Stone Mattress

These 9 tales have a predominant theme of women,who have been mistreated in their youth and have a vindictive streak, poised to strike. In the title story, Verna, a self professed, husband killer embarks on an arctic cruise. As she peruses her fellow male travelers who are single, she discards the ones who have wives, that "stick like burrs."
She eyes the name tags, "there are alot of Bobs on this trip." Initially, she has no intention of murdering anyone, "but old habits die hard" (we soon learn she killed 3 previous husbands) but, just in case, she feels the urge," there's nothing wrong with a little warm up practice, if only to demonstrate to herself that she can still knock one off, if she wishes to."
I appreciate her poignant and shrewd humor, when describing dressing for the evening meet and greet, she states, her face."Is what it is, and certainly the best money can buy at this stage, with a little bronzer, pale eyeshadow, mascara,glimmer powder and low lighting, she can finesse ten years."
As she makes her grand entrance, 'slightly late-smiling a detached but cheerful smile,' she notices, "there's alot of sportswear in the room, much beige among the men, many plaid shirts, vests with multiple pockets."
She discovers, one of the "Bobs", is a long lost schoolmate who raped and humiliated her. He does not recognize her, but she is prepared to seek revenge after 50 years. Verna, Bob and the rest of her fellow cruise mates, embark on a day trip to see stromalites, which comes from the Greek word, mattress, and the root word stone. "Stone mattress, a fossilized cushion, formed by layer upon layer of blue algae that created the oxygen they are now breathing. isn't that astonishing?" She has now discovered her weapon of choice, for Bob's demise. Its a short,quick death with a sharp, right jab to the jaw.
All of the stories in this book, have a circulating theme of aging, and all of the women in the tales, wield the power. As in all of Margaret Atwood's stories, she uses humor interwoven with fantasy, to tell captivating,witty tales, that resonate with a wry spirit of wicked wisdom.