The mini-series is based on Margaret Atwood's 1996 novel by the same title.
Grace Marks (Sarah Gadon) is an Irish immigrant who arrived in Canada around 1840 as a teenager with four younger siblings. Her mother died in the ocean crossing, and her father was abusive. The story is mostly done in flashbacks, done in interviews with Dr. Simon Jordan (Edward Holcroft), an early modern practitioner of psychiatry. The interviews take place 15 years after Grace has been convicted in the murders of two persons in 1843, though the level of her involvement in the murders is uncertain, and she claims no memory of the exact time of the murders.
Soon after arriving in Canada and thrown out of the house by her father, Grace is a servant in a substantial Toronto household and has a close relationship with Mary Whitney (Rebecca Liddiard), a slightly older servant. She also becomes acquainted with Jeremiah the Peddler (Zachary Levi), a charismatic man with sleight-of-hand skills. Mary Whitney becomes pregnant by one of the sons in the household and dies after a botched abortion. Grace feels guilt for Mary's death.
To escape the son who turns his eyes towards her, Grace becomes a low-level household servant at a remote farm north of Toronto in Richmond Hill owned by a single man, Thomas Kinnear (Paul Gross). The other household staff includes Nancy Montgomery (Anna Paquin) who is a combination servant/mistress, and James McDermott (Kerr Logan), the ill-tempered stableman. Grace also has a friendship with a slightly younger neighbor boy, Jamie Walsh (Stephen Joffe).
After becoming pregnant by Thomas Kinnear, Nancy turns on both Grace and James and dismisses them from service while Kinnear is in the city. Nancy is murdered first, and Thomas Kinnear is murdered on his return home. James and Grace flee, taking clothing, money, and valuables, but are soon caught. At trial, James claims Grace instigated him to commit the murders; her memories are vaguer. James is executed by hanging, and Grace is imprisoned for life.
During interviews, Dr. Jordan falls in love with Grace but restrains his urges. Jeremiah the Peddler resurfaces as Dr. Jerome DuPont, a "neuro-hypnotist." In the last episode, Dr. Dupont hypnotizes Grace and appears to reveal a split personality that suggests some answers to the level of Grace's involvement in the murders. Dr. Jordan is blown away by this experience, returns to the U. S., enters the Civil War, is injured, and becomes an invalid. Eleven years later,
Grace is finally pardoned and finds peace in a marriage with an old acquaintance. The state of her involvement in the murders remains enigmatic.
This was a great novel (won the Giller Prize), and the mini-series is excellent. As one would expect, gender roles and power dynamics are at the center of the series. The main characters are historically based, though Dr. Jordan is entirely fictional. Grace Marks was pardoned after 30 years in prison and moved to the U. S., where she disappeared.
Grace Marks (Sarah Gadon) is an Irish immigrant who arrived in Canada around 1840 as a teenager with four younger siblings. Her mother died in the ocean crossing, and her father was abusive. The story is mostly done in flashbacks, done in interviews with Dr. Simon Jordan (Edward Holcroft), an early modern practitioner of psychiatry. The interviews take place 15 years after Grace has been convicted in the murders of two persons in 1843, though the level of her involvement in the murders is uncertain, and she claims no memory of the exact time of the murders.
Soon after arriving in Canada and thrown out of the house by her father, Grace is a servant in a substantial Toronto household and has a close relationship with Mary Whitney (Rebecca Liddiard), a slightly older servant. She also becomes acquainted with Jeremiah the Peddler (Zachary Levi), a charismatic man with sleight-of-hand skills. Mary Whitney becomes pregnant by one of the sons in the household and dies after a botched abortion. Grace feels guilt for Mary's death.
To escape the son who turns his eyes towards her, Grace becomes a low-level household servant at a remote farm north of Toronto in Richmond Hill owned by a single man, Thomas Kinnear (Paul Gross). The other household staff includes Nancy Montgomery (Anna Paquin) who is a combination servant/mistress, and James McDermott (Kerr Logan), the ill-tempered stableman. Grace also has a friendship with a slightly younger neighbor boy, Jamie Walsh (Stephen Joffe).
After becoming pregnant by Thomas Kinnear, Nancy turns on both Grace and James and dismisses them from service while Kinnear is in the city. Nancy is murdered first, and Thomas Kinnear is murdered on his return home. James and Grace flee, taking clothing, money, and valuables, but are soon caught. At trial, James claims Grace instigated him to commit the murders; her memories are vaguer. James is executed by hanging, and Grace is imprisoned for life.
During interviews, Dr. Jordan falls in love with Grace but restrains his urges. Jeremiah the Peddler resurfaces as Dr. Jerome DuPont, a "neuro-hypnotist." In the last episode, Dr. Dupont hypnotizes Grace and appears to reveal a split personality that suggests some answers to the level of Grace's involvement in the murders. Dr. Jordan is blown away by this experience, returns to the U. S., enters the Civil War, is injured, and becomes an invalid. Eleven years later,
Grace is finally pardoned and finds peace in a marriage with an old acquaintance. The state of her involvement in the murders remains enigmatic.
This was a great novel (won the Giller Prize), and the mini-series is excellent. As one would expect, gender roles and power dynamics are at the center of the series. The main characters are historically based, though Dr. Jordan is entirely fictional. Grace Marks was pardoned after 30 years in prison and moved to the U. S., where she disappeared.