The Robber Bride - Margaret Atwood Audiobook

Written by Margaret Atwood
Read by Bernadette Dunn
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
Release date: August 2, 2011
Duration: 20:12:42

Margaret Atwood’s The Robber Bride is inspired by “The Robber Bridegroom,” a wonderfully grisly tale from the Brothers Grimm in which an evil groom lures three maidens into his lair and devours them, one by one.

Set in contemporary Toronto, The Robber Bride revolves around the lives of three fascinating women. Classmates from university, Roz, Charis, and Tony all shared the seductive and destructive experience of a past friendship with the flashy, sensuous, smart, irresistible Zenia.

As the novel opens, they are twenty years past their college days and have met at Zania’s funeral, but at lunch, after the funeral, they spot Zenia— Zenia, the man-eating manipulator. They are almost literally haunted–she has reappeared to wreak havoc on their settled middle-aged lives.

The story jumps back and forth in time, so listeners get to hear Zenia’s past exploits and present-day psychological torture.

But the story is not all dark. The narrator Bernadette Dunne has more than a bit of playfulness in her tones, which suits Atwood’s penchant for clever wordplay. The youthful edge in Dunne’s voice moves beautifully from college-age concerns to middle-aged trials.