picked up at a lawn sale

Sixteen years have passed since Grace was locked up, at the age of sixteen, for the cold-blooded murder of her employer, Mr Thomas Kinncar and his housekeeper/lover, Nancy Montgomery. Her alleged accomplice in the crimes, James McDermot, paid the extreme sentence of the law and was hanged on November 21, 1843. But some thought Grace was innocent, and her sentence has been commuted to life imprisonment.
After a spell in the lunatic asylum, it has been decided that she is neither mad nor dangerous, although she now claims to have no memory of the murders. Dr Simon Jordon is one of the up-and-coming young men of his day in the field of mental health and is an expert on amnesia. He listens intently to Grace's account of her family's passage from Ireland to Canada during which her mother died and was buried among the icebergs, and to the tale of her time in the service with Mary Whitney, whose disgraceful death was hushed up in the servants' quarters. It is his professional objective to wake the part of Grace's mind which lies dormant - and then what will he find? Was Grace a female friend, a femme fatale, the real murderer of Nancy Montgomery? Or was she a weak and unwilling victim of the violent James McDermont?

I liked the way the story was told from 2 perspectives. There was no clear cut resolution, you were left to make up your own mind as to Grace's guilt or innocence.

RELEASE NOTES:

To the winner of the Happy Smile Day Sweepstakes.

I hope you enjoy.

woo hoo! Thanks for sending this lovely RABCK!

A great read. This is my first Atwood and I probably did have very high expectations. The 'shape' of the novel is very interesting with quotes and poems to compliment the narration. As a psych myself I found the suggestion of dissociative personality disorder in these early and harsh times very interesting. The complications of religion and gender bias have so many complications for the characters that I rarely consider these days. I enjoyed it and will look forward to 'The Blind Assassin' thanks very much amberC!

Sending to a fellow bookcrosser for their birthday!!

Oh, wow! Thank you so much.

Atwood is one of my all-time favourite authors. That is so sweet of you!

30 August

Having been given another copy, I've offered this one as a bookray.

Participants

tresize (<----book is here)
KLL (postage within Australia)

RELEASE NOTES:

Starting off on a very short ray -- only two people on it. I'll mention it again, and see if there is any more interest in it.

Received safe and sound on Friday - many thanks!

I loved this book. The intertwining of the two narratives was brilliant, and Grace's story pulls you in. The voice that Atwood creates for her is mesmerising.

PM'ing KLL for the next stage of the ring.

Posted today. Enjoy!

Received in the mail today. Thanks :-)

Finished this today. It didn't affect me emotionally as some of Atwood's other books have, but it's still a really accomplished piece of writing. I love the fact that Atwood took real-life facts and has elaborated on them with what might have happened. I agree with erinoc about the 'shape' of the novel. The fragments of books and poems at the start of each chapter really augmented the reading experience for me. I also loved how the different patchwork blocks were woven into each chapter, ending, finally, with the Tree of Life.

removed from the 1001 book bag started by kll

looking forward to having a read of atwood

;-)

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

happy winter reading

;-)

looking forward to this one too.....

enjoy