Alice I Have Been (Paperback)
| Author: Melanie Benjamin |
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Product Details:
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Random House Inc
ISBN-10: 0385344147
ISBN-13: 9780385344142
Sku: 215290775
Publish Date: 12/21/2010
Dimensions:
(in Inches) 8H x 5.25L x 1T
Pages:
388
See more in Fiction
| Includes reader''s extras, including an excerpt from The autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb. |
Annotation:
In her zealous debut novel, Melanie Benjamin examines the curious life of Alice Liddell, who was immortalized as the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's classic ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND. As the elderly Alice looks back on her life, she finds that it pivots around a seemingly idyllic summer day in 1862, when family friend Charles Dodgson (Carroll's real name) entertained her with a wild tale about a young girl named Alice who fell into a very special rabbit hole. Unfortunately, the story's eventual popularity caused Victorian society to cast a disparaging eye on Dodgson's relationship with the young girl, scarring her with a scandal she would never escape. Alice recalls that her undeserved reputation ruined a possible romance with Prince Leopold, which in turn led to her marriage to an aristocrat named Reginald Hargreaves, producing three sons who served in World War I. Though she initially remains bitter at having had the details of her life dictated by imaginary associations, Alice eventually realizes that her pain will not recede until she makes peace with her unique place in history.
In her zealous debut novel, Melanie Benjamin examines the curious life of Alice Liddell, who was immortalized as the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's classic ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND. As the elderly Alice looks back on her life, she finds that it pivots around a seemingly idyllic summer day in 1862, when family friend Charles Dodgson (Carroll's real name) entertained her with a wild tale about a young girl named Alice who fell into a very special rabbit hole. Unfortunately, the story's eventual popularity caused Victorian society to cast a disparaging eye on Dodgson's relationship with the young girl, scarring her with a scandal she would never escape. Alice recalls that her undeserved reputation ruined a possible romance with Prince Leopold, which in turn led to her marriage to an aristocrat named Reginald Hargreaves, producing three sons who served in World War I. Though she initially remains bitter at having had the details of her life dictated by imaginary associations, Alice eventually realizes that her pain will not recede until she makes peace with her unique place in history.
Praise
"This is book club gold....Benjamin draws on one of the most enduring relationships in children's literature in her excellent debut, spinning out the heartbreaking story of Alice from ALICE'S ADEVNTURES IN WONDERLAND." (starred review)
10/12/2009
"[T]he most powerful and poignant sections deal with the fates of Alice's three adult sons. Dream-children roam in Wonderland forever; their real-life counterparts, sadly, are never so fortunate."
- Elizabeth Hand
01/20/2010
"Unexpectedly, Benjamin's novel becomes even more interesting in its second half, as Alice grows into a young woman, struggling to shrug off her Alice mantle....ALICE I HAVE BEEN graces an imagined Alice Liddell with her own voice and story, but what really sets this latest Victorian fictional resurrection apart is its awareness of the demonic dimension of great literature....As Benjamin vividly depicts here, the young girl who became the muse for one of the most rollicking children's tales of all time may have also became, to some extent, its prisoner, pressed into the looking glass of its fictions."
- Maureen Corrigan
01/26/2010
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