Alias Grace by Margaret Eleanor Atwood, , 0385486243 Search discount cheap book, Compare Book prices, Find Lowest Price
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Alias Grace, cheap new, used books  Alias Grace
Author: Margaret Eleanor Atwood  
ISBN: 0385486243   /   Paperback
Publisher: Doubleday Books   /   1996-11
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Editorial Reviews:
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.

Customer Reviews:
Loved this book     
I was utterly immersed and I didn't want this beautiful story to end.
One of Atwood's very best.
Predictable story line     
This story of Victorian age women done wrong, although true, is much too often told. I won't reveal the twists and turns, but, at least in the book on tape version, there are few true surprises. That it is based on a true story makes it more interesting. But, reliance on dream symbolism and hypnosis are overwrought and overused techniques.
An Absolutely Fantastic Book     
Alias Grace is an extremely well written, very entertaining tale of murder and deception. Although the story was hard to follow at times because of the changing time periods and narrators, the shifting only added to the wonderful sense of mystery and intrigue in this novel.

I couldn't put the book down, the suspense was wonderfully executed.

This book is not only entertaining and a source of unique Canadian history, but Atwood cleverly relates many themes of the period novel back to our modern society; reflecting on issues such as stereotypes and sex roles.

Not Atwood's best     
This is not Atwood's best book by a long stretch. 'The Handmaids Tale', 'the Robber Bride', and the especially exquisite 'The Blind Assassin' are much more enjoyable. This book is slow, and does not have the wonderful turns of phrase that her other books have.
While she does a good job of leaving the reader guessing as to the guilt or innocence of Grace, the question, of course, cannot be answered (being a true story) and leaves you disappointed. The prelude to the crime (Grace's history) is the best part of the book.
One of the best     
This is a book that I probably would not have picked up on my own; it was a selection from my book club. I was immediately [stunk] into the story--I could not put it down. The story of Grace Marks is so compelling, and Atwood is a master storyteller. This book has become not only my favorite of the books my book club has read, but one of my favorite books, period. Since then, I have read more of Atwood's work and enjoyed everything, but this is her best work that I have read.
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