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Alias Grace cover art

Alias Grace

Written by: Margaret Atwood
Narrated by: Sarah Gadon, Margaret Atwood
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Publisher's Summary

From the number one New York Times best-selling author of The Handmaid's Tale

Soon to be a Netflix Original series, Alias Grace takes listeners into the life of one of the most notorious women of the 19th century.

It's 1843, and Grace Marks has been convicted for her involvement in the vicious murders of her employer and his housekeeper and mistress. Some believe Grace is innocent; others think her evil or insane. Now serving a life sentence, Grace claims to have no memory of the murders.

An up-and-coming expert in the burgeoning field of mental illness is engaged by a group of reformers and spiritualists who seek a pardon for Grace. He listens to her story while bringing her closer and closer to the day she cannot remember. What will he find in attempting to unlock her memories?

Captivating and disturbing, Alias Grace showcases best-selling, Booker Prize-winning author Margaret Atwood at the peak of her powers.

Cover photo by Sabrina Lantos, courtesy of Halfire Entertainment. The miniseries Alias Grace is a Halfire Entertainment Production made for CBC and Netflix.

©1996 O.W. Toad, Ltd. (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

Featured Article: Canadian Voice Narrators That You Need to Listen to

Discover the voices and stories of Canada with this list of Canadian narrators and authors who are bringing Canadian tales to life in these incredible audiobooks.

What listeners say about Alias Grace

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Loved it.

Really incredible audio book. Highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in true crime and Canadian history... Atwood has clearly taken creative liberty, but tastefully so. Another great book from her.

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17 people found this helpful

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Worth the time and effort to pay attention

I listen to books while I am doing other things, so many times I had to rewind and listen again because I wasn’t paying close enough attention. It probably took me twice as long to get through this book because of that, but I never once considered quitting. I was very interesting, and even more so when I reminded myself that it was based on a true story.

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9 people found this helpful

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Magnificent and witty

Atwood amazes me again... the narrator is excellent and the audio is clear. A must read

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6 people found this helpful

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great book..not so great narration

story is very well written and interesting. I really enjoyed the afterward. The only criticism I have is in regard to the narrator. I found it distracting that every character spoke with same tone and inflection. I forced myself to ignore it but I really wished thus was a book I read myself.

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5 people found this helpful

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This was a great listen

I have never been a fan of Margaret Atwood, something I always feel guilty saying because I think she is one of those authors I should love but I find her books hit and miss for me. However with the intense interest in the media about this book, and after having been to the Kingston Prison where it was filmed and highly promoted I decided to give it a listen and I was surprised at how much I loved it. It is books like this that makes me feel guilty when I say I'm not a fan of Atwood's because it was brilliantly written and well researched. As a historian I always appreciate a well researched historical fiction, and Atwood did not disappoint with this one. Sarah Gadon brought Grace to life and made the 15 hours fly by

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Atwood is amazing!!!

Such a great work. I can’t say enough about it. One of my favourite books of all time for sure.

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3 people found this helpful

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Narrator was a bore

I find it very difficult to follow the story when the narrator does not alter her voice in any way. All characters, male or female, sounded the same. If I was distracted while listening to the story, I had no idea which character was talking and what that character could be talking about. SEVERAL times I had to pause the book and wait for an opportunity where I could give my full attention. I definitely missed a lot of what happened in the story. I strongly recommend reading this book rather than listen to the story.

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3 people found this helpful

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Beguiling Mystery Masterfully Told

This is masterful storytelling by a writer at the pinnacle of her craft. Expertly narrated by Sarah Gadon (who plays Grace in the mini-series adaptation of the novel) Alias Grace is a beguiling mystery, the reader is left to wonder "did she or didn't she?". Atwood cleverly elucidates how women of the era were often trapped,, whether or not they languished behind bars. I had read this novel previously. It was wonderful to revisit this nuanced novel on audiobook. Uniformly excellent. Highly recommended! #Audible1

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The story was OK, but...

Personally I don't think this was one of Atwood's best, although I'm in awe of her ability to weave a good story around some scant facts, especially as she's always at pains to point out that it IS fiction. I thought the tale too long, though, and it didn't really hold my attention for long spells.

My issue, though, was with the actual production. Sarah Gadon's reading was really not what I'd expect from a professional actress, as it was read largely in a monotone which made it hard to distinguish which character was speaking. I didn't know Ms. Gadon so looked her up and, far from being a fledgling actor that I assumed her to be, she is experienced and actually played the lead in the CBC's dramatization of this very book.

More than that, though, was the very curious pronunciation of a whole clutch of words. This wasn't an accent issue, nor even a variance between Canadian and British pronunciation, it was just some very weird ways of saying some very common words. The word "ravenous" springs to mind, with Ms. Gadon interpreting it as raven (like the bird) - ous, among many more. You may think this a minor issue, but continually gasping at curiously pronounced words took my attention away from the story. I could add that I thought Ms. Gaddon had said "succession" instead of "secession", but that may have been me mishearing.

Anyway, I move on to another book now and will no doubt put Alias Grace to the back of my mind.

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2 people found this helpful

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Enjoyable #Audible1

A great listen! I haven’t always enjoyed Margaret Atwood’s books but she turned this story into a captivating book.
The performance was exactly what this story needed
All in all , very happy with it

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