The Story Archive

Alias Grace

Margaret Atwood · 1996 CE · Novel · Modern / American · Contemporary

An Irish servant convicted of a double murder in Upper Canada in 1843 has served fifteen years when an American doctor of the new science of mind is engaged to interview her, so a committee petitioning for her pardon can use what he finds. She sews, she answers everything he asks, and remembers nothing of the day itself. Atwood built the book from the trial record and Susanna Moodie's account in Life in the Clearings, which contradicts itself.

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Attributes

Genre
HistoricalMysteryPsychological
Theme
Class & InequalityGuilt & ConscienceAppearance vs RealityIdentity & Self
Archetype (Jung / Campbell)
Fallen WomanShapeshifterScapegoat
Plot structure
Frame NarrativeUnreliable NarratorNonlinear / Fractured
Symbol / motif
The PrisonThe GarmentThe Letter
Conflict
vs Societyvs Self
Mode / tone
RealistGothicIronic
Culture / tradition
Modern / American

Closest analogues