The Next Dark Age
We're in it Now
The Robber Bride, by Margaret Atwood
Book 25
Three old college dorm-mates take turns befriending then being betrayed by the same mysterious schoolmate, Zenia. One day, she turns up dead. They are not sad. Several years later, she turns up alive. And she is screwing with them.
The story felt to me like the old mini-series, Lace. Or the old film A Letter to Three Wives. Stories are told in both real-time and flashback, from multiple points of view. Except for that of the villainess.
I had some trouble with the idea that all three women were duped so terribly badly. And they were each partnered with different men that could also be duped so terribly easily. But the theme seemed to be that even the good people are so arrogant and so self-absorbed as to think that they know better than everyone else. They can be the rescuers and redeemers.
So the build up was awesome and as the story headed to conclusion, I was all jazzed, waiting for the proverbial other shoes to drop. As they happened, I was disappointed at the lack of “hows” and “whys” for all of the evil-doings. But I guess that is the reality – sometimes we never really know.
This was a lot of fun.
The Next Dark Age 