Book Review
Apr. 27th, 2018 10:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariAlias Grace
by Margaret Atwood
This beguiling novel is set in mid-19th century Canada and concerns Grace Marks, a young Irish immigrant and domestic servant who is convicted of the brutal murders of her employer and his housekeeper/mistress. Grace has no memory of the murders, however, and has become somewhat of a controversial figure, with some believing her innocent, some guilty, and some simply insane. Several years into Grace's imprisonment, a young doctor, Simon Jordan, is brought in to examine Grace in order to determine her mental stability and whether or not she is guilty. He thus commences a series of interviews with her during which he learns her story but is uncertain of penetrating the mysteries of her memory and her culpability.
Once again, Atwood delivers a brilliant and complex novel that kept me up way too late most nights reading. It's subtle and compelling and really sinks its hooks into you. Grace is a fascinating character and a classic unreliable narrator. I liked her keen perceptions about life as a servant and her ability to claim her space and her selfhood in the face of what her life brought to her. Her story raises as many questions as it answers. I also liked the way Atwood incorporates motifs of sewing, quilts, and patchwork to highlight the themes the at explore the question of whether our stories and consciousness are the products of an objective reality or are instead subjectively constructed.
by Margaret Atwood
This beguiling novel is set in mid-19th century Canada and concerns Grace Marks, a young Irish immigrant and domestic servant who is convicted of the brutal murders of her employer and his housekeeper/mistress. Grace has no memory of the murders, however, and has become somewhat of a controversial figure, with some believing her innocent, some guilty, and some simply insane. Several years into Grace's imprisonment, a young doctor, Simon Jordan, is brought in to examine Grace in order to determine her mental stability and whether or not she is guilty. He thus commences a series of interviews with her during which he learns her story but is uncertain of penetrating the mysteries of her memory and her culpability.
Once again, Atwood delivers a brilliant and complex novel that kept me up way too late most nights reading. It's subtle and compelling and really sinks its hooks into you. Grace is a fascinating character and a classic unreliable narrator. I liked her keen perceptions about life as a servant and her ability to claim her space and her selfhood in the face of what her life brought to her. Her story raises as many questions as it answers. I also liked the way Atwood incorporates motifs of sewing, quilts, and patchwork to highlight the themes the at explore the question of whether our stories and consciousness are the products of an objective reality or are instead subjectively constructed.
