From Amazon -
"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."

Beautifully written and compulsively readable

This is going out as a bookring.

WHEN YOU RECEIVE THE BOOK please make a journal entry so everyone knows it has safely arrived. Try to read the book within a month if possible, remember there are people waiting to read the book.
WHEN YOU FINISH THE BOOK, make another journal entry telling us what you thought - did you like it? Did you think it was well-written?
CONTINUE THE BOOKRING by sending a Private Message to the person after you on the bookring list and request their postal address.

Participants:

RonOren (UK)
FiBe(UK)
LaPitchoune(Finland)
angela861(US)
ChiBoiler(US)
lisabb2 (US)
MicheleReads(US)
Back to me.

On the way to RonOren.

This arrived yesterday (oh, I like picking up packages at the PO!). I've just finished my not-bedtime-book, so I can start this straight away. Thanks for sending this, realiz64!

I thought this was a very interesting book. Surprisingly, it wasn't so much the murder itself that interested me, but everything that came before it. It's the life that Grace led, as a servant in the developing community of Canada, that I thought was the best part of the story. When she finally came to the point where she described the last moments (I'm trying not to give too much away), I almost lost interest!
Equally interesting, in fact, was the faith that people put in the "science" of hypno-neurism. I know I shouldn't make fun of the scientific methods of other times; after all, there's no guarantee we've got any better understanding of the world than these people had. Still, the hypno-neurism just leaves far too much room for charlatans (as beautifully shown in the session that "Dr. Jerome DuPont" has with Grace).

Personally, I would've liked the book a little better if there wasn't so much fluff around it. Dr. Jordan's life, for instance, and his entanglement (for want of a better word) with various people in the town, are of no interest to the story, I thought. To me, that felt like a gimmick in order to allow Jordan to leave stage at the right time (but for which his excuse of his mother's weak health would be equally valid, wouldn't it?).
Maybe I'm missing something; maybe Atwood is trying to show us what society in general was like back then. It didn't do anything for me, I'm afraid.

Overall, this is a very interesting story; I was quite impressed at the various styles that Atwood uses, ranging from Grace telling the story to letters exchanged by the various other characters. The variation in styles probably stopped the story from getting boring more easily.

Thanks for letting me read this, realiz64! I'll send it on to FiBe as soon as possible (hopefully in time for Xmas, but I might be cutting it too close).

Just sent to FiBe. Sorry if it doesn't make it until after Xmas... Hope you'll enjoy this book!

I apologise most sincerely for not journalling this book, especially when prompted on 2 occasions, its no excuse but my brains been a shed recently. I don't want to take advantage of raeliz64's generosity any longer and upset people so I'll get the next person's address and send it on as I don't know when I'm going to get a chance to finish the book. I really appreciate the chance to read it and maybe when I get more time I'll try again because what I have read so far has been really interesting.

RELEASE NOTES:

Continuing its journey. Sorry I didn't have time to read this :(

Wow! What a surprise it was to get this in the mail! Thank you so much. I've had way too few experiences with Atwood, although I know she's an excellent writer. I started reading immediately and more will follow when I'm done, which hopefully won't take long.

I'm only halfway through but I wanted to post a few words before I forget. So here comes the flood:

I've never really been into politics and I don't understand much about it, but the society described in this book makes me think about different political systems. Maybe it's somehow typical to Atwood's style, since some of her other works reflect the values of a society pretty well, too, the characters being maids and slaves and others who'll have to make do with less.
Anyway, since the book ring is international, I'd like to compare the societal structure of the 1840s to the social democracy of Finland (, which is quite typical for a Nordic country).

In this book there are wealthy lords and ladies who keep housemaids and servants. They can afford to keep several people busy just to fulfil their every need, no matter how insignificant. Should one important Sir desire a fried egg for breakfast and her ladyfriend a boiled egg, there's no need to compromise, because the servant will cook both.
To me the thought of being able and wanting, or even considering it normal to hire private servants, appears as shocking. Today hardly any healthy person has private servants. The ones used these days usually have to do with work, in which case the appropriate title would be assistant (with a decent salary!). What I want to ask is: how can people in my modern-day society complain about injustice and huge gaps in incomes?!
The way I see it, we're light years away from the situation where Grace is put in! I don't know the history of the dollar, but when Grace considers $2 'a fair amount of money', my mouth falls open.

