Alias Grace

By: Margaret Atwood

Narrated by: Margaret Atwood, Sarah Gadon

Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins

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.

Saw the mini-series first

The story is great, I'm not sure it translates well to narration. Firstly, I saw the mini series first and was put off when I heard the narrator wasn't using an accent. it was also difficult for me to follow characters because the narrator used the same gentle voice fir all of them. Chapters would also be divided by these documents like letters and newspaper articles and I struggled to understand the shift in perspective and language at first. Could just be a processing issue on my part. I thought the story was great, there were some unanswered questions (not plot holes!) that I don't mind, but I know a lot of people have hang ups about that. I think the writers note at the end tied the story together nicely.

Drones on and on...

I wanted to love this audiobook. I really did. And maybe with a different narrator I would have, but I was so incredibly bored with the performance that I almost returned it. The delivery of the text was horrifyingly flat, and as interesting as hip hop night at the bingo hall.

Brilliant! Couldn’t stop listening!

Margaret Atwood has done it yet again! This intricate tale had me staying up late and listening every chance I could. I highly recommend it. The characters are original and compelling. The plot is unpredictable and enthralling.

Narrator a Robo caller?

There is no distinction between poems and articles and actual dialogue in this story. The narrator just moves from one into the other without a pause so I found myself constantly pressing rewind to see what I missed. Monotonous monotonal voicing that drones on and on made this reading a book that was dangerous for me to listen to on the highway. Good for napping, but not much else. I wanted to like this story but I could hardly listen without losing track of the story or falling asleep because of the narrator’s whispery lack of differentiation between characters, poems, thoughts, or other wise words from people gone before us. Boring and dreadful reading. Snoozer.

The Bones of a True Story Fleshed With Fiction

Alias Grace is a compelling story of murder, sex, desire, and scandal in the 1800's. This gives it an odd feel from the beginning as you get to know Grace Marks. But as the story builds and characters start to appear you learn that nothing may be as it seems.

Grace is young and slow to learning the cruel realities of the world around her. You desperately want her to be innocent but as the evidence builds and the testimonies are told you are less and less convinced.

The reader does take some time to get used to and you have to take care to realize when there is a tone change or when another character is speaking.

The story is wonderful, the execution is this reading is lacking, but it's still worth the credit.

Loved every second

Loved the narration. So sedate, so serene....yet there was so much craziness bubbling under the surface...Atwood at her usual amazing best!

Love!

I have watched the series several times and it made me want to read the book. However, I didn't have time to read so got it thru Audible. It was Wonderful....even though I watched the series, this painted a whole new 'movie' in my head, just like a book does. I am sure I will listen to it many more times. Margaret Atwood is one of my newest favorite authors and I will be looking for more Audibles read by Sarah Godon.

surprising and poetic

strong characters . fascinating historical references. Dickenson- like twists. Atwood models her writing on Hawthorne for this story and how the scale of justice is weighted against wo.en.

great historical fiction

This is a great story, with realistic peaks into life as the serving class plus the perils of being poor in Ireland. I love stories based on true crime events and this, bringing in the popular ideas of the age, is well portrayed for fiction based in fact. love Atwood's work!

Love!

I absolutely loved this story. I did watch the show on Netflix first which made me want to listen to the book. I was happy to hear Sarah’s voice as the narrator. Even though she doesn’t use the Irish accent like in the show it was a pleasure to listen to.