Tony is a historian. Roz is a wealthy businesswoman. Charis is a mystic, an underfunctioning-but-sweet relic of hippiedom.
In her latest novel, Margaret Atwood brings these three women together into an unlikely and uneasy friendship that grows easier and more comforting as the novel progresses.Tony, Roz and Charis are drawn together by their common hatred and fear: They've all been betrayed by the same woman.
Or did they betray themselves?
Did Zenia destroy their happiness? Or did her lies set them free?
"The Robber Bride" poses plenty of questions. The reader struggles, along with the three main characters, to solve the mysteries, find the answers.
Tony gives us the first hint at what a complex and enjoyable novel this is going to be to read. As Atwood describes her childhood, Tony is a left-handed child being forced to write with her right hand.
She's brilliant and dyslexic. Because Tony reads as easily from right to left as she does from left to right, she sometimes substitutes the word Evol for Love. It's not Evil exactly, but it gives the reader pause.
Atwood is a master at giving the reader pause. She causes us to think, to wonder as we read. She's also a master at describing the inner workings of female friendship and cruelty.
The Canadian author first demonstrated that particular skill several years ago with "Cat's Eye" - a story of the cruelty of adolescent girls.
"Cat's Eye" actually was more disturbing than "The Robber Bride," because the main character in that book was a child who had not developed any adult defenses.
In "The Robber Bride," the characters are adults, but they have less-than-adequate defenses. Each of the women, in turn, is robbed by Zenia. And Atwood describes their pain exquisitely.
Having been robbed - and having survived - they are terrified of being robbed again. Perhaps they are too terrified. Perhaps this is a flaw in the novel.
But if it is a flaw, it is also a strength. Their terror drives the action.
In spite of its heavy themes - loss, betrayal, fear of change - "The Robber Bride" has a delightfully chipper tone.
Here is Charis, for example, making an altar. She is communing with her aura, summoning all of her positive energy and spirit. She is about to try to confront Zenia and figure out what is true:
Then all of a sudden, Charis has a discouraging thought. What if Zenia has no soul? There must be people like that around, because there are more humans alive on the earth right now than have lived, altogether, since humans began and if souls are recycled then there must be some people alive today who didn't get one, sort of like musical chairs.
Confronting evil is just one of the subtexts in this novel. There are others - including the purpose of war, of magic, of deception. There are so many questions.
Do we invite evil into our lives? Or is it always present, and by refusing to notice it - to seek the truth, to be strong - do we nurture it and help it flourish?
The reader must supply the answers, as well as the friends with whom to discuss this rich and satisfying book. If we readers were more like Charis, we'd be gazing into a crystal right now, doing a little meditation of thanks to Margaret Atwood for having written such an engaging novel, and for providing us with substance for many conversations to come.