Margaret Atwood’s captivating historical fiction about the notorious 1843 murders of Thomas Kinnear and his housekeeper Nancy Montgomery.

One-time maid Grace Marks is serving a life sentence in the Kingston Penitentiary for her involvement in the vicious murder of her employer, the wealthy Thomas Kinnear, and of Nancy Montgomery, his housekeeper and mistress. Some believe Grace is innocent: after all, she was barely sixteen in 1843, at the time of the tragedy. Others think her evil or insane. Grace herself, having spent an interlude in a lunatic asylum, claims now to have no memory of the murders.

Shortlisted
The Booker Prize 1996
Published by
Bloomsbury
Publication date
Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood

About the Author

Margaret Atwood is the world-renowned author of more than 50 books of fiction, poetry and critical essays.
More about Margaret Atwood

Other nominated books by Margaret Atwood

The Testaments
Prize winner
Oryx and Crake
The Blind Assassin
Prize winner
Cat's Eye
The Handmaid's Tale