Alice I Have Been: A Novel (Random House Reader's Circle) [Paperback]

Melanie Benjamin (Author)

Book Description

Release date: December 21, 2010 | Series: Random House Reader's Circle

Part love story, part literary mystery, Melanie Benjamin’s spellbinding historical novel leads readers on an unforgettable journey down the rabbit hole, to tell the story of a woman whose own life became the stuff of legend. Her name is Alice Liddell Hargreaves, but to the world she’ll always be known simply as “Alice,” the girl who followed the White Rabbit into a wonderland of Mad Hatters, Queens of Hearts, and Cheshire Cats. Now, nearing her eighty-first birthday, she looks back on a life of intense passion, great privilege, and greater tragedy. First as a young woman, then as a wife, mother, and widow, she’ll experience adventures the likes of which not even her fictional counterpart could have imagined. Yet from glittering balls and royal romances to a world plunged into war, she’ll always be the same determined, undaunted Alice who, at ten years old, urged a shy, stuttering Oxford professor to write down one of his fanciful stories, thus changing her life forever.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Melanie Benjamin on Alice I Have Been

For an author--at least, for an author like me--the single most important factor when writing a book is the protagonist’s voice. Who is she, what does she sound like, is she strong or weak? Headstrong or passive? If an author doesn’t have a clear vision in her head, writing a novel centering around this person is going to be very, very difficult.

Fortunately for me, I had a clear vision; so clear I could actually see it and read it myself. I was inspired to write Alice I Have Been after unexpectedly viewing a photographic exhibit called "Dreaming in Pictures: The Photography of Lewis Carroll." Among the many photographs there, all taken by the man who wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, one stood out to me. It was of a young girl clad only in rags, but with an expression on her face that stopped me in my tracks. She was so adult, so frank, so worldly, as she gazed at the man behind the camera.

She was 7-year-old Alice Liddell, the daughter of Dean Henry Liddell of Christ Church, Oxford. It was to her that Lewis Carroll--or Charles Dodgson, as she knew him--told the story of a little girl who tumbled down a rabbit hole. She was the one who begged him to write it down.

I wondered what happened to her after she grew up; I wondered what happened between the two of them to result in such a startling photograph.

I wondered so much that I decided to write about it, write her story in her own "words"--although of course, with historical fiction, I got to make those words up. But she was my protagonist, and immediately the most important factor in writing this novel was known to me. For the girl in the photograph, and the girl in the classic books, were one and the same; they were my Alice, and I knew her voice, I knew who she was because of them. The wise yet wary face in the photograph, the unflappable voice of the girl in the books--all I had to do was capture it on the page.

My task, then, was to show that voice, that personality, maturing naturally through the years as she continued to try to leave Wonderland behind. But the difficult work was done for me, I truly believe, all because of the collaboration between two remarkable people--Alice Liddell and Lewis Carroll. What happened between the two of them 150 years ago continues to fascinate and inspire. It gave the world Wonderland, after all--

And it gave me my heroine. Sometimes all you have to do is open your eyes and look around you for inspiration; look at a photograph, read a book. I’m so very glad that I did.--Melanie Benjamin

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Alice Liddell Through the Years

Click on thumbnails for larger images

"Alice as a Beggar Girl."	"Alice Liddell, as a Young Woman"	"Alice Pleasance Liddell Hargreaves, 1932."

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--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. 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 Adventures in Wonderland. Her research into the lives of Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll) and the family of Alice Liddell is apparent as she takes circumstances shrouded in mystery and colors in the spaces to reveal a vibrant and passionate Alice. Born into a Victorian family of privilege, free-spirited Alice catches the attention of family friend Dodgson and serves as the muse for both his photography and writing. Their bond, however, is misunderstood by Alice's family, and though she is forced to sever their friendship, she is forever haunted by their connection as her life becomes something of a chain of heartbreaks. As an adult, Alice tries to escape her past, but it is only when she finally embraces it that she truly finds the happiness that eluded her. Focusing on three eras in Alice's life, Benjamin offers a finely wrought portrait of Alice that seamlessly blends fact with fiction. This is book club gold. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; Reprint edition (December 21, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385344147
• ISBN-13: 978-0385344142
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (163 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #317,033 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Melanie Benjamin was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. An avid reader all her life--as a child, she was the proud winner, several years running, of the summer reading program at her local library--she still firmly believes that a lifetime of reading is the best education a writer can have.

While attending Indiana University--Purdue University at Indianapolis, Melanie performed in many community theater productions before meeting her husband, moving to the Chicago area and raising two sons. Writing was always beckoning, however, and soon she began writing for local magazines and newspapers before venturing into her first love, fiction.

