The Robber Bride

"The Robber Bridegroom," a marvelously macabre story by the Brothers Grimm about an evil groom who lured three maidens into his cave and devours them one by one, served as the model for Margaret Atwood's novel The Robber Bride. However, Atwood masterfully recasts the monster in her story as Zenia, a demonic enemy that she unleashes against Tony, Charis, and Roz, three companions. To their former college friend Zenia, all three "have lost men, spirit, money, and time." Zenia has essentially destroyed their lives by slipping into them at different points and under different emotional guises. For Tony, who almost lost her spouse and put her academic future in danger, Zenia represents 'a hidden enemy commando.' Zenia is 'a cruel and vicious woman,' according to Roz, who did lost her husband and almost her magazine.' Zenia is a type of zombie, maybe "soulless," to Charis, who lost a partner, quarts of vegetable juice, and several pet chickens (Lorrie Moore, New York Times Book Review). Zenia's underground malevolence pulls us deep into the pasts of her foes, a world of illusion and deception, love and conflict.