I Dream of Zenia with the Bright Red Teeth

by Margaret Atwood

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Ebooks, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Canada

16 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Margaret Atwood was born in 1939 in Ottawa and grew up in northern Ontario, Quebec, and Toronto. She received her undergraduate degree from Victoria College at the University of Toronto and her master's degree from Radcliffe College.

Throughout her writing career, Margaret Atwood has received numerous awards and honourary degrees. She is the author of more than thirty-five volumes of poetry, children’s literature, fiction, and non-fiction and is perhaps best known for her novels, which include The Edible Woman (1970), The Handmaid's Tale (1983), The Robber Bride (1994), Alias Grace (1996), and The Blind Assassin, which won the prestigious Booker Prize in 2000. Atwood's dystopic novel, Oryx and Crake, was published in 2003. The Tent (mini-fictions) and Moral Disorder (short stories) both appeared in 2006. Her most recent volume of poetry, The Door, was published in 2007. Her non-fiction book, Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth ­ in the Massey series, appeared in 2008, and her most recent novel, The Year of the Flood, in the autumn of 2009. Ms. Atwood's work has been published in more than forty languages, including Farsi, Japanese, Turkish, Finnish, Korean, Icelandic and Estonian. In 2004 she co-invented the Long Pen TM.

Margaret Atwood currently lives in Toronto with writer Graeme Gibson.

Associations: Margaret Atwood was President of the Writers' Union of Canada from May 1981 to May 1982, and was President of International P.E.N., Canadian Centre (English Speaking) from 1984-1986. She and Graeme Gibson are the Joint Honourary Presidents of the Rare Bird Society within BirdLife International. Ms. Atwood is also a current Vice-President of PEN International.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Atwood revists her aged characters of The Robber Bride as they are once again haunted by Zenia, the man-stealer from their youth. Satisfying, but not great. It seemed almost as if Ms. Atwood had to try too hard to re-discover the characters' voices.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really good follow up to The Robber Bride. It was nice to visit again with the three ladies and to see what has happened in their lives.
The story has quite a sense of humor. Fits nicely into the novel. Well done.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun story and a reminder to revisit Robber Bride!

[Althea Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Forever associated with embarrassment: this was the first e-book I ever checked out from the public library. I accidentally requested the wrong format, and the borrowed file expired before I ever figured out how to read it. (Now, I've got it down...)
And, I've now gotten around to actually reading the story. Apparently, this short piece is a kind of sequel to Atwood's 'The Robber Bride.' If I'd read that novel (which I really should), I feel like I'd've gotten a lot more out of the story. It features three older women, all longtime friends, who, in their youth, all had a man 'stolen' from them by the alluring Zenia. Here, they discuss how that affected their lives, for better or for worse, as the years have gone on. When one of the men in question makes a reappearance, it's possible that Zenia's influence is not fully gone...

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like how Charis finally was able to see how much of a jerk Billy was and I'm so glad Roz was happier

[Jod · Rating 3 out of 5]

read this with no context, solid neutral felt nothing

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Freed of the albatross named Zenia, the three female protagonists of THE ROBBER BRIDE, now older and maybe/ not wiser, are enjoying life. And that is not the imagined, fantasy life of youth, but rather enjoying the lives they actually have as ladies of a certain age.

Ironically, the depth of drama that Zenia brought to the trio of friends still weighs heavily on them, haunting their dreams well after her sell-by date. Is this regret, remorse, or...? Age plays serious mindgames, and the ladies are waxing nostalgic via the titular dreams that Charis has been recently cursed with.

Here, the point is to illustrate that the trappings of youth (stealing boyfriends, bitchy catfights) are just that, and become replaced with even more mundane trappings (putting out the recycling bins, sorting garbage from tin cans, walking the dog, picking up pet waste). Atwood is even really clever, connecting the recent vampire trends (TRUE BLOOD, TWILIGHT) to the trials and tribulations of aging. Changes to the way vampires work as sparkling or sexy rather than terrifying are the weighted the same as those other annoying age-specific thingsl like arthritis or cataracts.

