It premieres on November 3.
We’ve been missing The Handmaid’s Tale since the first season finished earlier this year.
But another Margaret Atwood novel, Alias Grace, is set to hit the small screen in just a few weeks time – and it sounds like it’s going to be a nail-biter.
It follows the story of a young Irish woman sentenced to life in prison for the murder of her employer and his housekeeper.
The series, based on the historical fiction novel of the same name, is the second of the author’s novels to hit the small screen this year, following the success of The Handmaid’s Tale.
Ahead of the November 3 premiere date, here’s everything you need to know about Alias Grace…
What’s it about?
Alias Grace tells the story of a young Irish woman who was convicted of murder in Canada in 1843.
16-year-old Grace Marks and her fellow servant James McDermott were found guilty of the murder of their employer, Thomas Kenner, and his housekeeper/rumoured mistress, Nancy Montgomery.
While McDermott was hanged, Grace was sentenced to life in prison at the Kingston Penitentiary in Ontario.
She spent around thirty years there before she was pardoned and reportedly fled to New York.
The series follows Grace as she recounts what happened to De Simon Jordan, who was hired by those who were campaigning for her release.
A fact, which according to Atwood, may not make Grace as reliable a narrator as she first seems.
She told CBC:
“She’s telling the story to somebody who might help her get out.
“And if you were in that position, and you were talking to someone who might help you get out, what sort of light would you represent yourself in?”
Kerr Logan as James
When does it begin?
The six-part miniseries is a co-production between the Canadian Broadcast Company (CBC) and Netflix.
Grace sitting in jail
Who is in it?
Grace Marks is played by Sarah Gadon, who most recently featured in the adaptation of Stephen King’s 11.22.63.
Bangor native and Game of Thrones star Kerr Logan will play Marks’ co-accused James McDermott.
Meanwhile, Paul Gross and True Blood’s Anna Paquin will play Thomas Kinnear and Nancy Montgomery, respectively.
Chuck’s Zachary Levi and Kingsman actor Edward Holcroft will star as Jeremiah the peddler and Dr. Simon Jordan, two fictional characters Atwood added into the novel.
Anna Paquin as Nancy Montgomery
Is it a true story?
Yes.
There really was a Grace Marks accused of murdering her employer in 1843.
But there aren’t many details recorded about that time, and, as Atwood notes, nobody is particularly sure about what actually happened in the house.
According to Indiewire, the author also explained that if she had known the truth, she wouldn’t have written the book in the first place.
She explained:
“There were so many different, contradictory stories about Grace Marks; nobody actually ever knew whether she had killed anybody or not.
“There were four people in the house.
“Two of them were murdered, the third one was hanged and she was the one left. And she never told.
“If I had known the truth, I probably wouldn’t have written a book. And if I had known the truth and told it to Sarah [Polley], she probably wouldn’t have made this show.
“The interesting thing is the way everybody projects their ideas onto Grace.
“The fact that she had various stories that she told to different audiences… well, that always affects the story that you tell — who the audience is. Does it not?”
