Roz, Charis and Tony all share a wound, and her name is Zenia. Beautiful, smart and hungry, by turns manipulative, needy and ruthless, Zenia is the turbulent centre of her own perpetual saga. In the three decades since college, she has damaged all three of the women badly, and they are relieved when she dies. But then she reappears to wreak more havoc.

This was an enjoyable read, but nowhere near the best of Margaret Atwood's books which I have read, so it was rather disappointing. In this book, the author tells the stories of three university acquaintances, all of whose lives are deeply affected by a fourth woman, Zenia, who seems to hold power over everyone she meets. Using her knowledge of people's weaknesses, she worms her way into their lives, telling them a version of herself and her history which will uniquely appeal to them, exploiting them, then disappearing in some dramatic way which leaves all those she has touched devastated and damaged. As the book reaches its conclusion, we hope that the three main characters, Tony, Charis and Roz, will be able to work together to overcome the spell cast by Zenia.

'The Robber Bride' has strong echoes of 'The Witches of Eastwick', but in this story, the person casting the evil spell over the three friends is not the devil incarnate as a man, but an equally mysterious woman. There is a definite feel of witchcraft to the power which the three friends use to try to understand and overcome Zenia, but somehow she still manages to elude them until they finally work together, share their stories of Zenia and realise that, although she is not what she seems, she cannot control them if they don't believe in her.

There was a recurring image of drowning in this book, with significant members of the women's families being drowned by accident or by committing suicide, and I was wondering if Zenia was going to be revealed as some sort of supernatural evil water spirit, a siren or mermaid. Perhaps throwing Zenia's remains into the lake was not such a good idea!

Less literary than many of her books, Margaret Atwood's feminist views naturally shine through in 'The Robber Bride' as in all her books. Her female characters are all completely different, yet all have valid roles in society; Tony the academic, Roz the businesswoman but also Charis with her ancient healing powers and earth mother comforts. The women's movement did not only provide new strengths for women, but also a new sisterhood:
Roz loved the consciousness-raising groups, she loved the free-ranging talk. It was like catching up on all the sisters she'd never had, it was like having a great big family in which the members, for once, had something in common; it was like being allowed, finally, into all the groups and cliques she'd never quite been able to crash before. No more mealy-mouth, no more my-hubby-is-better-than-your-hubby, no more beating about the bush! You could say anything!

Even Zenia has a traditional female role to play, and somewhat despairingly Atwood comments about the lack of solidarity between women which allows them to steal other women's husbands:
"The other woman will soon be with us," the feminists used to say. But how long will it take?
More humorously, she remarks that "drudgery is the price of virtue." Zenia flits through life seemingly untouched by her deception and destruction, barely aging, and yet the honest friends do age and become wiser and stronger.

The only thing which grated somewhat in this book was Margaret Atwood's references to popular culture, and not quite getting it right. She mentions teleporting three times, at one point describing it as something in a 1950s sci fi programme, when I assume she was referring to Star Trek which first aired in 1966 (although the idea is earlier). Perhaps she was thinking of something earlier, but teleportation is firmly connected in my mind with Star Trek. Another error which was repeated several times was Tony's use of "Monopoly men" in her battlescapes; Monopoly does not have "men" as place markers, but objects such as a dog, an iron and a boot. It is strange that these things weren't picked up by an editor.

All in all, a pageturner, but not a book I feel I need to keep and reread, which is usually the case with Margaret Atwood books. More room on the shelf for something else!

Added to the ForeignExchange book boxes.

Released at the Dutch Book Week meeting in Oss.

This book has been released as part of the following BookCrossing challenges:
- The Ultimate Challenge - read and release books, with extra points for a monthly theme
- Reduce Mount TBR (To Be Read) - read and release books on the TBR list since before the end of 2016. My TBR reading goal is 24 books.
- 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die Challenge. 2017 goal: 12.

Nobody took this from the meeting, so I brought it home again to release on another occasion.

To be edited later.
This book has been released as part of the following BookCrossing challenges:
- The Ultimate Challenge - read and release books, with extra points for a monthly theme
- Reduce Mount TBR (To Be Read) - read and release books on the TBR list since before the end of 2014. My reading goal is 36 books.
- 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die Challenge. 2015 goal: 15.

Just as I decided I would not bring any more books home with me I saw the author name. Who can resist her? And give the woman the Nobel prize in litterature already!