Another thing is the hierarchy between the sexes, which is nicely parallelled with the feeding hierarchy of the chickens when Grace works for Mr. Kinnear. (Grace dislikes them, by the way!) So in this setting, a gentleman is a gentleman, no matter how rude. It's no business of a woman to know what they are up to in their free time. More often than not they seem to be chasing after skirts. They can roam around abusing women and it's just a fact that has to be faced with. Take what happens to Mary Whitney, for example. As the narrator puts it: once you are found with a man in your room you are the guilty one, no matter how they get in.
In the quotation above you can see how the position of a woman is made even feebler with the use of the passive voice: 'you are found', in other words you are the object of others' action. Incredibly strong language!)

And here's another citation that sums up my thoughts about the social/sexual hierarchy. Dr. Jordan asks Grace what her duties consist of.

He is not making a joke. He really does not know. Men such as him do not have to clean up the messes they make, but we have to clean up our own messes, and theirs into the bargain. In that way they are like children, they do not have to think ahead, or worry about the consequences of what they do. But it is not their fault, it is only how they are brought up.

So, Atwood does seem to follow in Beauvoir's footsteps, being a true feminist...

There. I'm finished.
Surprisingly, it wasn't before the chapter called 'Tree of Paradise" that I realized the symbols at the beginning of each chapter were the famous quilt designs! What a nice idea. All along, this book made me think of Laura Ashley's patterns and colours! All in all, a very pleasant read with such an amount of details. The topic of eroticism is also a strong undercurrent, although it is mostly based on male perspectives.

Thanks for the ring! (It was my 1st international ring!)
& Bon voyage, it will now be headed to the States.

EDIT: Posted May 6

I received the book today. I have a few in front of this one but will have it read within the month. Thanks for sending and sharing!

I began this book exhausted and ready for a break from reading. I do have an addiction for joining too many bookrings/rays. :-) That being said... I can't believe how much I liked this book!!! I really enjoyed the story of Grace's life and caught myself picking up the book every chance I got. I did get a little tired of Dr. Jordan's drama but liked his interaction w/ Grace. I also liked getting updates about the characters through the letters.

Thank you, raeliz64 for sharing!! I'll pass to ChiBoiler this week.

RELEASE NOTES:

Off to ChiBoiler... Hope you like it as much as I did!!

TBR...Just received this book yesterday. I have one before it - but it is a James Patterson - so I will be fast!

Finished this book last night. This was the third Margaret Atwood book I read and the one I enjoyed the most. I am glad I gave her another chance after Surfacing, which I thought was awful!

Loved the story about Grace and the murders, but felt that some things ended rather abruptly - like the doctor's storyline. Good and fast paced. Would recommend - one of the better 1001 books.

I forgot to bring the book to work today - so I will mail it out on Monday (I don't live near a post office). I already have the address of the next reader.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Mailed this book of today to the next person on the list. Happy reading!

Just got in the mail today. Will read shortly but I've got one book in front of this one...

What an interesting read. I've read several other books by Atwood and some I liked and some I didn't. Glad this one was one that I liked!!!

I enjoyed the writing style and hearing about Grace's life...plus the life of others she encountered. The lifestyle back then is definitely different than today with the woman being less than men. There were a few holes left in this book...like was Grace a part of the murder or not since you never really get a straight story.

Anyway, an overall good read. This book will be sent out to MicheleReads shortly. Thanks for sharing!!!

Forgive me for the delay in journaling the book! I was out-of-town and it got shuffled into a pile while I was gone. I am very sorry and will try to read it quickly and get it back home to you. I adore Margaret Atwood, and I am so pleased to be included in this book ring. Thank you!!!!

This is a fantastic book! I haven't read Margaret Atwood in a very long time, and it makes me want to read more of her work. Thank you for sharing it with me. I will be sending it back home at the beginning of the week.