By combining her passion for history and biography, she has found her niche writing historical fiction, concentrating on the "stories behind the stories." ALICE I HAVE BEEN, a national bestseller, was her first historical novel, followed by the THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MRS. TOM THUMB. Her next historical, THE AVIATOR'S WIFE, a novel about Anne Morrow Lindbergh, will be published in 2013.

She and her family still live in the Chicago area; when she's not writing, she's gardening, taking long walks, rooting for the Cubs--

And reading, of course.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#34 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Historical

#35 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Historical

#54 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Literary Fiction

#69 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Literary

#34 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Historical

#35 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Historical

#54 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Literary Fiction

#69 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Literary

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

136 of 143 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing work of literary fiction December 13, 2009

By skrishna VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Summary:

Alice Liddell Hargreaves is an lonely old woman now, but once she was full of passion, fire, and true love. As a child, she was the muse of Mr. Dodgson, a professor at Oxford who used the pen name Lewis Carroll, and inspired the seminal classic that has been read and loved by millions. What Alice doesn't realize, though, is that her life will be both illuminated and shrouded by just one day in her life, a day when, at eleven years old, her life changes forever.

Review:

Alice I Have Been is a beautiful and incredibly written book that is difficult to describe. It's hard to pinpoint why it is so wonderful because there isn't just one reason; the book as a whole is expertly crafted. Melanie Benjamin's writing is simply sublime; it is the thread that holds the entire narrative together. It is fluid, poetic, and entirely alluring, drawing the reader into Alice's story and making sure they stay there until the book is over.

The depiction of Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) is both fascinating and disturbing. While he isn't explicitly portrayed as a pedophile, he definitely has an inappropriate relationship with Alice. There is an emotional connection between the two that is very difficult to comprehend and entirely disquieting. Benjamin manages to show it with dignity and grace, something that is very difficult to do with such a perturbing subject. By showing the friendship through the innocent eyes of Alice, Benjamin manages to turn something sinister into a childhood affection, without removing its disturbing quality.

Alice herself is an incredibly interesting character that is expertly written. She is naive and innocent at times, but also incredibly aware of how the world works.... She lives her entire life in the shadow of a book that features her, yet sometimes seems to be not about her at all. It's up to Alice to rediscover the girl inside her, especially in the face of tragedy and despair.

I also appreciated how closely Melanie Benjamin stuck to Alice Liddell's real history in Alice I Have Been. Though this isn't exactly a historical novel, she has a long Author's Note at the back of the book in which she explains what is fact, what is fiction, and what parts of the book blur the lines between the two. It's very gratifying that Benjamin chose to stick that close to true events; it's clear that she undertook a lot of research before embarking on the journey that was Alice I Have Been.

Alice I Have Been is an incredible story that literary fiction fans won't want to miss. It's not necessary to have an intimate knowledge of Lewis Carroll's books in order to understand the book, though I'm sure it's helpful in appreciating its subtlety. Some background on Carroll/Dodgson is helpful, though a quick perusal of he section about Alice on his Wikipedia page is all the information you really need. It's an incredibly creative and well-written book that I can't recommend highly enough. Read more ›

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An exquisite, tragic bio-novel December 11, 2009

By a VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

This was a wonderful, poignant, heart-breaking book that will surely mean something to anyone who read Lewis Carroll's works in their youth. The "real" story, largely documented, of Alice Pleasance Liddell Hargreaves unfolds in a first-person perspective, targeting three significant moments in her long life--her childhood encounters with C.L. Dodgson (Carroll) at ages 7 to 11, her young adulthood and ill-fated royal romance, and her later years of great strength and personal tragedy during and after World War I. While the decades-long narrative jumps may seem jarring at first, Benjamin provides plenty of flashbacks to flesh out the narrative. This approach provides the reader with plenty of tantalizing mini-mysteries that are resolved as the story moves forward, piece by piece.

And what emerges is a beautiful, tragic portrait of a literary inspiration and her enigmatic creator. Dodgson, so often judged by modern moral standards, comes across quite well in this novel, and I was very pleased to see that, by focusing solely on Alice's recollections, he remains shrouded in mystery, at least until a partial revelation in the novel's final pages. Naturally, of course, a large portion of the novel is devoted to the genuine question of his feelings towards Alice, made even more difficult to interpret today thanks to missing pages in Dodgson's famous diary (though this is not mentioned in the novel). All in all, I greatly enjoyed this story and highly recommend it.

37 of 43 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "One Day I Might Want to Know" December 9, 2009

By Eileen Granfors TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Melanie Benjamin's "Alice I Have Been" is a delightful book for all kinds of readers, those who are members of "Alice in Wonderland" fan clubs as well as those who like a historical novel, especially one set in Victorian England.

