Agnes, Murderess

by Sarah Leavitt

Agnes, Murderess is a graphic novel inspired by the bloody legend of Agnes McVee, a roadhouse owner, madam and serial killer in the Cariboo region of British Columbia in the late nineteenth century. Fascinated by this legend—which originated in a 1970s guide to buried treasure in BC, and has never been verified—Sarah Leavitt has imagined an entirely new story for the mysterious Agnes: her immigration to Canada from an isolated Scottish Island; her complex entanglement with shiny things; and her terrifying grandmother, Gormul, who haunts Agnes’s dreams and waking life.

Leavitt puts a decidedly queer twist on the story, moving from women’s passionate friendships in the gardens of St John’s Wood to female relationships in the Canadian wild. At the same time, the book grapples with the dangerous pre-conceived notions held by settlers that the country was a “new world,” free of ghosts and history. Agnes, Murderess presents a tortured, complicated woman struggling to escape her past. It is a spine-chilling tale of ghosts and murder, friendship and betrayal, love and greed, fate and choice.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Canada, Historical Fiction, Comics, Historical, Fiction, Horror

304 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2019

About the author

Sarah Leavitt is the author of the graphic memoir Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer’s, My Mother, and Me (2010), and the historical graphic novel Agnes, Murderess (2019).

Tangles was published in Canada, the US, UK, Germany, France, and Korea. It was the first comic to be a finalist for the Writers’ Trust Non-Fiction Prize, was a Globe and Mail best book of the year, and is currently in development as a feature-length animation with Vancouver-based Giant Ant Media and a US production company. Tangles has been included in a number of exhibitions, notably at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum and the National Library of Medicine. Tangles is part of the curricula in both health and literature courses from Canada to the UK to India.

Agnes, Murderess represents quite a departure from Tangles — Sarah describes it as historical fiction with a touch of horror. It all started when Sarah was visiting a small historical site in the Cariboo and found a pamphlet about a nineteenth-century serial killer. This led to nine years of research, writing and drawing, as she figured out how to tell the story of Agnes McVee, an historical figure who maybe never really existed.

Sarah has developed and taught comics classes for the UBC Creative Writing Program since 2012, where she is stealthily working on converting as many writing students as possible into comics makers.

Reviews

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Closer to a 4 than a 2. I found this tale very interesting! It starts in Scotland, moves to London, and finally to the Gold Rush trail of my home Province of BC. It's a fascinating fictional account of a supposedly true story (most likely a folktale) of a woman who murdered more than 50 people.

It's a book for adults, but I would have loved reading this as a kid when I was fascinated by all the gold rush stories.

The art is very minimalist, but the design is fantastic and I never felt like there was a line missing.

The story should have been reviting, but more than 2/3rds of the book takes place in Scotland/London! Shave off a hundred pages of that stuff and get to the more interesting stuff. The premise is a big spoiler since we don't see the true murderess come out until the BC part.

[Vikki VanSickle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally obsessed with this Gothic Canadian graphic novel that re-imagines the life of alleged murderess Agnes McVee, who, as legend has it, ran a roadhouse in BC during the gold rush and murdered 50+ of her guests. It feels like a punk rock cousin to Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. Admittedly this book has everything I like: a Scottish croft, witches, intense female friendship, hauntings, people reinventing themselves, women in business, same-sex relationships, a connection to the natural world, oh, and murder! There is scant and conflicting historical information on Agnes McVee, but that isn't central to the story, which is rich, engaging, and hopefully will go down as classic CanLit canon. I loved everything about this! A great read for fans of Gothic fiction or women's history.

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this book. It's historical fiction with a horror element. It's set in Scotland, London and Canada (British Columbia) and is queer. The drawings are simple and complex at the same time. It's very creepy and moving.

My partner read it before I did and he could not stop raving about it. He's a graphic designer/illustrator and he really loved the drawings. So in effect, this is two rave reviews, not just one!

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[mica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that this was a really interesting graphic novel, and I found it hard to put down each time I started reading it. Inasmuch as I do love the simplicity of the art style, I would have liked it cleaned up a little - some pages felt a little bit overwhelming for my eyes and I found them hard to read. In terms of book design, while this book is a gorgeous, large graphic book, it was kind of a pain to read without a table directly in front of me. But I still kinda loved it.

Leavitt basically tells the biography of a 19th century female serial killer in British Columbia (though, really, for most of the book, she's operating as a part of a group, so while they are, collectively, serial killers, it does feel very different from most serial killer narratives), who is likely an urban (rather, rural) legend. (Leavitt states in her afterward that she couldn't find any primary references to Agnes McVee, also spelled Agnus McVee, prior to 1970, and therefore felt pretty comfortable fictionalizing the book.). Agnes is a good character / awful person.

It should bear noting, however, that while I did really enjoy this book, I don't think it did anything too fresh or original in terms of challenging Canada's existing canon of colonial and historic fiction.

[Ampersand Inc. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Saffron (5/5):
This graphic novel about one of Canada’s most prolific serial killers (she was thought to have murdered over 50 people) that no-one has ever heard of. Fascinating Canadian history.

