alias grace.

I haven't written in a while because I am currently struggling to do anything other than read Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita which is terrifying and beautiful and horrible and fantastic and sick. But I am not going to write about Lolita. I am going to write about the book I finished a little while ago - Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace.

The story of how I came to read Alias Grace is a cute one. As a 21st present, Tessa gave me a my first-ever-pair of lacey underwear, a book (Alias Grace) and some pretty cool sunglasses to remind me that I am (and I quote), "Sexy, clever and very very cool". This was sweet and fun and we giggled in our girlish rapture and revelled in our brilliant youth and all these warm, Twirling-Birthday-Girl feelings vanished abruptly when I started on the book.

Alias Grace is sad. It is based on reality (which makes it all the more sadder) but is ultimately a work of fiction. Set in Canada in the 1840s, it is about the young girl, Grace Marks, who was convicted of murder and her innocence/guilt is never quite settled into a feel-good plot, but rather amounts to a dark, somewhat twisty and unsettling story. Chunks of history and quotes from poetry, newspapers, court statements are beautifully interwoven with the gripping narrative.

I did like this book.

In the same way that I get tired of reading American authors, I get doubly tired of reading male authors. Margaret Atwood is both female and Canadian. Lovely. It was noticeably refreshing to read a woman's writing and perspective. When I glance at my bookshelf 70% of the authors are men. I don't particularly want to get tangled up in a feminist rant (right now), I am just constantly surprised that I have to go out of my way to read books written by females. The books that find their own way into my consciousness are almost always written by men and I have to make a concerted effort to read female authors. You never find yourself thinking, "Gee, when was the last time I read a book written by a man?" It's silly.

Aside from being sad and beautiful, there is no denying that this book is smart. Once again, a lot smarter than me. There was definitely a lot of historical research that went into the making of this book. And I have always like the idea of other books making books. (Which is why it's fun to find out what your favourite authors read). I also noticed, only towards the end, a fascinating and detailed structure that threaded its way cleverly and neatly throughout the whole book. Which made me wonder how many other clever bits and imagery I had missed out on.

If you like historical and well-written fiction and are bored to death with those white men confidently and constantly prancing around the library shelves, I would definitely suggest Alias Grace.