Earlier this month, I read Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. I also watched the Netflix show of the same name. Atwood is the best-selling author of The Handmaid's Tale, a book which has gained a lot of attention recently due to the release of a Hulu show based on it. Alias Grace is based on a true story and follows the prison sentence of Grace Marks. In the 1850s, Grace was convicted of the murder of Thomas Kinnear and Nancy Montgomery, her employers. Many believed Grace was innocent and simply coerced into the crime.
Some believed since was guilty, calling her a seductress and a witch. Due to her age and sex, she was offered life in prison instead of death by hanging. Fifteen years into her sentence a psychiatrist named Dr. Simon Jordan comes to the prison to solve Grace's memory loss, as she insists she does not remember anything from the time of the murders. As the pair discuss Grace's life up to the event of the murders, they become more and more intrigued by one another.
I won't tell you how the book/show ends; you'll have to figure that out on your own. A national survey found that sixty percent of Americans believed that individuals with schizophrenia acted violently toward others. Just like the jury against Grace, these people believed things without checking the evidence. Research by Harvard Medical Publishing suggests that findings have been inconsistent with how much mental illness contributes to violent behavior. There are many problems with this kind of research.
First, much of the research relies on patients' own recollection of violence and similar issues. Patients may forget the acts or be embarrassed or unwilling to admit they did anything at all. While Grace recounts all of her past before the time of the murders, she is subject to periods of amnesia, causing her to forget the actual murders themselves.
The MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Study found that only eighteen percent of people with psychiatric disorders commit a single act of violence annually. While thirty-one percent of violent persons had both a psychiatric and substance abuse disorders. This proposes that the violence may come more from the substance abuse.
Overall, I enjoyed Alias Grace, both the book and the show, very much. The subject matter interested me and the plot didn't drag or dull. In the show, the cast didn't disappoint and it stayed true to the novel. I enjoy Atwood's writing as a whole, so I was eager to read this book. The end left me thinking which is something I love about endings. I recommend this novel and its miniseries counterpart to any fans of mystery and drama stories.
