I was torn on the rating of this book. It was good. I'm not disputing that, and I did quite enjoy it. But I felt like a good portion of it went over my head. I felt as though giving it four stars would be inaccurate, even though as a whole, I found this book and engrossing and worthwhile read.

I loved Grace's story, and her personality as Atwood wrote her. She was the quintessential pragmatist, and it kept you wondering if she was a sociopath or just a realist who's accepted her life. I loved the writing style and all her description and character assessments. They were beautiful to read and felt so real and full. She took brief accounts of the real life events and turned them into complete people and stories.

I could not get into the letters or other excerpts at the beginning of each section, and I don't know if they were real or fictionalized, or part of both. I especially found the long section of letters at the end to be tedious to read. I didn't like reading from Dr. Simon Jordan's perspective, and in all honesty I didn't care about him or anything he went through unless it related directly to Grace. It felt like a distraction from the real story.

And I really did not enjoy the ending. It felt plastered on and didn't fit with the tone of the rest of the story, at least in my opinion. Especially because Atwood said in the afterward that part was completely fictionalized. I didn't understand the motivations for the characters. It was disappointing.

But all in all, this book was a worthwhile read, and there's a solid chance I'll reread it at a later date. I would recommend people try it if they're looking for a Margaret Atwood book to read and they enjoy historical fiction.