2025 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood.

Pages: 528 pages

Length: 1 Month (May)

Participants: Ilona, Sunny, SarahKat, Nusha.

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.


Happy Buddy Reading!

Thanks for posting, Trisha!
I'll be starting the book today :)

I'll start after I finish my other physical book!

I want to finish up the one I'm currently reading before starting this one. I might get started on Weds.

Started reading this on the evening of the 4th.

(view spoiler)[Oct 32, 1990 -- The sun moves into Scorpio, Tony has lunch at the Toxique with her two friends Roz and Charis, a slight breeze blows in over Lake Ontario and Zenia returns from the dead. What a nifty ending note for an introductory opening! I couldn't wait to get to the 1st section Toxique where the girls are introduced and backgrounds are given. I am enjoying this trio of characters. They each have their strengths and weaknesses and they are for sure not boring! I am giving myself brain-strain reading Tony's backward stuff! (hide spoiler)]

I'm really having fun with this book and can't wait to see what happens in the coming sections!

I just barely started today. Hoping to get some read tonight! I did notice that someone has a Scales and Tails shirt. It's something different in this book but I believe that was the name of the strip club in Oryx and Crake.

SarahKat wrote: "I just barely started today. Hoping to get some read tonight! I did notice that someone has a Scales and Tails shirt. It's something different in this book but I believe that was the name of the st..."

I cannot believe I missed that reference, but yes! Margaret Atwood confirmed on twitter: "It was an 80s band, but the name was referentially recycled by the club chain in #MaddAddam."

Just finished chapter 8 (view spoiler)[ where Charis mentions a character named Shanita, without really stating who they (she?) are. I suspect that it is anther personality of Charis, but that might be (probably is) completely wrong XD (hide spoiler)]

Edit: Chapter 9: (view spoiler)[Never mind, it's het boss (hide spoiler)]

Ilona wrote: "Just finished chapter 8 [spoilers removed]

Edit: Chapter 9: [spoilers removed]"

LOL I loved your idea, though!!!

I finished Black Enamel (chapter 27): (view spoiler)[Is anyone else really disliking West at this point. Tony sees him as a victim of Zenia's behavior, but he is a grown man who should take responsibility for his actions! (hide spoiler)]

Ilona wrote: "I finished Black Enamel (chapter 27): (view spoiler)[Is anyone else really disliking West at this point. Tony sees him as a victim of Zenia's behavior, but he is a grown man who should take responsibility for his actions!" (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[I couldn't help but wonder why he befriended Tony to begin with. Did Zenia encourage him to invite her to the party for her own purposes. I mean she had to know how well Tony was doing in class and she got Tony to do her term paper for her. I don't know that he had any motives for himself ... but he sure did whatever Zenia wanted him, to -- as did everyone she ever came across -- apparently. Frankly I don't know what Tony sees in him and only tolerated him because I'm so fond of her :) (hide spoiler)]

I got started reading this one again on the 10th and finished it the next day. I got started and didn't want to stop.

Black Enamel: (view spoiler)[I would love to see Tony's sand-table with all her spices and stuff. How pretty it must be with all the colors!

Favorite quote: History isn't dry, it's sticky, it can get all over your hands.

Re Tony's parents: What a pair! How sad that they had a remarkable daughter that neither of them noticed or appreciated.

Poor kid being taken in by Zenia -- at least she learned her lesson -- although she was helpless to do anything when West left her. It's a shame she couldn't bring herself to live without him -- especially after he left her that way -- says I who has no idea what I might do in the same situation. She has such a forgiving personality. Willing to over-look things in those she loves. Sounds like she's ready for war this time around, though!. (hide spoiler)]

Weasel Night: (view spoiler)[ I had a feeling Larry would get involved with Zenia -- she wouldn't be able to use Roz again, but she could easily get her hooks into the kid -- and get to Roz this way. Wonder if Roz will find out about them from her Private Detective?

Charise is sure showing some gumption! I'm thinking Zenia may be underestimating these 3 ladies she's come back to tango with.

I love that Karen has gifts inherited from her grandmother and think it's neat that she's able to see colors around others. However, she does tend to over-look the negative meanings of some of the colors. Bless her, she doesn't want any conflict. She wants peace and goodness.

I wonder if Gloria's mental issues were brought on because she was unable to acknowledge that she herself was gifted? She seems to have wanted a normal/real mother -- whatever her idea might have been what this type mother was.

Abused by her mother. Abused by Uncle Vern. Aunt Vi treats her not so well and then refuses to believe Vern is abusing her. No wonder Karen doesn't want to be Karen.

Loved when she took on the gifts of her grandmother using the wish-bone. How will she use these powers?

I wonder about the story behind Billy. What happened? (hide spoiler)]

Robber Bride: (view spoiler)[Roz's life is something else, too! Atwood creates such amazing characters! I liked when Charise used her gift of healing to help Roz -- wonder if Roz will come to see how gifted Charise is? (hide spoiler)]

The Toxique: (view spoiler)[ Ah. Back where we started. And what stories the girls have to share about their visits to confront Zenia. I was proud of all of them -- and spent more time laughing than crying in this section.