Laureen (4/5):
This adult graphic novel is rather disturbing! Set in the mid-1800s, Agnes has been haunted by the spirit of her evil grandmother Gormul all her life. Even after she leaves the isolated Scottish island for a better life in Canada’s Gold Rush Trail, Agnes cannot escape her past and Gormul’s grip hold. Agnes is possessed and commits gruesome acts of murder of prospectors and travellers alike for their gold and other personal belongings. Reader beware!

[Story · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a huge fan of graphic novels, often finding the stories flat and the illustrations distracting. However both the character of Agnes and Leavitt's masterfully gothic drawings drew me in right away and held my attention right to the end. Agnes's story is both sad and horrifying and even, sometimes, funny. I enjoyed learning more about aspects of BC's history during Gold Rush days and appreciated Leavitt's exploration of the lives of women who were part of the Gold Rush. Highly recommended.

[thebooktrain · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I could describe this comic in one word, it would be "strange."
Finding out that this was based on a true story of a woman who has allegedly murdered over 50 of her customers made this comic much more interesting. I really loved the inclusiveness and the variety of characters (same-sex relationships and the inclusion of different races as well as Indigenous people? wow) I enjoyed reading about Canadian history in the 1800s and it's always interesting to have a story with a very unlikeable main character. I'm often torn about whether I enjoy stories with unlikeable characters or not, and this comic is no exception. I cannot say I liked the story, but I also cannot say I disliked it. I found it entertaining and even silly at times, but that is about it. No strong feelings. The art is also very minimalistic and simple and I found the style very fitting for a story like this one.
This was still an entertaining and somewhat insightful read, but I guess I was just not that impressed by it.

[Big Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently based upon a real historical figure, Sarah Leavitt invents a fictional backstory in order to try and explore why this lady was killing people in the Canadian wilderness. The artwork is stark and simple, but well suited to the story.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure if I love or hate Agnes but she’s got my respect.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoy unlikable female characters then do I have the book for you! Oh, you'll start out liking Agnes and feeling sorry for her but just you wait. I am flabbergasted that this is based on a true story, and so close to home too! I had never heard of this true crime case before picking up this book. It's so sad and appalling that it had me shaking my head and gaping in disbelief. Be warned that there is a fair bit of animal death and a great number of murdered people. Agnes isn't just a murderess, she's a very successful serial killer. The simple black line drawings suit the story perfectly. It's a dark and sordid tale and yet I derived a strange enjoyment from it. This is a piece of early Canadian history that you won't learn about in school!

[Renee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this is a 2.5 - I wanted to love this more than I actually did. Agnes was a historical figure that was said to have murdered over 50 people in the B.C. gold rush era - the author certainly did her research as to what Agnes life would have been like and that part was well done. The is totally personal preference, but the drawing style and a lot of the character conversations just didn't do it for me, unfortunately.

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has been in my personal library for a couple of years and I just got around to reading it. And it was way cooler than I expected!

Creative fiction but historically researched. Dark. Complicated. And will pair nicely with reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman this week. What ghosts did colonialism bring to "the new world"? - a fascinating question and I can't believe my luck that I have been holding on to these two books on my shelf until now.

[Susan Armstrong · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a masterpiece. The story holds the reader in a spell, the sketches are evoking, they convey the emotion and rawness of the story perfectly. I grew up 15 minutes from 108 Mile House, and although the historical figure of Agnes is questionable, I enjoyed reading of the history of the gold rush and its impact on the treasure seekers and the inhabitants of that land

[Emilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know anything about this book before I read it, I grabbed it on a whim. When I read it I felt like I was somewhere else and maybe even someone else. The use of blank white and black space on the page makes it feel like the book is breathing. Like it's taking a breathe after moments of cruelty, exhilaration, torment, grief, and all you can do as the reader is breathe with it.

[CyGrrl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a reader of graphic novels but wanted to read the story and was pleasantly surprised at how refreshing the process of reading this genre is. Interesting story, I was hooked. I'll recommend this one.

[Kelsey Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

This is a Canadian graphic novel I picked up at the library. It ended up being one of the most upsetting things I’ve read in a while. I liked it but it was really sad and dark. I think I wanted a happier ending, which is my own fault.

[Jeannette · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good gothic read with an old world (Scotland/London England) and a New World (British Columbia) setting. The black and white illustrations are a bit crude but it works with the storyline. Very enjoyable graphic novel.

[Kristi Fuoco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely captivating. I read this book in one day! The main character is compelling and sad all at once and the story is beautifully spun.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved the first two parts and the pervasive sense of loneliness that settled over everything. I wasn't as fond of the final part, but it still made for a very compelling story.

[Trina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a neat graphic novel that is a historic re-telling of the life of Agnes who may have killed some 50 people in the mid-1800s in 108 Mile House, BC.

[John Cherkas · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book with ups and downs! I had no idea where it was gonna go, but oh it was so good!

[Kailyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creepy and compelling.

[Pamela Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exquisite and fascinating.

[Jenni · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would give it 3.5 stars if I could! It was an interesting read

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spoiler alert: for a murderess she doesn’t do much murderin’

The first half was good. Second half slow.

[Monserrat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oddly disturbing but I loved it ?

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid and haunting tale based in part on a legend of sorts, but also on other sources. I was captivated by the story.

[Becky Noreen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Illustrations are beautiful but story is disturbing.

[Cindy C · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very enjoyable graphic novel - interesting and quick read. It was nice to get the history at the end. Expressive and descriptive writing that comes out very elegantly.