Alias Grace : A Novel
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Alias Grace : A Novel
by Authors:
Margaret Atwood
Released: 13 October, 1997
ISBN: 0385490445
Paperback
Sales Rank: 23,396
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List price:
$15.00
Our price:
$10.20
(You save: $4.8)
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| Book > Alias Grace : A Novel > Customer Reviews: |
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Average Customer Rating: 
Alias Grace : A Novel >
Customer Review #1:
 Powerful and Beautiful
Working from a fascinating historical incident: the murder of an emigrant Scotsman in Victorian Canada, Margaret Atwood has crafted an enigmatic and enduring anti-heroine.
I add my voice to a chorus of praise for Atwoods writing. Her prose is crystaline in its precision and clarity. A dark, almost macabre tale is illuminated with flashes of humour and striking symbolism.
Grace, a serving girl imprisoned (rightly or wrongly?) for the murder, emerges as an elusive yet fully flesh-and-blood character. Grace narrates the story, at once bringing us into intimate contact with her thoughts and shrouding the mystery of her actions. This is a device used in books like Rebecca and The Turn of the Screw; but here its fresh and riveting. Grace seems simultaneously bewildered by, and in control of, her reputation as a murderess. Its this allure which brings Dr Simon Jordon to her prison, seeking to understand her psychology. The charged interviews between the two are especially powerful.
Just as her characters are strong, the writer creates a landscape in the mind which is fully alive and three-dimensional.
If Ive dwelt on the novels literary aspects, dont be put off. I enjoyed this book tremendously, and recommend it whole-heartedly.
Alias Grace : A Novel >
Customer Review #2:
 psychological character study extraordinaire...
Alias Grace has long been recommended to me but I only just read it because the story, a piece of historical fiction of a 1840s Canadian murderess, didnt sound particularly appealing. Well my only regret is not having read the book sooner. The story itself, on face value, is rather ordinary. Teenage girl and apparent boyfriend both kill their employers. However the girl (Grace) is enigmatic and, as such, her actual guilt is brought into question. All this is explained very early in the novel. But then Atwood does a wonderful job of going into the mind and soul of our poor Grace; we are intrigued, disgusted, and feel compassion for this strange creature. The author then deftly reveals, in minute stages, what the real Grace is all about. The results are unexpected. Oh, and Ms Atwood is a brilliant writer. Her prose is superb, to the point where you wonder if she can write a bad sentence. Bottom line: among Atwoods best. A must read.
Alias Grace : A Novel >
Customer Review #3:
mesmerizing
The account of Grace Marks life is a story so rich in layers of reality and imagination that one can not stop until the last page to find out the complete meaning of her ordeal. Is Grace Marks an ordinary person of dim wit, a saint, or an evil creature?
Margaret Atwood writing is so beautiful and rich in associations. The beauty of nature breaths from the book and makes one feel as if present right there in the story.
Since it took me no time finishing the book as captivating as it was, I am already worried I will finish reading all of Margarets Atwood books in too short a time, and then be pining for more!
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Alias Grace : A Novel >
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