In some ways, this trade could be viewed as bringing these characters low, but there is dignity in their aging. Despite the draw of re-connecting with old flames, high school friends, or even long-lost family members for resolution, the ladies come out on top. Aging is a tricky thing, and whether to do it with grace or do it, kicking & screaming, is the choice. Luckily, these ladies opt for grace...even if it's still under the fires of Zenia.

[Grace Harwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

The release of this sequel to The Robber Bride gave me just the excuse I was looking for to read The Robber Bride again (such a good book). As with pretty much everything by Margaret Atwood I've ever read, this does not disappoint - it's a lovely short story reprising the characters from the earlier novel. Only complaint: not long enough - but then again, I could read and read and read Atwood's stories - they are NEVER long enough for me.

[Marlon Dennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I appreciated the look back to the characters of The Robber Bride, it didn't really shed any new light on them. This is a really short story, excellently written as always by Atwood but who can blame me for wanting another novel about these women?

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short (very short) catch up with the women from "Robber Bride", a great story that I read like 25 years ago.

[Rikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing groundbreaking or extraordinary, but "I Dream of Zenia" is a heart-warming and cooky tale about lifelong sisterhood and the odd-knobberies of life. What's not to enjoy in the span of 45 minutes (or so)?

edit: I wasn't aware that this is the follow-up to "The Robber Bride"! For shame, for shame! I'll have to read that soon.

[Neeuqdrazil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like this would work better if I had actually read The Robber Bride first.

[Mike Harper · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not a novel. It is a short, short story with an abrupt ending. It is about three old women, one of whom is not stable.
If there were more to it, perhaps it would deserve a better rating.

[Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didnt know i need a dog until i read this.

[Chinook · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short story encapsulates why I feel that I just don't really get short stories. I liked it well enough but nothing really... happened. Granted, I had no idea until seconds ago that it's about the characters from The Robber Bride, which I haven't read yet. Perhaps it'll be more interesting to me once I've read that? Anyway, it was good and I found the bit with the dog bite rather amusing.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure if I liked it in the beginning, but I know I just have to wait through a little awkwardness with Margaret, and I'm home free. I didn't have the history with these characters that others have, because i hadn't read The Robber Bride. (I might someday.)

I loved the very end.

[Melanti · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I would have liked this more if I'd read it soon after reading the book.

But it's rather short and just about the time I had completely refreshed my memory on the characters, their motivations and the events, the story had just ended!

[Emily]

Just enough Margaret Atwood to read while my coffee is brewing

6 or so minutes spent reading Margaret Atwood are the best way to fill a few extra minutes in the morning. She is just brilliant, and when she revisits older characters, I want to go back and re-read everything...

[Pamela · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was bad. Embarrassingly bad. Even worse, there was really no point in revisiting these characters. No point in writing this, and absolutely no point in reading it.

As they say on Facebook: Go Home, Atwood. You're drunk.

(Yes, it's THAT bad!)

[Sean Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's nice to revisit the characters from The Robber Bride but the real treat is the classic, wry Margaret Atwood ending that sits with you long after you've finished.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably the least favorite thing I've read from Atwood. I recommend the Positron stories instead.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew what I was getting into with a short story, and at least I downloaded two other short stories, but wah wah wah I want moar.

[Sherri Ballew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the Robber Bride, but I wanted more out of this follow-up.

[Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

ugh. What a piece of short story. 'Self-dramatizing novelist' all right.

[Teleseparatist · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brief trip back to the world of my favourite Atwood novel, "The Robber Bride", to my surprise brought along Pretty Little Liars associations. Something to think about.

[Heather Sabian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read if you loved the Robber Bride.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Happy to revisit the characters at an older age. Some one makes a shocking return, but it's not who you expect!

[O · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting conclusion? I suppose.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining little story

The characters in this story are well realized and defined for such a short little tale. I enjoyed them! Especially Zenia!