990s Toronto, are fascinating. All three of them have suffered at the hands of ...more

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Nov 05, 2007 Jessica rated it it was amazing

Shelves: hall-of-fame, fiction

This book has become comfort reading me -- there's no telling how many times I've read it. Atwood has a remarkable skill for revealing how her characters think, which is a separate facet of characterization, so different from describing a character's personality or way of life. Of all the fascinating women in this book, Tony is my favorite. I identify not with her personality, but with the way she thinks. ...more

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Aug 16, 2010 Cari rated it it was ok

Shelves: kindle-read

This is the first Atwood book I've read that I haven't really loved. The story follows three interesting, very different, strong but variously flawed women who are friends because of their shared victimization at the hands of a fourth woman - Zenia - who lies, cheats, befriends to stab in the back, etc. The three friends were hurt primarily through Zenia's seduction and betrayal of their respective men and what I disliked was how spineless and worthless those men were - leaving me to wonder why ...more

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Oct 10, 2009 Beth rated it really liked it

This is a re-read though all I could remember is that one of the characters reversed words, spelling them backwards --- sdrawkcab. It's the story of three very different women, Tony (a war historian), Charis (a new-age crystal gazer) and Roz (an entrepreneur) who are stalked and scarred by a fourth woman (Zenia) who steals their boyfriends, lovers, and husbands. Then Zenia comes back from her faked death, and begins all over again. The title is a take-off from a fairy tale called 'The Robber Bri ...more

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Jul 03, 2008 Laurie rated it really liked it

Shelves: library-books, 1001-books-to-read-before-death

Now that this book is over I find myself with very little to say, although throughout I might have been able to say a lot.

I think this is my favorite of the Atwood I've read. I admire her a lot. This book was so dynamic and so unlike others of hers I've read. Also, I respect her as a woman which is something I normally don't really think of. I like that this story is about all perspectives of the battles women wage; with each other, men, society etc. I like that she didn't make too many judgment ...more

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