First published 1996
Grace Marks, a young Irish immigrant, stands accused of a double murder that shocked 1840s Toronto. Convicted alongside stable hand James McDermott, Grace maintains a mysterious silence about her role in killing her employer Thomas Kinnear and his housekeeper Nancy Montgomery. Dr. Simon Jordan arrives to unravel her story, probing the layers of Grace's memory and testimony. As he interviews her in prison, he becomes increasingly obsessed with separating truth from fabrication. Grace's narrative shifts between victim and potential mastermind, challenging everyone who tries to define her. Is she a manipulative killer or a woman trapped by circumstance? Her survival depends on how her story is told.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, mystery, crime, psychological-thriller, 19th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Toronto
Period: 1840s
468 pages · Hardcover · Doubleday Nan A. Talese
Content warnings: murder, violence