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A review by spacecat108
The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood
5.0
The Robber Bride tells the story of one woman through the eyes of three others; the result is a story about how women see each other, how we project our own hopes, fears and desires onto other figures, thus creating fantasy projections that we ourselves might wish to wear. Really, the story of Zenia is the story of six women - the three protagonists - Tony, Charis and Roz - and the three versions of Zenia, their mutual antagonist.
"How long has she been down here whimpering in the dark? She must go upstairs and face reality, whatever it may be." (Atwood, 429). This line from one of the novel's final chapters captures a truth we all must come to at some point; the realization that the wanderings of the mind into realms of pain and dark imagination at some point becomes self-harm spiral. In order to move on we must turn towards the daylight of what actually is. Even the most destructive figures in one's life can be an opportunity to learn.
The story triangulates around a central figure, Zenia, who returns from the dead. In methodical beauty Atwood shows, turn by turn, how Tony, Charis and Roz each thinks Zenia has come to torment her personally, like a vengeful ghost. From this central point the story spins out to present, past and recent past, introducing the field of each woman's memory as the playing field of the story. Delving further into realms of trauma and imagination, each character's early life is explored, unfolding their personal arcs in a harmonious whole, masterfully woven by Atwood.
Reading "The Robber Bride", published in 1993, I continually recall two other books whose authors must have been influenced by this work: "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver, and "Kink" by Kathe Koja. In Poisonwood Bible's Ada must have been partly inspired by Atwood's Tony, who identifies strongly with her left-handedness, using this sense of being an outsider and her ability to read and think backwards as a kind of armor or alternate personality. Tony plays incessantly with language, words and palindromes, finding strength in thinking differently. The dynamic of Zenia entering into three different couples as a disruptive force strongly reminded me of the disruptive character in Koja's "Kink", a woman with a proclivity for dividing and conquering healthy relationships.
Margaret Atwood is undoubtedly one of the strongest writers of the moment. Her mark on modern fiction cannot be ignored. I highly recommend this book as a piece of influential writing that still has the ability to shed new light on friendship and love.
"How long has she been down here whimpering in the dark? She must go upstairs and face reality, whatever it may be." (Atwood, 429). This line from one of the novel's final chapters captures a truth we all must come to at some point; the realization that the wanderings of the mind into realms of pain and dark imagination at some point becomes self-harm spiral. In order to move on we must turn towards the daylight of what actually is. Even the most destructive figures in one's life can be an opportunity to learn.
The story triangulates around a central figure, Zenia, who returns from the dead. In methodical beauty Atwood shows, turn by turn, how Tony, Charis and Roz each thinks Zenia has come to torment her personally, like a vengeful ghost. From this central point the story spins out to present, past and recent past, introducing the field of each woman's memory as the playing field of the story. Delving further into realms of trauma and imagination, each character's early life is explored, unfolding their personal arcs in a harmonious whole, masterfully woven by Atwood.
Reading "The Robber Bride", published in 1993, I continually recall two other books whose authors must have been influenced by this work: "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver, and "Kink" by Kathe Koja. In Poisonwood Bible's Ada must have been partly inspired by Atwood's Tony, who identifies strongly with her left-handedness, using this sense of being an outsider and her ability to read and think backwards as a kind of armor or alternate personality. Tony plays incessantly with language, words and palindromes, finding strength in thinking differently. The dynamic of Zenia entering into three different couples as a disruptive force strongly reminded me of the disruptive character in Koja's "Kink", a woman with a proclivity for dividing and conquering healthy relationships.
Margaret Atwood is undoubtedly one of the strongest writers of the moment. Her mark on modern fiction cannot be ignored. I highly recommend this book as a piece of influential writing that still has the ability to shed new light on friendship and love.