Alias Grace Book Review

 Alias Grace By Margaret Atwood

1996

Historical Fiction

Alias Grace follows the life of Grace Marks, an Irish immigrant accused of the murder of her master and his mistress in the mid-nineteenth century. While Grace Marks is a real person from Canadian history, the novel is a fictionalized account of Grace’s story told from varying perspectives. 

The novel is an exploration of identity. The details presented about Grace are never one hundred percent certain to be true. The first couple chapters are not told from Grace’s perspective and are instead based upon rumor. When we do hear from Grace, she’s recounting her story to Dr. Jordan who is studying Grace’s psychology, meaning we can’t be sure if she’s being truthful or trying to play us. The science elements of the novel were interesting because Atwood gave insight into early treatment of different illnesses and mental health.

Overall, the novel is very well researched. Atwood gave an extensive overview of mid-nineteenth century Ontario. I think that while fictional, the novel is a great way to learn about individual experiences in early Canadian history. One of my history professors this year even recommended the book for its portrayal of women. Alias Grace details many of the realities servant women and lower class women were subjected to, like the hard work, exploitation, and sexual assault.

Rating 5/5 While the Alias Grace is a bit slow starting out, the novel picks up speed quickly as Grace draws you into her story. This was a real page-turner for me, and an equally amazing historical fiction novel!