- Loose Leaf: 576 pages
- Publisher: Seal Books (Sep 2 1997)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0770427596
- ISBN-13: 978-0770427597
- Product Dimensions: 17 x 10.7 x 4.1 cm
- Shipping Weight: 295 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (120 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,538,772 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
In 1843, a 16-year-old Canadian housemaid named Grace Marks was tried for the murder of her employer and his mistress. The sensationalistic trial made headlines throughout the world, and the jury delivered a guilty verdict. Yet opinion remained fiercely divided about Marks--was she a spurned woman who had taken out her rage on two innocent victims, or was she an unwilling victim herself, caught up in a crime she was too young to understand? Such doubts persuaded the judges to commute her sentence to life imprisonment, and Marks spent the next 30 years in an assortment of jails and asylums, where she was often exhibited as a star attraction. In Alias Grace, Margaret Atwood reconstructs Marks's story in fictional form. Her portraits of 19th-century prison and asylum life are chilling in their detail. The author also introduces Dr. Simon Jordan, who listens to the prisoner's tale with a mixture of sympathy and disbelief. In his effort to uncover the truth, Jordan uses the tools of the then rudimentary science of psychology. But the last word belongs to the book's narrator--Grace herself.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Intrigued by contemporary reports of a sensational murder trial in 1843 Canada, Atwood has drawn a compelling portrait of what might have been. Her protagonist, the real life Grace Marks, is an enigma. Convicted at age 16 of the murder of her employer, Thomas Kinnear, and his housekeeper and lover, Nancy Montgomery, Grace escaped the gallows when her sentence was commuted to life in prison, but she also spent some years in an insane asylum after an emotional breakdown. Because she gave three different accounts of the killings, and because she was accused of being the sole perpetrator by the man who was hanged for the crime, Grace's life and mind are fertile territory for Atwood. Adapting her style to the period she describes, she has written a typical Victorian novel, leisurely in exposition, copiously detailed and crowded with subtly drawn characters who speak the embroidered, pietistic language of the time. She has created a probing psychological portrait of a working-class woman victimized by society because of her poverty, and victimized again by the judicial and prison systems. The narrative gains texture and tension from the dynamic between Grace and an interlocutor, earnest young bachelor Dr. Simon Jordan, who is investigating the causes of lunacy with plans to establish his own, more enlightened institution. Jordan is hoping to awaken Grace's suppressed memories of the day of the murder, but Grace, though uneducated, is far wilier than Jordan, whom she tells only what she wishes to confess. He, on the other hand, is handicapped by his compassion, which makes him the victim of the wiles of other women, too?his passionate, desperate landlady, and the virginal but predatory daughter of the prison governor. These encounters give Atwood the chance to describe the war between the sexes with her usual wit. Although the narrative holds several big surprises, the central question?Was Grace dupe and victim or seductress and instigator of the bloody crime??is left tantalizingly ambiguous. Major ad/promo; author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Crime and Punishment, Alias Punishment Without Crime?,
By
This review is from: Alias Grace : A Novel (Paperback)
A sizable part of _Alias Grace_ is based on Susana Moodie's mid-19th century book about Grace Marks, who was convicted along with fellow servant, James McDermott, for the murders of Thomas Kinnear, and his housekeeper and mistress, Nancy Montgomery. Moodie met Grace Marks while the former was visiting the insane asylum and then the penitentary where Marks was later incarcerated. McDermott was hanged for his part in the murders; Marks was also condemned to die in the same manner, but her sentence was commuted to life in prison through the efforts of her attorney and of private citizens' groups who believed in her innocence. Much of Grace Marks' story is told by her, through a series of post-conviction interviews with Dr. Simon Jordan, a medical doctor who was a pioneer in the enlightened treatment of the mentally ill. Dr. Jordan is sponsored by a Reverend Verringer, who heads one of these groups.What makes Margaret Atwood's novel so compelling is that much of what happens in _Alias Grace_ is based on true accounts of Grace Marks' life, which is seamlessly and expertly adapted by Ms. Atwood. She readily admits in her afterword "where hints and outright gaps exist in the record, I felt free to invent." Ms. Atwood is a master storyteller. Her Grace Marks is very much a three-dimensional, flesh and blood 19th century woman. The public's beliefs about her parallel many of the widely held views of females of her time. While many imagined Marks to be weak and easily led astray by a stronger and more wiley older man (Marks was only 16 at the time of the murders), others saw Marks as an evil and jealous temptress who entrapped a gullible man into the killings. Atwood also sensitively reveals the plight of many young girls of the period who suddenly become motherless and due to their changed cicumstances take positions as servants to the wealthy, or worse yet, are forced into prostitution. The alternative was pennilessness and ultimate starvation. Then there are those young women who fell prey to a "gentleman's" amorous demands, some of whom promised marriage, only to later abandon them. A truly heartbreaking episode in the book concerns Mary Whitney, a co-worker and close friend of Grace Marks, who dies as a result of a shoddily performed abortion. By the end of the book the reader is given no definitive answer as to whether Marks was directly involved in either of the two murders. Her complexity is further revealed in the section of the book where a doctor (of the jack-of-all-trades type) puts her under hypnosis and another aspect of her personality is revealed. Grace Marks is confirmed as a woman of many sides, capable of acts of goodness, compassion--but murder? Read the very highly recommended book and then decide for yourself.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
fascinating exploration of a real-life trial,
By
This review is from: Alias Grace : A Novel (Paperback)
This novel is based on a true story. In the mid-1800s, Grace Marks, a young Canadian housemaid, was tried and jailed for the murder of her employer and another co-worker. However, it was never clear whether Grace took part in the murders or not -- she claimed to have no memory of the incident, and the only other witness was the other murderer.Atwood takes this story and adds her own touches. Atwood picks up the story many years later, as Grace is serving out her sentence. She adds a young psychiatrist who is attempting to break through Grace's amnesia. We see the world through Grace's eyes, as she interacts with this doctor and with the others in her life, as she remembers her life. Atwood never answers the question of whether Grace was actually a murderer. Although some find this disappointing, I think it is a fitting conclusion to the story.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Like ratcheting to the top of a tunnel in a rollercoaster,
By
This review is from: Alias Grace : A Novel (Paperback)
Yes, the subject is dark: the murder of two people by (?) a teenage girl and handyman. If you liked that Japanese movie where the same story is told by different viewpoints, you'll love this. But you'll never lose track of whose 'voice' it is, or whose story it is - it's Grace's. And it's yours. You'll feel like you're right beside her as she sprinkles water on the handkerchiefs of the family's laundry to bleach them in the sun, delighting in the snap of the fresh linen on the line on a bright day, or as she struggles to remember what happened on the day of the murders. Incredibly rich writing that puts you in Grace's skin, and that of her temporary psychoanalyst. You'll find yourself rereading passages for the delight of the prose or to savor the weaving of the story. Heartbreaking but an ordinary story - after all, a casual murder for pitiful profit isn't new. Heartbreaking in its reality and the feeling of being carried on the tide of Ms. Atwood's words, knowing you're headed out to the cold, isolated heart of the Atlantic.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
