Alias Grace

Margaret Atwood's novel Alias Grace deals with the notorious murders of Thomas Kinnear and his housekeeper Nancy Montgomery in Upper Canada in 1843. Two servants of the Kinnear household, Grace Marks and James McDermott, were convicted of the crime. James McDermott was hanged and Grace Marks was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Related Topics:
Margaret Atwood - Murder - Thomas Kinnear - Housekeeper - Nancy Montgomery - Upper Canada - 1843 - Grace Marks - James McDermott

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Although the novel is based on factual events, Atwood constructs a narrative that sees a fictional doctor, Simon Jordan, playing detective. Although ostensibly conducting research into criminal behaviour, he slowly becomes personally involved in the story of Grace Marks and seeks to reconcile the mild mannered woman he sees with the murder of which she has been convicted.

Related Topics:
Narrative - Doctor

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Alias Grace won the Canadian Giller Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1996.

Related Topics:
Giller Prize - Booker Prize - 1996

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Some literary critics noted eerie parallels between Grace Marks and a more contemporary Canadian criminal figure, Karla Homolka. In both trials, significant controversy was raised by the question of whether they had actively participated in the murders, or were simply unwitting accessories.

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Atwood also wrote an earlier work, the 1974 CBC Television film The Servant Girl, about Marks.

Related Topics:
1974 - CBC Television

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See also Southern Ontario Gothic.

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