Laura's Review - Alias Grace

In 1843, Thomas Kinnear and his housekeeper Nancy Montgomery were brutally murdered at their home in Kingston, Ontario. Two servants, James McDermott and Grace Marks, were tried and convicted. McDermott was sentenced to death, but Grace's sentence was commuted to life in prison. In Alias Grace, Margaret Atwood uses scant historical evidence, and the character of young Dr. Simon Jordan, to tell Grace's story.

Dr. Jordan is somewhat of a specialist in mental illness, and in 1859 is granted permission to conduct a series of interviews with Grace at the penitentiary. He hopes to learn her side of the story, not just what her attorney told her to say at trial. But Grace has blocked all memories associated with the murders, and uncovering the truth is a long process requiring much patience. Jordan visits Grace nearly every day, and she recounts her life story from early childhood in Ireland all the way up to the murders.

Very early on, I fell into reading Alias Grace as I would any murder mystery. I forgot it was historical fiction, and began reading between the lines, searching for red herrings and expecting surprise plot twists. But the fascinating aspects of this tale are actually due to its basis in historical fact. In the 1840s, the field of mental illness was going through tremendous change, with many new theories and treatment methods. Many psychological conditions were simply not well understood. And Grace herself was a victim of society's prevailing attitudes toward women. Because she was attractive, some thought she must be the mastermind behind the murders. Others claimed her youth made her an unwilling victim. Margaret Atwood brings out another side of Grace, that of a strong independent woman whose psychological reaction to trauma fundamentally changed the course of her life.




Cross-posted from my blog

Laura's Review - A Fine Balance

A Fine Balance
Rohinton Mistry
603 pages

This beautiful novel, set in India in 1975, expores the notion of "fine balance" in several different dimensions: the fine balance of keeping people in their caste; the fine balance of prosperity vs. poverty; the fine balance between love and loss. There are four principal characters: Dina Dalal, a widow with unconventional views; Maneck, a college student; and Ishvar and Om, two tailors from a remote village. To achieve financial independence from her brother, Dina takes in Maneck as a boarder, and hires the tailors to run a clothing business. The tailors were the most fascinating characters in this novel. Their chosen profession did not come without some cost to their family: What the ages had put together, Dukhi had dared to break asunder; he had turned cobblers into tailors, distorting society's timeless balance. Crossing the line of caste had to be punished with the utmost severity...(p. 147) To make their way in the world, Ishvar and Om lived in severe poverty, and repeatedly overcame obstacles necessary for basic survival.

The caste differences were, at first, a barrier between Dina, Maneck, and the tailors. But as the four spent more and more time together in Dina's small flat, they came to appreciate one another. They provided both tangible and emotional support. Dina, in particular, found a way out of the loneliness that had plagued her since becoming a widow. The deep relationships between the characters were uplifting, and formed their own "fine balance" against the many sad and depressing scenes in this book.

I loved the structure of this novel. It begins with a prologue, that shows how the characters come to know one another. Then Mistry takes the reader deep into the lives of each character, beginning with Dina, exploring her childhood and marriage. Mistry vividly describes Maneck's parents and the rural setting of his childhood. A full understanding of the tailors comes by going back a full generation to reveal their parents' life and values. Mistry relates each character's story up to the point where their lives intersect, sometimes presenting the same events from different points of view.

A Fine Balance is a must-read! ( )

My original review can be found here.

'A Fine Balance' by Rohinton Mistry - Jackie's Review

‘A Fine Balance’ was short listed for the Booker prize in 1996, and I cannot understand why it did not win this, or even ‘The Booker of Bookers’ - it is that good!

It is hard to explain the plot, as it is so rich and complex, but basically it follows the lives of four strangers, from different sections of the Indian caste systems as they deal with life during the state of emergency in 1970’s India. The political situation is explained, so that even an outsider can understand the corruption and turmoil going on in the country. Each character is built up so well, that we feel we know them, and the surroundings are described in such a way that I imagine I’ve been there. It is not an easy read, in that many of the scenes described are disturbing, but the hardship is not dwelt upon, and it is amazing what positives can be made out of so little.

At over 600 pages long, it is not a short book, and I was originally going to criticise it for not being a page turner. I now realise that this would be the wrong thing to do. Although it is not a fast paced book, I was gripped the whole way through. If it had been a quicker read it would have lost the rich detail I loved it for.

This book changed the way I viewed many aspects of Indian society, particularly the street beggars, and I now have a greater understanding of life in India during the 1970s.

This is one of the best books I have ever read. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

10 out of 10 stars.

