Alias Grace review
The novel tells a story based on the historical facts of the life of Grace Marks, an Irish immigrant to Canada who was convicted of murdering her employer and his housekeeper/lover in 1843. Where there aren’t known historical facts, Atwood fictionalizes. The main plot of the novel involves Grace telling her story to Dr. Simon Jordan, a doctor of what was then the “new science” of psychology. Jordan has been commissioned by a group of Grace Marks sympathizers to determine whether she was insane (and therefore eligible for pardon) at the time of the murders or was a willing collaborator with James McDermott, who was also convicted of the murders.
Atwood gives a detailed and chilling view of life inside the women’s prison, but what I found most remarkable is the intimate look at the life of a servant girl. The inventory of Grace’s possessions as a 16-year old servant is startlingly short. Without a trace of melodrama, Atwood shows how all women, but particularly poor women, of the time were controlled by cultural views of female sexuality. Dr. Jordan’s bizarre co-dependent relationship with his landlady is particularly telling in this regard.
Unwanted pregnancies are ubiquitous in the novel. Grace becomes close to two unmarried women who become pregnant and sees intimately how their pregnancies limited and determined their lives. She also sees how her mother’s life was shaped by pregnancies.
The novel is very visual, with detailed descriptions of red peonies and other flowers, homes of rich and poor families, clothing, and a boat passage from Ireland to Canada. I found myself predicting throughout my reading who would be cast in the film version that I predict will be produced: Nicole Kidman will play Grace, Jude Law will play Dr. Simon Jordan, Gwyneth Paltrow will play the landlady, Mark Ruffalo with his hair dyed red will play Jamie as an adult. . . .
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