Title :Alias Grace
Author : Margaret Atwood
Context :Alias Grace(1996) is a 470 page historical fiction novel set during the 1800s in Canada is authored by Canadian writer Margaret Atwood at the peak of her powers. This is a captivating and disturbing novel which went on to win the Booker Prize.
Synopsis : Grace Marks and James McDermott were convicted in 1843 in real-life for being involved in murdering their employer Thomas Kinnear, his mistress, Nancy Montgomery and the housekeeper. The convicted murderess is hired out from prison to serve in the house of the Governor of the penitentiary as a domestic servant. While some believe Grace to be insane or evil, other feel she is innocent. Initially Grace was sentenced to death, was sent to a mental institution and later on put into prison. After being sentenced to life imprisonment, she claimed to have complete memory loss about the three murders. McDermott was hung for committing the murders.
A group of spiritualists and reformers appoint an up-and-coming expert Simon Jordan to research the case and get into the burgeoning mental illness field so that Alias Grace is able to seek pardon. The expert listens to her story as she gets closer and closer to the day of the murders. The question is, while trying to unlock her memories, what will he be able to find.
On the face of it, he conducts research into the convict’s criminal behaviour but gets involved in Grace’s story and tries reconciling his perception of the mild-mannered convict.
Other works by the Author :
1969 – The Edible Woman
1972 – Surfacing
1976 – Lady Oracle
1979 – Life Before Man
1981 – Bodily Harm
1985 – The Handmaid’s Tale
1988 – Cat’s Eye
1993 – The Robber Bride
2000 – The Blind Assassin
2003 – Oryx and Crake
2005 – The Penelopiad
2009 – The Year of the Flood
2013 – MaddAddam
2015 – The Heart Goes Last
2016 – Hag – Seed
2019 – The Testaments