Trevor's Review of Atwood's Alias Grace

Moving away from the winners for a bit, I took on Atwood's Alias Grace. I have had my eyes on this book for a while, basically waiting to read it as a reward for when I finished the Best of the Booker shortlist. This might have ruined if for me.

It's not that the story wasn't interesting. It's not that the issues it took on weren't important or compelling. I think I'm just getting tired of Atwood's style. Her quick punches in her wry codas really started to get to me in this one.

At the start Grace Marks has already been in jail for fifteen years for the murder of Thomas Kinnear, her employer, and Nancy Montgomery, his housekeeper. Interestingly, Grace can't remember what happened. Doctor Simon Jordon, who doesn't necessarily care about exonerating Grace as much as making his name in science, comes to try to help her remember. Grace tells her story from the beginning, and Atwood escorts us smoothly to a finale.

If you're interested in more of my feelings on this book, please check out my new blog: http://mookse.wordpress.com. My blog is set up so people looking for general feelings about a book before they read it can get a general review. But I also leave space at the end to discuss issues that might spoil the book for those who haven't read it. I'm hoping to get into some conversations about some of these books on that level. I'd love for my Complete Booker friends to visit to discuss some of these issues.

3 stars out of 5.

Katrina's Review of Orchard on Fire by Shena Mackay (Shortlisted 1996)

This is one of those books I would never have even picked up in a bookshop as the cover just doesn't look like my type of read but when I saw the title on Bookcrossing I thought I'd give it a go. And I'm really glad I did.The novel is set in a quaint English countryside in the 1950/60's I'd guess, against this background is set the story of two young girls with not so quaint lives.

April's parent's own a little tea shop which doesn't do much business, she attracts the unwanted attentions of an elderly old man. And Ruby lives in a pub with parents who pay her very little attention except with their fists. The girls become good friends but try and deal separately with their problems.

The narration is told by April and the author manages to pull of a child's voice and point of view well, without the novel seeming like a child's book. This really reminded me of Tatty which I read last year and loved.Definitely a book I'd recommend to others.

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry: Abhinav's Progress

I'm almost through with Rohinton Mistry's novel A Fine Balance set in the Emergency (1975-1984). It is pure Bombayana. Written with a mix of caustic insight and deep compassion, Mistry's prose is the most natural ever. He writes like an insider - hell, even makes Rushdie's work feel like an outsider's voice. Rushdie writes in awe; his love for the city is almost filial. Mistry on the other hand knows Bombay for the harlot that she is; his depiction of the city is steeped in amorous love with the whiff of loss looming large over the milieu he creates. It is for this reason that Mistry can write with greater acceptance and credibility of the city's tragedies than Rushdie. I'm on a happy track with the last hundred pages or so to finish. The whiff of impending tragedy is looming large. Let's hope I get through.

Alias Grace - Wendy's Review

The pattern of this quilt is called the Tree of Paradise, and whoever named that pattern said better than she knew, as the Bible does not say Trees. It says there were two different trees, the Tree of life and the Tree of Knowledge; but I believe there was only the one, and that the Fruit of Life and the Fruit of Good and Evil were the same. And if you ate of it you would die, but if you didn't eat of it you would die also; although if you did eat of it, you would be less bone-ignorant by the time you got around to your death. Such an arrangement would appear to be more the way life is. -From Alias Grace, page 459-

In the year 1843, at the tender age of sixteen, Grace Marks was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for her role in the slaying of her employer Thomas Kinnear, and Nancy Mongomery (Kinnear's mistress and housekeeper). The case garnered excessive interest in Canada (where the crimes occurred) due to Marks' uncommon beauty, her young age and the juicy combination of sex, violence and what was considered 'the insubordination of the lower class.'

Margaret Atwood has taken this moment in history and created a novel both compelling and fascinating. Told alternately from the point of view of Grace and Dr. Simon Jordan - a doctor who is eager to uncover Grace's lost memories of the murders and determine her guilt or innocence - the story gradually reveals Grace's secrets and her complex personality.

Alias Grace is constructed with an eye to detail and contains beautiful symbolism and exquisite imagery. Atwood's use of quilt patterns both as titles for the chapters as well as clues to the mystery is brilliant. As quilts are layered and stitched together, the stitcher gradually reveals the pattern hidden in the fabric...just as Grace Marks re-constructs her life and the events surrounding that fateful day. Nothing is as it seems. For every character there is a dark side and a light side; good vs. evil; innocence vs. guilt. And even Grace tells us: '...and that is the same with all quilts, you can see them two different ways, by looking at the dark pieces, or else the light.'

Margaret Atwood once again demonstrates her ability to create memorable characters and weave a story which enthralls.

Highly recommended.; rated 4.5/5