Skip to content

Alias Grace

Book
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

As seen:

By Margaret Atwood

avg rating

1 review

A high-point even for the Atwood backlist, this remarkable novel has been a huge critical and commercial succes. Peter Kemp, reviewing it in the Sunday Times, called Atwood ‘the outstanding novelist of our age’. An exceptional novel from the winner of the 2000 Booker Prize

Reviews

22 Aug 2018

Venn

At today's meeting we agreed that 'Alias Grace' kept us guessing about who was actually involved in a double murder which made international news in 1843. We were split in terms of whether Grace Marks, the central character, was guilty or innocent. Certainly, Margaret Atwood shows how easy it was for mob rule and prejudice to influence court proceedings at the time and she cleverly quotes from people who reportedly gave eye witness accounts detailing actions which were physically impossible. Margaret Atwood also mentions that Grace Marks considers whether she should tell a tale that the listener might wish to hear or to state what really happens.

However, even though we read the story, we are not enlightened as to which version is being told so although the novel is based upon a real person, Grace Marks remains an enigma to the end.

From the noticeboard

View our other programmes