Alias Grace

by Margaret Atwood | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 1860492592 Global Overview for this book
Registered by soffitta1 of Ipswich, Suffolk United Kingdom on 8/15/2009
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5 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by soffitta1 from Ipswich, Suffolk United Kingdom on Saturday, August 15, 2009
Duplicate copy bought from the Hospice shop.

Journal Entry 2 by soffitta1 at Dovercourt, Essex United Kingdom on Friday, February 3, 2012

Released 12 yrs ago (2/2/2012 UTC) at Dovercourt, Essex United Kingdom

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Chosen from the Euro 1001-Library VBB.

Journal Entry 3 by Boekentrol at Leeuwarden, Fryslân (Friesland) Netherlands on Thursday, February 9, 2012
Thank you very much, soffitta1, for making this book available and sending it out to me.
I look forward to read it very much!

Journal Entry 4 by Boekentrol at Leeuwarden, Fryslân (Friesland) Netherlands on Sunday, April 21, 2013
Synopsis:
"Grace Marks has been convicted for her involvement in the vicious murders of her employer, Thomas Kinnear, and Nancy Montgomery, his housekeeper and mistress. Some believe Grace is innocent; others think her evil or insane. Now serving a life sentence, Grace claims to have no memory of the murders.

Dr. Simon Jordan, an up-and-coming expert in the burgeoning field of mental illness, is engaged by a group of reformers and spiritualists who seek a pardon for Grace. He listens to her story while bringing her closer and closer to the day she cannot remember. What will he find in attempting to unlock her memories? Is Grace a female fiend? A bloodthirsty femme fatale? Or is she the victim of circumstances?"

Journal Entry 5 by Boekentrol at Leeuwarden, Fryslân (Friesland) Netherlands on Sunday, July 22, 2018
I liked this book very much. I think the story has been put together interestingly, with the different voices, letters and quotes.
I really have nothing more to say, because I have no clue which parts may be (fictionalized) true and which are real fiction. Doesn't matter: it was a great book!

Journal Entry 6 by Boekentrol at Leeuwarden, Fryslân (Friesland) Netherlands on Sunday, July 22, 2018

Released 5 yrs ago (7/23/2018 UTC) at Leeuwarden, Fryslân (Friesland) Netherlands

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This book is travelling on as a wishlist RABCK. Safe travels, wonderful book, I hope you bring many hours of reading pleasure to your new reader!

Journal Entry 7 by kingfan30 at Somewhere in Lincs 🤷‍♂️, Lincolnshire United Kingdom on Thursday, July 26, 2018
Thank you for this book off my wish list

11 Sept18 - I really enjoyed this book, although I admit the poem at the beginning threw me a bit, I kept getting distracted and had to restart it three times! The format of letters, interview, and story was interesting and the book had me hooked from the start, and had me guessing the whole way though. Why not full marks? Well the hypnotism was a bit odd and the ending with no clear answers was slightly disappointing, however it was only at the end I realised that this fictional book was based on true facts which was also never resolved. It's certainly still got me thinking though about what actually happened.

Journal Entry 8 by kingfan30 at Bourne, Lincolnshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Released 5 yrs ago (9/12/2018 UTC) at Bourne, Lincolnshire United Kingdom

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SEnding on to its next reader

Journal Entry 9 by 4evagreen at Furness Vale, Derbyshire United Kingdom on Friday, September 14, 2018
Book arrived safely. I look forward to reading it. Thanks for sharing.

Journal Entry 10 by 4evagreen at Furness Vale, Derbyshire United Kingdom on Monday, February 4, 2019
"If we were all on trial for our thoughts, we would all be hanged."

Alias Grace is a work of fiction but based on reality. In 1843 Thomas Kinnear and Nancy Montgomery were murdered. Fact. Grace Marks and James McDermott were convicted of the crime. Fact. McDermott was hanged, and Marks had her sentence commuted and sentenced to life in prison. Fact. There is no doubt that McDermott committed the murders but what was Grace's involvement? Even today no one knows for certain whether or to what degree she was involved, she was gave three differing accounts of the events whilst McDermott gave two.

In this novel Atwood challenges the reader to determine Grace’s guilt or innocence. Personally I found own opinion constantly changing. On occasions I felt that she was a victim of circumstance and coercion but equally I could never completely exonerate her. Come the end of the book, I was still unsure.

This is the latest of Margaret Atwood's books that I've read and once again I found her a compelling and confident story teller. I went away and Googled Grace Marks and James McDermott and realised that there really is a sparsity of facts surrounding the case, as such I felt that Atwood does a great job of sewing the few scraps of history that do exist in to a very readable piece of fiction. One interesting technique that she employs is that the chapters about Simon are written in third person whilst the chapters featuring Grace are written in first person.

The book however, isn't without its faults IMHO. Given that this is ultimately a piece of fiction, there was a distinct lack of action meaning that it takes a while to really get going. That said and done I still think that it is worth persevering with as it has a lot to offer.

Now I'm off to watch the Netflix dramatisation of this book to see whether they think Grace is a dupe or a capable liar.

Journal Entry 11 by 4evagreen at Buxton, Derbyshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Released 5 yrs ago (2/6/2019 UTC) at Buxton, Derbyshire United Kingdom

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Going out as part of a wishlist tag thread. Enjoy!

Journal Entry 12 by Femke85 at Uppsala, Uppland Sweden on Monday, February 11, 2019
Today I opened the mailbox and there were so many parcels in there, I couldn't carry them inside in one go. This was one of them and I look forward to reading it, since I love Margaret Atwood´s writing style. thanks for tagging me with this book!

Journal Entry 13 by Femke85 at Narvik, Nordland fylke Norway on Tuesday, June 4, 2019
Started reading it today on my holiday in Norway.

Journal Entry 14 by Femke85 at Kirkenes, Finnmark fylke Norway on Saturday, June 8, 2019
Margaret Atwood has a talent for writing about the hard life of women. Future, past or dystopian present, I think there is not a time period where she will grant her female main characters an easy life. In Alias Grace, she covers the life of Grace Marks. It is part historical facts and part historical fiction all woven together as a patchwork quilt. I never heared of Grace Marks before, but apparently the story is quite well known and has been made into a Netflix documentary.

I liked reading this book and it was a great book for reading on holidays. Especially since we are traveling slowly by boat. But I think I would not have been able to finish reading this book at home. Although it is an interesting and captivating story, it felt like 530 pages was a bit too much.

Released 4 yrs ago (6/8/2019 UTC) at Library in Hurtigruten M/S Trollfjord, -- Tog, busser og færger -- Norway

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