1800's Brought to Life (Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood)

Member Name: Alindrail

Product:	Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood
Date:	23/02/01 (470 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Spectacular character, spectacular style

Disadvantages: NONE

Atwood is always a good writer, but this is a fantastic book! I picked it up because of it's considerable heft, and the mesmerising cover (reminiscent of the Mona Lisa I thought). From the beginning the book works to mesmerise; the cover evoking the power, aloofness, and ethereal quality of the central character Grace Marks... Murderess. In the mid 1800's she was charged with aiding and abetting her fellow servant McDermott with the murder of her employer Mister Kinnear and their fellow servant Nancy.

The book takes place during Grace incarceration as she is interviewed by Dr Jordan, who is trying to determine whether she is mad, or whether she suffered from temporary insanity at the time of the murders. To do this Grace delves back into her memory and retells her life.

Atwood brings out the class struggle of the time; the ignorance of Dr Jordan (and the reader) of the hardships of the day for servants and their kin. Her rich language and minute detail description creates a superb atmosphere, fading the line between reality and fiction. It is as if Grace's voice speaks from 150 years distant. Atwood's style lends the tale its immediacy, as the past is told in one long monolgue in Grace's mind.

A blend of historical fiction, thriller, and pure genius. This book should have won the Booker Prize, she shouldn't have had to wait for Blind Assasin.

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