Margaret A at her best. a story has many paths

All the characters are given many layers which we the listeners can also clothe. Beautifully written.

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Really enjoyable

I really enjoyed this book, much more than I expected to. It is the type of perfect easy read that you struggle to put down. It reminds me of a modern Daphne du Maurier with the femme fatale shrouded in mystery. A slightly classier Gone Girl type book. I would recommend to most readers and will reread myself at some point.

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Compelling tale of female relationships

This is a breathtakingly intricate and yet simple tale told from the view point of three very different women who have one thing in common - the destructive force of nature that is Zenia.
Margaret Atwood’s storytelling is immaculate. Her characters convince utterly and take you on a fantastical yet entirely plausible journey. I don’t think there is another author who can write a more convincing female internal dialogue.
In the hands of another writer Zenia may have seemed like an unconvincing caricature. In Atwood's skilful hands she lives on the page or rather in the mellifluous tones of Bernadette Dunne who is an absolutely brilliant narrator.

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Love the circularity texture of this book

Love a lot of Atwood. Her voices are so nuanced and there is a lot of wry humour to her writing too. Would recommend this book for its great characterisations of women and the narrative drive.

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1 person found this helpful

Just not Handmaid’ tale

After listening to Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments this just didn’t grip me. Gave up after a while

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I love this book

I'm a big Margaret Attwood fan. I've read this book twice before. 1st time listening to it. I didn't like the narrator's voice at 1st but I guess it was because it wasn't the same as in my head. she really grew on me and I found it impossible not to listen as much as I could.

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Not sure

Beautifully written but struggled to find a real story here. Maybe I listened in too many short bursts

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I was gripped

Absolutely superb - a story of wonderful women and a plot that was full of relentless surprise

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Surprisingly not engaging

I guess one of your favourite writers has to give you your least favourite so far and for me this is it. I found the story rather boring and hard to get into but I persevered. By the end, after some odd digressions from plot to poetry which sadly didn’t add anything, I felt this would have been better as a short story. It just didn’t resonate, connect or pull me in and the characters were all annoying - nobody to champion; and just when I thought I could get behind one, they’d disappoint. Overall it left me feeling like I was in a story with fools with not a wit between them.

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Wonderful Book Sorry it Ended

I am new to Atwood, having only listened to the Handmaids and Testements so I was not sure what to expect. I was engaged in this book and the lives of the four women from minute one this was helped by the wonderful narration. I love Atwood's style of prose her attention to detail and ability to weave a story that is immersive. I really felt present in the story of these women and their histories and what had brought them together. Xania was a wonderful character so evil and manipulative and the impact she has on the others by mirroring them in order to bend them to her will. A few times I laughed out loud at her audacity. These were great characters with depth and purpose and how their lives unfolded around the mayhem created by Xania made for great listening. I am now going to give Atwood's other books a go.

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1 person found this helpful