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(3.94) | 4 / 978 | It is 1843, and Grace Marks has been convicted for her involvement in the vicious murders of her employer Thomas Kinnear and Nancy Montgomery, 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. Dr. Simon Jordan, 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? Is Grace a female fiend? A bloodthirsty femme fatale? Or is she the victim of circumstances?… (more) |
▾LibraryThing Recommendations   10 2BookshelfMonstrosity: Based on sensational true crimes of yesteryear, these character-driven historical novels focus on young women whose attempts to escape lives of poverty and abuse lead to violence. Both disturbing, suspenseful books present nuanced psychological portraits of their protagonists.… (more) 91 The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber (girlunderglass)girlunderglass: Both books share the impressive power of beautifully and believably conveying a particular place and time - they make the reader not only understand and love the peculiarities of a particular era, but also temporarily feel part of it. 51 Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey (wonderlake)30 His Bloody Project: Documents Relating to the Case of Roderick Macrae by Graeme Macrae Burnet (cbl_tn)cbl_tn: Both are Booker shortlisted novels that tell the story of a historical crime. Atwood's is based on a real crime. 30 Burial Rites by Hannah Kent (BookshelfMonstrosity)BookshelfMonstrosity: The Polished Hoe portrays conditions in 20th-century Jamaica, while Burial Rites focuses on 19th-century Iceland, but these exquisitely detailed literary historical novels explore the lives of unusually intelligent women whose treatment by their masters has resulted in terrible crimes.… (more) 30 The Ballad of Frankie Silver by Sharyn McCrumb (rbtanger)rbtanger: Both are historicals about female murderers. And both are equally haunting and mysterious with a good pull at the beginning and a good twist to the end. 30 Gillespie and I by Jane Harris (souloftherose)souloftherose: It's difficult to explain this recommendation without revealing spoilers for either novel. Both are set in the 19th century, feature strong female narrators and concern a crime - and that's all I can say! 20 The Unseeing by Anna Mazzola (JoEnglish)42 Possession: A Romance by A. S. Byatt (KayCliff)10 The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen (rbtanger)rbtanger: The Bone Garden is set a decade earlier than alias Grace, but the atmosphere and feel of the story are very similar. 11 A Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore (1Owlette)1Owlette: Although set at different times and in different countries, both works explore similar themes of isolation, marginalization, and the effect of social pressures upon women's mental states, in haunting, beautiful prose. 11 Affinity by Sarah Waters (starbox, souloftherose)11 In a Dark Wood Wandering by Hella S. Haasse (AliceWonders)14 The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles (Nickelini)
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Whatever may have happened through these years, God knows I speak truth, saying that you lie.
—William Morris, "The Defence of Guenevere"  I have no Tribunal.
—Emily Dickinson, Letters I cannot tell you what the light is, but I can tell you what it is not...What is the motive of the light? What is the light? | |
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For Graeme and Jess | |
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Out of the gravel there are peonies growing. | |
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When you are in the middle of a story it isn't a story at all, but only a confusion; a dark roaring, a blindness, a wreckage of shattered glass and splintered wood, like a house in a whirlwind, or else a boat crushed by the icebergs or swept over the rapids, and all aboard powerless to stop it. It's only afterwards that it becomes anything like a story at all. When you are telling it, to yourself or to someone else. It's 1851. I'll be twenty-four years old next birthday. I've been shut up in here since the age of sixteen. I am a model prisoner, and give no trouble. Gone mad is what they say, and sometimes Run mad, as if mad is a direction, like west; as if mad is a different house you could step into, or a separate country entirely. But when you go mad you don't go any other place, you stay where you are. And somebody else comes in. | |
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Information from the Dutch Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language. | |
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▾References References to this work on external resources.  Wikipedia in English (1)
▾Library descriptions No library descriptions found. ▾LibraryThing members' description |
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