Actress/writer/director Sarah Polley is set to adapt Margaret Atwood's novel Alias Grace.  Per THR, the historical novel "is a recreation of a true-life 19th century Canadian double murder, and takes readers inside the mind of Grace Marks, a 16 year-old housemaid who was convicted and jailed for killing a wealthy landowner and his housekeeper and mistress."  After Away from Her and Take This Waltz, Polley has made a strong name for herself writing and directing movies from a female point-of-view.  Both of her previous films are relationship dramas, but I'm interested to see how Polley will handle the historical and crime aspects of Atwood's novel.

Take This Waltz is due out in theaters this summer.  Hit the jump for a synopsis of Alias Grace.

Here's the synopsis for Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace:

In Alias Grace, bestselling author Margaret Atwood has written her most captivating, disturbing, and ultimately satisfying work since The Handmaid's Tale. She takes us back in time and into the life of one of the most enigmatic and notorious women of the nineteenth century.

Grace Marks has been convicted for her involvement in the vicious murders of her employer, Thomas Kinnear, and Nancy Montgomery, his housekeeper and mistress. Some believe Grace is innocent; others think her evil or insane. Now serving a life sentence, Grace claims to have no memory of the murders.

Dr. Simon Jordan, an up-and-coming expert in the burgeoning field of mental illness, is engaged by a group of reformers and spiritualists who seek a pardon for Grace. He listens to her story while bringing her closer and closer to the day she cannot remember. What will he find in attempting to unlock her memories? Is Grace a female fiend? A bloodthirsty femme fatale? Or is she the victim of circumstances? [Amazon]

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