Author: Margaret Atwood

I’m not a huge Atwood fan but when I saw this series on Netflix I knew right away that I wanted to read the book. Our library was still intact at that time and I was surprised that we didn’t have a copy of the book on the shelf. On my last trip to Texada I was looking on the bookshelf there and found a copy that I probably purchased at one of the thrift shops or the library sale.

The novel, based on a true story, has details filled in from Atwood’s imagination. In 1843, Grace Marks was convicted for her involvement in the murder of two people. Her partner in the crime was sentenced to death by hanging but Grace’s original sentence was commuted to life in prison. She spends the next 29 years in the penetentiary with a bit of that time spent in the lunatic assylum. The thing I most wanted to know was whether or not Grace was guilty as from the very start there were many people who thought she was innocent. I will have to live with the fact that I’ll never know for sure.

Through the book, Grace is pictured as sewing a variety of quilt blocks. Each section of the book starts with a sketch of a quilt block and I definitely see an Alias Grace quilt in my future. Those quilt blocks bumped my rating from 4-stars to 5.

Goodreads Rating: * * * * *