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A review by katiescho741
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
4.0
*Some Light Spoilers*
The first time I read this book I was in my late teens and I don't think I was able to fully appreciate the subtlety of it. I think watching the Netflix show has added to my reading experience; the look and feel of the time period especially.
This is not a standard crime fiction novel because we never find out whodunit or why they did it...even though we know James McDermott shot Mr Kinnear, we're never 100% sure if it was just to avoid detection, from general hatred of his master, or whether it was jealously over Grace. There is so much we don't know and yet the knowing isn't the point of the story. This was what I didn't understand when I read it the first time; I kept reading to find out the answers, and I was left unsatisfied because there weren't any. This time, the intricacies of the contradicting stories and ideas are what makes the novel compelling.
Grace tells her tale to Dr Jordan and, although we know she's holding some things back from him, we don't even know if she's telling him the truth. Dr Jordan is the educated doctor and yet he comes across to us as a bit silly, while Grace, a lowborn house servant convicted of murder, comes across as calm, smart, and knowing. We get the feeling she's playing a game with him, such as feigning ignorance when Dr Jordan brings in vegetables or asks leading questions, or wants to know about her dreams.
Grace is either completely innocent and just got tangled up in a house full of negative feelings, OR she's a sly and clever temptress who manipulated two men and murdered a women out of spite.
This book says a lot about the ideas about women in the early 19th Century-innocent victim or sinful harlot? There isn't really anything in between.
The first time I read this book I was in my late teens and I don't think I was able to fully appreciate the subtlety of it. I think watching the Netflix show has added to my reading experience; the look and feel of the time period especially.
This is not a standard crime fiction novel because we never find out whodunit or why they did it...even though we know James McDermott shot Mr Kinnear, we're never 100% sure if it was just to avoid detection, from general hatred of his master, or whether it was jealously over Grace. There is so much we don't know and yet the knowing isn't the point of the story. This was what I didn't understand when I read it the first time; I kept reading to find out the answers, and I was left unsatisfied because there weren't any. This time, the intricacies of the contradicting stories and ideas are what makes the novel compelling.
Grace tells her tale to Dr Jordan and, although we know she's holding some things back from him, we don't even know if she's telling him the truth. Dr Jordan is the educated doctor and yet he comes across to us as a bit silly, while Grace, a lowborn house servant convicted of murder, comes across as calm, smart, and knowing. We get the feeling she's playing a game with him, such as feigning ignorance when Dr Jordan brings in vegetables or asks leading questions, or wants to know about her dreams.
Grace is either completely innocent and just got tangled up in a house full of negative feelings, OR she's a sly and clever temptress who manipulated two men and murdered a women out of spite.
This book says a lot about the ideas about women in the early 19th Century-innocent victim or sinful harlot? There isn't really anything in between.