One of my favorite scenes in the whole book is Roz finding Larry home in the kitchen with Boyce. This exchange had me LOL. (hide spoiler)]

Closing thought about all 4 of the ladies: (view spoiler)[Ilona your comment about another personality for Charis ... wasn't far off the mark was it?! They all seem to have had help from another personality that they developed in order to deal with the mess life tossed at them -- each surviving the best they knew how. And as awful as Zenia was, I can't help but wonder who she really was and if Zenia was her survival mode that she let take over rather than deal with who she really was. I didn't like her -- but she was a fantastic character -- as interesting as the 3 ladies who befriended her. (hide spoiler)]

This was a fantastic book! One I'll be reading again!

I'm only on chapter 22 I think! I have been so busy at work. This one is also starting a little slow for me. I trust Atwood though. Blind Assassin also started really slow.

I finished Black Enamel: (view spoiler)[ Yes I agree with you Ilona! West is really unlikable. Yes Zenia is definitely "the problem" but West is a grown a** man who is capable of thinking for himself, you'd think. He takes advantage of Tony's love for him and it seems like he just expects her to be there no matter how he's treated her.

I like Tony a lot but I wish she'd drop West and go live her best life without him. At least she understands better where she stands now and isn't kidding herself. (hide spoiler)]

I finished the book last weekend :)
Sunny, (view spoiler)[A lucky guess, haha! There was no way for me to know after chapter 27 that Karen and Charis were different personalities. (hide spoiler)]

About the ending: (view spoiler)[Did anyone else get the feeling that it might have been Tony that pushed her of the balcony? I know that it was probably and overdose induced accident, but one of the last paragraphs was a bit weird:

"Tony stares up at Zenia, cornered on the balcony with her failing magic, balancing on the sharp edge, her bag of tricks finally empty. Zenia stares back down. She knows she has lost, but whatever her secrets are she’s still not telling. She’s like an ancient statuette dug up from a Minoan palace: there are the large breasts, the tiny waist, the dark eyes, the snaky hair. Tony picks her up and turns her over, probes and questions, but the woman with her glazed pottery face does nothing but smile." (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

Ilona wrote: "I finished the book last weekend :)
Sunny, (view spoiler)[

About the ending: Did anyone else get the feeling that it might have been Tony that pushed her of the balcony? I know that it was prob..." (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[You know I completely missed that! Each of them had so many things they thought about and then they'd turn out to be day dreams or whatever, that I didn't give that sequence a second thought. But I agree that it's possible that Tony did it. I can see her doing it -- putting herself into "battle/war" mode -- and doing what must be done. I'm sure she felt like they were at war with Zenia. (hide spoiler)]

I'm slowly getting there! I just finished The Robber Bride section, right before the last Toxique.

(view spoiler)[The women in the book seem to keep blaming Zenia for stealing away their men, but don't seem to be as angry as they (in my opinion) should be at their men! Even the men aren't apologetic. Billy leaves and we don't see him again but West and Mitch both come back just expecting Tony and Roz to understand the force-that-is-Zenia. Ugh. Yes Zenia is a terrible human being with some like supernatural-level sway over people (textbook psychopath), but still! These people are grown-ups and they should take responsibility for their actions!

I am really enjoying the history of the women and how Zenia inserts herself so perfectly into their lives; becoming exactly what they need at the time. The only thing I don't like about the book is that, just having finished Roz's story, it's hard to even remember details of Tony's story. Atwood really likes to write books that inspire a re-read for one reason or another. (hide spoiler)]

I finished last night! The more time I spend thinking about this book, the more layers I'm finding that make me enjoy the book even more after the fact. Atwood is always so good at peeling layers away but usually everything is revealed by the end. This book was different in that regard as the layers come once you're completely finished and look back on what you actually just read.

Sunny, (view spoiler)[I loved that scene with Larry and Boyce! I'm so glad Roz will be more involved in Larry's life now. Their relationship was strained before because of that secret. (hide spoiler)]

Ilona, (view spoiler)[ I read the ending late last night so I didn't pick up on that either, but I think Zenia killed herself. I've pasted part of my review with my thoughts on Zenia below. (hide spoiler)]

Zenia: (view spoiler)[I don't know what to call Zenia... but I am not sure she's actually evil. A chaos spirit? A succubus? It seems to me that all of these women are better off in the situations they are left in post-Zenia. It definitely wasn't pleasant, but I think they ended up in the right place. Otherwise Roz would still be playing the really weird cheating/healing/pampering game with her husband, Charis would still be bankrolling Billy's layabout life, and Tony... she's tougher to see but even though she is still with West, I think she's definitely stronger. She understands more about West and their relationship, and West does too.
Anyway, after they all confront Zenia at the end and don't give in, she ends up dead. It felt to me almost like a my work here is done sort of an event. The three women don't "need" her anymore so she takes herself out of the picture. I do wish we knew where Zenia came from, her actual backstory and why she chose to target these women particularly. But that would detract from the enigma of her I guess. She sort of gives off a Greek goddess kind of vibe. Like a feminist goddess trying to get women back on track whether they like it or not. (hide spoiler)]

SarahKat wrote: "I finished last night! The more time I spend thinking about this book, the more layers I'm finding that make me enjoy the book even more after the fact. Atwood is always so good at peeling layers a..."

All those layers are something I also really like about Atwood's books, but it can also be so frustrating at times!

On the ending (view spoiler)[The more I think about it, the more I agree that she must have killed herself. She must have quite lonely, as far as we know she never had real friends, only the people she played her games with. And when all three women learned their lessons, Zenia's work was done. (hide spoiler)]