Alice I Have Been
Summary
Few works of literature are as universally beloved as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Now, in this spellbinding historical novel, we meet the young girl whose bright spirit sent her on an unforgettable trip down the rabbit hole–and the grown woman whose story is no less enthralling. Alice Liddell Hargreaves’s life has been a richly woven tapestry: As a young woman, wife, mother, and widow, she’s experienced intense passion, great privilege, and greater tragedy. But as she nears her eighty-first birthday, she knows that, to the world around her, she is and will always be only “Alice.” Her life was permanently dog-eared at one fateful moment in her tenth year–the golden summer day she urged a grown-up friend to write down one of his fanciful stories. That story, a wild tale of rabbits, queens, and a precocious young child, becomes a sensation the world over. Its author, a shy, stuttering Oxford professor, does more than immortalize Alice–he changes her life forever. But even he cannot stop time, as much as he might like to. And as Alice’s childhood slips away, a peacetime of glittering balls and royal romances gives way to the urgent tide of war. For Alice, the stakes could not be higher, for she is the mother of three grown sons, soldiers all. Yet even as she stands to lose everything she treasures, one part of her will always be the determined, undaunted Alice of the story, who discovered that life beyond the rabbit hole was an astonishing journey. A love story and a literary mystery, Alice I Have Been brilliantly blends fact and fiction to capture the passionate spirit of a woman who was truly worthy of her fictional alter ego, in a world as captivating as the Wonderland only she could inspire.
(Summary taken from Amazon)
My Review
I was a little nervous to start this book because I never read Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass. However, I didn’t find that this detracted from my enjoyment of this historical novel one bit. Actually, perhaps the fact that I wasn’t familiar with Carroll’s works made it possible for me to not romanticize the relationship between little Alice Liddell and Lewis Carroll ( real name Charles Dodgson). Melanie Benjamin brilliantly took the facts and rumours surrounding the inspiration for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and wove it into a haunting tale of love, friendship and betrayal. I think the writer successfully brought the public a possible scenario behind the demise of Alice and Carroll’s friendship, while consistently sticking to the facts surrounding Alice Liddell’s story. At times, I found the relationship between Carroll and his muse quite complicated, but I think the writer tried her best to not make any assumptions and leave it open to the reader’s interpretation. I was captivated by Alice’s “real” story from beginning to end, and I’m now looking forward to exploring Carroll’s original works.
Closing Remarks: If you’re expecting a whimsical adventure down a rabbit hole, this story is not for you. This is the story of what happens when Alice returns from that legendary “trip” and the unfortunate aftermath. The book is heartbreaking at times, but beautifully written and intriguing nonetheless.
Drink of Choice: Tea seems to be the only appropriate choice for a tale about the “real” Alice in Wonderland!
Additional Information
Click here to purchase “Alice I Have Been” on Amazon
Melanie Benjamin’s Official Page
