The story is divided into hefty chunks in which each character, bar Zenia, gets to tell her tale, specifically how she met Zenia, what Zenia did to her and how they react to her return from the dead. Should they confront her? Pretend they haven’t noticed? Hope she goes away of her own accord? When she is spotted, five years later, alive and well at their favourite lunch-time restaurant, they don’t know quite what to do. But while Zenia dead is no longer a threat, she has left an indelible mark on all of them. Zenia, you see, likes attached men, but the only way she can get close to them is by sidling up to their partners and ingratiating herself.īut Zenia has done her dash with Tony, Roz and Charis, and when she is blown up “during some terrorist rampage or other in Lebanon” they heave a collective sigh of relief. Zenia (pronounced with a long e, as in seen) is a ruthless, manipulative woman, who befriends three other women - academic Tony, business woman Roz, and free-spirit Charis - living in Toronto and turns their lives upside down in more ways than one. The story, first published in 1993, is a decidedly weird one and features one of the kookiest characters I’ve ever come across in modern fiction.
I opted for The Robber Bride on the sole basis that it was chunky enough to keep me entertained on a seven-hour flight from Abu Dhabi to London Heathrow. I read Alias Grace more than four years ago, so thought it was about time I try something else by her.
Margaret Atwood is one of those authors I know I should read more of but never do. Fiction – Kindle edition Hachette Digital 576 pages 2009.
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