Alias Grace
by Margaret Atwood
★ Top 25 book of 1996 · #18 on Best Books of 1996
Margaret Atwood revisits a notorious nineteenth century case in which Grace Marks, serving life for two murders, says she cannot remember them. A doctor studying mental illness is brought in to draw out her story, leaving her guilt an open question.
Best for: Readers who enjoy dark, historical fiction built around an ambiguous, enigmatic central character
Alias Grace is #18 on BookWard's Best Books of 1996, out of 38 1996 books that cleared our data bar.
What Alias Grace is about
In 1843, a man and his housekeeper were killed in Canada West. Two servants, Grace Marks and James McDermott, were convicted. McDermott was hanged, while Grace was sentenced to life imprisonment. She says she remembers nothing of the killings, and opinion about her has never settled: some see an innocent young woman, others a evil or insane one.
Margaret Atwood builds a novel around that uncertainty. A fictional doctor, Simon Jordan, is hired by reformers and spiritualists who hope to win Grace a pardon. In a sewing room at the governor's mansion he listens as she recounts her life, from a hard childhood in Ireland and the loss of her mother on the voyage to Canada to the friendship with a fellow servant that shaped her. The more he hears, the more tangled in her story he becomes. It is a slow, brooding novel about memory, class and who gets believed. It rewards readers who like historical fiction that leaves the central question open.
Alias Grace on the Best Books of 1996
Alias Grace came out in 1996. Of the 38 books first published in 1996 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #18 on our Best Books of 1996 list.
Why it made the list: 277 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.8 out of 5 (23 ratings). The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 1996 list
- The Highly Sensitive Person Elaine N. Aron, #16
- Vampire Breath Robert Lawrence Stine, #17
- The Color of Water James McBride, #19
- Frindle Andrew Clements, #20
See all Best Books of 1996 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 1995 Best Books of 1997.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 230 want to read it, 10 are reading it now and 37 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 3.8 out of 5 from 23 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 61 | 55% |
| Reader love | 24 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 32 | 20% |
Questions about Alias Grace
When was Alias Grace published?
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood was first published in 1996.
Was Alias Grace one of the best books of 1996?
Alias Grace is #18 on BookWard's Best Books of 1996, out of 38 1996 books that cleared our data bar. 277 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.8 out of 5 (23 ratings).
Why is Alias Grace on the Best Books of 1996 list?
277 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.8 out of 5 (23 ratings).
More of the best books of 1996
- A Game of Thrones George R. R. Martin, #1
- The Green Mile Stephen King, #2
- Forbidden Knowledge Roger Shattuck, #3
- Push Sapphire, #4
- Fight Club Chuck Palahniuk, #5
- Neverwhere Neil Gaiman, #6
See the full Best Books of 1996, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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