"Alice I Have Been," narrated by Alice Liddell Hargreaves, begins with the eighty-year old Alice coming to America to be feted as the little girl from Wonderland. American audiences are shocked to see an old woman, when they are expecting a little girl in a pinafore. It seems that no one wants Alice to grow up, especially Charles Dodgson, the author himself (aka Lewis Carroll), who lived near the Liddells on the Oxford campus where he taught mathematics and was rumored to be a boring, ineffectual teacher.

Alice remembers her youthful years, the golden days of stories and tea parties, row boats and picnics. Dodgson's presence at the Liddell house was a constant of her young life. Around the little girls, Dodgson is free to employ his dreamy imagination, telling nonsense tales. Alice feels special in his gaze, giving her something to lord over her older sister, Ina, and her younger sister, Edith. Though there were ten Liddell children, the trio of girls is the focus of Dodgson as well as of Alice herself, well into adulthood.

The photographs Dodgson left behind, of girls in costume, girls scantily clad, posing on grass or hillsides, are one of the issues Benjamin examines through fictitious scenes with Alice and Dodgson (the book carrries reproductions of the famous "gypsy" Alice photo). This book is FICTION; it is not biography or literary criticism. Benjamin uses the freedom of fiction to allow readers to see what might have been.... Benjamin is extremely apt in setting scenes, using textures and scents, weather, and above all, Victorian dress. The layers of clothing that impede the children with every step and movement, the constant provoking to "stay clean" are motifs of the Victorian sentiments to keep children in an idyllic state of innocence.

After a disastrous day between Dodgson and Alice, witnessed by Ina, Alice moves on without him in her life by order of her imperious, society-obsessed mother. Then, Alice is smitten with love for Prince Leopold. Will her love be returned? How can it be when others at Oxford know all too well that Alice and Dodgson may have acted inappropriately in her youth? But that was such a long, long time ago, and she is no longer THAT Alice.

Or is she?

The novel closes with the Great War, its devastation on families and the economy of England. Alice has married, borne three sons, all of whom march off to war. Which if any will survive? How does Alice feel about no longer being the famous Alice? Should she step forward to claim her place in literary history?

Benjamin's book pulls the reader into the dream of another time, another place, with strong characterizations of the sisters; of the quiet, odd, stuttering man, Charles Dodgson; of his friend, Duckworth; of the strict nanny, Miss Pritchett; of the hemophiliac and poetic Prince Leopold; and of Alice's mother, Mrs. Liddell.

If you love "Alice in Wonderland," you will find a wealth of interesting allusions: to the garden and the keys and the Queen of Hearts (and more). If you love historical fiction, get ready to settle in for a journey through the classrooms, households, celebrations, and desperations of Victoriana. "Alice Have I Been"
enriches readers and amuses them too. Read more ›

38 of 45 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Needs some editing, but really, not bad December 28, 2009

By K. Huff VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Alice I Have Been is the story of Alice Liddell, the "real" Alice in Wonderland. She met Charles Dodgson at the age of seven, and helped inspire his classic children's novel. Later, she supposedly had a relationship with Price Leopold, one of Queen Victoria's sons (never definitively proved; the author gives it much more importance than it might actually have been), married an English country gentleman, and had three sons.

I have mixed feelings about Alice I Have Been. On the one hand, it's a well-written and evocative story of a young woman's growth to adulthood. It kept me engaged all the way through, and the book had almost a magical tone to it. On the other, I felt that there definitely were some weaknesses.

The author takes a lot of liberty with the known historical facts. First, it is still debated about what really happened to cause the break between Dodgson and the Liddels. Melanie Benjamin attempts to fill in the blanks; and while she makes an admirable effort, I didn't, in the end believe it all. I also thought it odd (but this may have simply been a Victorian thing) that nobody thought that there was anything strange about Alice's relationship with Dodgson--even after the now-famous beggar girl photograph was taken (though it really is a haunting photograph).

The parts of the novel where things are purely fictional (as with Alice's supposed relationship with Prince Leopold, or the scenes with John Ruskin, who comes across as a lecherous, mad old buffoon here) are weaker, while the stuff that's based purely on fact is much, much better. When Alice meets Peter Llewellyn Davies in America, I felt that the author gave too much of a fatalistic importance to the meeting....

I enjoyed Melanie Bejamin's writing style immensely, but she has a habit of repeating herself in places (in once scene towards the end she mentions no fewer than three times that it's May!), and she suffers from bad word choice sometimes (as in, "me legs were as numb as my other senses." Maybe that's true, if ones legs are now the sixth sense...), and she uses Americanisms in several places. In addition, the author tends to hit her reader over the head with her theme of growing up, or the lack thereof. This is a novel that shows a lot of great promise, but in my opinion needed a better editor. Read more ›