‘Alias Grace’ by Margaret Atwood is based on the true story of Grace Marks, a servant convicted of the notorious double murder of her employer Thomas Kinnear and his housekeeper and mistress Nancy Montgomery alongside stable hand James McDermott in Toronto in 1843 when she was just sixteen years old. After they were caught attempting to escape from Canada to the United States, McDermott was hanged for the crime while Grace was sentenced to life imprisonment at Kingston Penitentiary in Ontario after her death sentence was commuted at the last minute. Despite confessing to the crime at the time, Grace still claims to have no memory of the murders fifteen years later. Her sanity is being investigated by American psychiatrist Dr. Simon Jordan at the invitation of a liberal minister who believes she is innocent.
Atwood’s historical fiction output is relatively rare compared to the dystopian novels she is best known for but she replicates the complex structure and slow denouement of gothic novels of the era very convincingly, with a style that is neither overly archaic or jarringly modern. Real accounts of the crime taken from newspapers and written confessions are interwoven with correspondence, poetry and the perspectives of both Grace and Dr. Jordan. The patchwork quilt motif which recurs in the chapter structure and in piecing together the available evidence is itself very well crafted.
Grace’s family emigrated to Canada from Ireland in 1840 when she was twelve years old. Following her mother’s death during the ship crossing, Grace and her siblings were left in the care of their abusive father before she later found work as a maid. As well as the events leading up to the murders themselves, the novel addresses several other topics through the meetings between Grace and Dr. Jordan including prison conditions, the early development of psychology as an area of medical and scientific study and, most importantly, the role of poverty and gender in society.
There is still a great deal of uncertainty about Grace’s role in the crime – she is said to have given three very different accounts of what happened – and Atwood handles this ambiguity deftly right to the very end. In the afterword, Atwood acknowledges that the written accounts are so contradictory that there is relatively little information which is unequivocally “known” to be true. Her fictionalisation of events fills in the numerous blanks and the result is a sharply nuanced portrait of one of the most complex and elusive enigmas of the era.
The TV adaptation of ‘Alias Grace’ due to be released on Netflix later this year will hopefully bring more attention to one of Atwood’s most satisfying novels over twenty years after it was first published. Of the six novels by Atwood I have read so far, it is certainly among my favourites.
A Little Blog of Books 
Great review! Alias Grace is one of my favourites of Atwood’s too.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks – I’ve been meaning to read it for ages and I’m glad I got round to it eventually!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love the sound of this novel – another for the TBR list!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great – hope you enjoy it! 🙂
LikeLike
I’ve never even heard of this novel before but I will HAVE to read it now!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great – hope you enjoy it 🙂
LikeLike
It’s a long time since I read this, but I recall it being one of my favourite Atwoods too. Maybe I should re-read…. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, reading Alias Grace has reminded me of how much I enjoyed reading The Blind Assassin which is another of my favourites by Atwood and one I hope to reread at some point 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is one of my favourite Atwood novels, although I think The Blind Assassin pips it! I stopped reading her at Oryx and Crake, although I should really give her newer stuff a try – it’s just not my usual bag. Didn’t know about the Netflix adaptation – great news; thanks for that!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, it’s been a few years since I read The Blind Assassin which is another one of my favourites – she is quite a prolific author!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Amazing, really, when many are winding down their work! I think the recent adaptations will win her a whole new generation of readers. Her writing does appear to be prescient!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have Oryx & Crake sitting in my ‘to read’ pile. Did you not enjoy it, or is it just coincidence that you stopped reading her books at that point?
LikeLike
Love this book. And very cool that a TV adaptation is coming!
LikeLike
Yes, I’m really looking forward to it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I read this book when it first came out, but in the intervening years I had forgotten about it. Thanks for the reminded about this book from one of my favourite authors — and she’s a favourite for more than just the reason that she used live just down the street from my son in Toronto.
LikeLike
Yes, she has such a strong back catalogue and I’m glad I finally got round to reading it!
LikeLike
This is on my TBR for sure. Sounds really interesting!
LikeLike
I definitely recommend it!
LikeLike
This is on my TBR list. After meeting Atwood this fall, I want to read more of her novels. I just reread The Handmaid’s Tale and although it seemed new to me after 25 years, it is just as relevant today.
LikeLike
Yes, The Handmaid’s Tale has been getting a lot of attention recently – I’m sure I’ll reread it at some point!
LikeLike
I must have read this around twenty years ago then. I love Atwood’s work but that was certainly a wonderful ten years in her writing, from The Handmaid’s Tale to this, via Cat’s Eyes and The Robber Bride.
LikeLike
I haven’t read The Robber Bride but I’m sure I’ll get round to it at some point. I thought Cat’s Eye was very powerful and I’d like to reread The Handmaid’s Tale too.
LikeLike
Great review. Thanks for sharing!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for this review. I have finally read Margaret Atwood for the first time, “A Handmaid’s Tale”, and was looking for suggestions about her other books. Since I love historical fiction, this sounds intriguing.
LikeLike
Yes, it is intriguing and I’m sure I will reread The Handmaid’s Tale at some point too.
LikeLike
Alias Grace is one of my favourites – I recently re-read it in anticipation of the upcoming movie adaptation. I’m glad you liked it!
LikeLike
Yes, I’m looking forward to the adaptation – I’m hoping it lives up to the book!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: My Books of the Year 2017 | A Little Blog of Books
Alias Grace is one of the Margaret Atwood books I haven’t read yet, but from your review I really think I should! I love Atwood’s dystopian/speculative fiction and I really want to give something very different a chance too! I actually started to read Alias Grace a few years ago while in a hospital waiting room, I only got a few pages in and because it was tense in the environment, it created a bad association with the book for me so I couldn’t pick it up again. I hope I can again now.. I definitely want to read it before watching the TV show!
LikeLike
I really enjoyed the book and the TV sereis too 🙂
LikeLike
Pingback: Man Booker Prize: The Best of the Shortlists | A Little Blog of Books