2020 EDIT: It has been SO many years since I last read this - nearly a decade now - back when my mother recommended it to me. At the time, 'Alias Grace' seemed to me like a proper adult novel: smart, clever, sophisticated, and rich in detail and themes.
Now that I am an adult myself, and have read a lot more since, I've found that, as well written and well researched as historical novels like 'Alias Grace' are, they can't keep my tired, wandering and impatient attention for long. I skimmed, but I remember enough of the "plot" from reading it years before.
This particular tome is 534 pages long; it meanders a lot, and not much is accomplished by the end of it. And of course there is casual misogyny and slut shaming in the narrative and dialogue. The male lead, Dr. Simon Jordan, creepily objectifies nearly every women he meets, and he pictures women he deems unattractive as literal slabs of meat, specifically pigs. There is a notable hatred of elderly women that's present throughout the novel. Women are worth nothing if they're not young, pretty, and wives and baby makers, is the lasting impression 'Alias Grace' gives us. Most of the women are compliant and submissive to men, stupid, and unambitious, too. Historical context aside, the author doesn't do much to negate this literal 1800s attitude, and is often complacent in it, condoning it because of "historical accuracy", especially when she writes from Grace's POV.
However, I can still regard 'Alias Grace' as a good piece of literature, such as for those who have never heard of its historical subject and event before; even though I felt disconnected from it while reading. Maybe Margaret Atwood isn't an author for me - she's an amazing writer, but I just don't enjoy her books.
Final Score: 3/5
Original Review:
Something's not right here.
I don't normally read historical fiction. Especially ones that get into the thoughts of people who once actually existed. Liberties are taken with them, and they just never appealed to me. I only read 'Alias Grace' because my mother recommended it to me. It is also the first Margaret Atwood book I have looked at.
The overwhelming and uplifting thoughts and feelings I had whilst I read this! And the jumble of thoughts and feelings I had when I finished it. But the two thoughts that stood forefront in my mind and heart were: "Thank you, Mum!" and "Margaret Atwood, where have you been all my life?"
Most likely I would never have looked at 'Alias Grace' if my mum hadn't read it first and told me it was worth it.
I admit I knew nothing about Grace Marks or her infamy in the 1840s beforehand. But once I started 'Alias Grace' from page one, I decided it didn't matter. Historical fiction or not, it is a brilliant book.
Warning: this review contains gushes of "so many" and "so much" with no great deal of detail or intelligence, unlike the book it talks about.
So many fleshed-out characters, so much perfect language used, so many colourful and natural images, so many set-ups and details added about Grace. And what a way to create a mystery! Ms Atwood took an overlooked historical female figure and made the story her own - creative, but respectful of both history and her readers.
Set in a time when Grace Marks was in prison for eight years for murder (or for being an accomplice to James McDermott in murdering), and when in an Asylum. McDermott was hanged. She was only sixteen when she was sentenced - her crime was a shock to the people at the time.
Mostly told from Grace's POV, you feel for her in her situation, because she and the setting feel real, and not just because they did in fact exist. In some ways the mystery lies in the truths she says about herself, and if she is in fact an unreliable narrator. Is she really as innocent as she seems? Does she even know if she is innocent or not? Ambiguity and uncertainty lie subtly throughout this historical novel.
In particular, Grace's relationship with the doctor Simon Jordan is something to write a thesis about - so much there and at the same time so much left to interpretation; another way Ms Atwood respects her reader's intelligence.
The apple - a symbol of temptation...
Everything in this book flows with realism and beauty.
'Alias Grace' is also set in a time when scientific discoveries concerning mental health are being tested by new generations of (male) doctors. Crime, insanity, women and their wombs - linked? Women's roles in the 19th century are brought up through these explored theories. As is spiritualism - made to appear genuine in the book's plot, but is still up for discussion. One of this book's themes is about changes in people's beliefs overtime, and challenging scepticism.
I can't even begin to imagine how much time and effort Ms Atwood put into researching Grace Marks and her life, and the newspapers and poems written about her in her time. Not to mention the research gone into looking at the ways and trials of the previous century. Liberties taken or not, 'Alias Grace' is above all an entertaining and gloriously smart read I couldn't get enough of.
One flaw I will say about it, however, is that Grace herself is a little too intelligent. I don't mind her calmness (that's understandable, and she isn't always stoic), but the way she speaks and thinks slightly contradicts what she tells about her past as a poor, barely-educated girl. Intentional? And when she speaks to Doctor Jordan about her whole life up to the crime she says she doesn't remember committing, there is a lot of detail mentioned. Does she really explain unflinchingly, in pages and pages, the tragedies and little things that happened to her? They couldn't all have been rehearsed.
But this is minor compared to the power of the novel as a whole.
Despite there being so much depth, ambiguity, and so much to discuss about 'Alias Grace', I'll end this review as a short one, as nothing I say can do it justice (as clearly demonstrated above). Just read it. It's a complex study of history, change, and humanity in general.
I'm not sure I would put 'Alias Grace' in my favourites shelf though, since I am still not drawn towards historical fiction. But it is still one of the best books I've ever read. I should give more reading material a chance.
Thanks Mum, and bravo Margaret Atwood!
Final Score: 5/5
Other reviews:
'Explosive mixture of murder, sex, and class conflict.' - Daily Mail
'A sensuous, perplexing book, at once sinister and dignified, grubby and gorgeous, panoramic yet specific... I don't think I have ever been so thrilled... This, surely, is as far as a novel can go.' - Julie Myerson, Independent on Sunday
'Brilliant... Atwood's prose is searching. So intimate it seems to be written on the skin.' - Hilary Mantel, Literary Review
Page quote:
'The reason they want to see me is that I am a celebrated murderess. Or that is what has been written down. When I first saw it I was surprised, because they say Celebrated Singer and Celebrated Poetess and Celebrated Spiritualist and Celebrated Actress, but what is there to celebrate about murder? All the same, Murderess is a strong word to have attached to you. It has a smell to it, that word - musky and oppressive, like dead flowers in a vase. Sometimes at night I whisper it over to myself: Murderess, Murderess. It rustles, like a taffeta across the floor.' - Page 2
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