This is my favorite Atwood book. The structure is very satisfying - each of the three characters who have the misfortune to run up against Zenia is a complete, complex individual and the central figure in an absorbing story. While I enjoyed them all, my favorite was Charis. Can't you just hear her talking, with a high-pitched, hesitating voice? She was the most gullible of the three - and yet, at the end, she had the most insight into Zenia's departure.

And Zenia! Not since Becky Sharp have I read about such an opportunistic, plausible and utterly remorseless villain. As despicable as she is, it's really fun to keep reading, just to see what outrageous story, what unconscionable act, she'll come up with next. And the ending is perfect: like the three main characters, we're left asking ourselves, "What was she, really?"

But that's just one person's opinion. What do YOU think about this book?

On LFL shelf