[gmw]

Originally Posted by Bookpossum

That seems sensible of her, given that she has deliberately left it open to the individual reader's interpretation. Her stating what she thought either way would no doubt influence her readers' conclusions.

And would have undone all her hard work in keeping things (mostly) ambiguous in the book.

For the sake of conversation, I'm not going to be bashful. Based only what I've read in Alias Grace (a work that is self-admittedly fictionalised, so my conclusion is worth very little), I think the odds are that Grace was guilty - at least in the case of Nancy Montgomery (that was never actually tried). And I'd put a small amount of money on this being Atwood's conclusion too. I collected the following little snippets in support:

As Grace and McDermott are escaping across the lake (ch39), Grace thinks:

I have left no marks. And that way I cannot be followed.
It is almost the same as being innocent.

Is this not tacit admission that she is not innocent?

The person (still living at the time of the book) in the best position to assess Grace soon after the events was MacKenzie the defence lawyer. Yes, he may be as prejudiced as any other man of his time, but there are no better choices. When questioned by Dr Jordan about the Nancy Montgomery case (ch45):

‘But in your opinion, [Grace] was innocent,’ says Simon.
‘On the contrary,’ says MacKenzie. He sips at his sherry, wipes his lips daintily, smiles a smile of gentle reminiscence. ‘No. In my opinion, she was guilty as sin.’

When Grace is considering a Keepsake Album (ch46), she thinks:

But what should a Keepsake Album be? Should it be only the good things in your life, or should it be all of the things? Many put in pictures of scenes and events they have never witnessed, such as Dukes and Niagara Falls, which to my mind is a sort of cheating. Would I do that? Or would I be truthful to my own life.
A piece of coarse cotton, from my Penitentiary nightdress. A square of bloodstained petticoat. A strip of kerchief, white with blue flowers. Love-in-a-mist

I can't help but think that that strip of kerchief, being "truthful to my own life", is an admission that she helped kill Nancy.

And in the last chapter (ch53) we have Grace thinking:

It is not the culprits who need to be forgiven; rather it is the victims, because they are the ones who cause all the trouble.

That seems an unexpected thought for an innocent person to have had, but an unsurprising thought for a guilty person.


I wouldn't like to hang anyone on the evidence above, but those items tip the balance for me, as far as what I read in the book.

ETA: And I mean really guilty - not "guilty but excused because the balance of her mind was disturbed" (or whatever the phrasing should be).