Alice I Have Been
This is a fictional account of the life of Alice Liddell, the young girl who was the inspiration for the story Alice in Wonderland. Although fictional, it contains many facts from her actual life. It's a story of a young girl and her relationship with Charles Dodgson, also known as Lewis Carroll, and of the culture of Victorian England, since the two things cannot actually be separated.
There are some additional essays in the book about Alice and her times, and her relationship with Dodgson.
The main question, one that can never really be fully answered, is why a split developed between the two when Alice was eleven. The book implies something very unacceptable for the times happened, and that Alice's mother became so upset that for all practical purposes she disowned Alice, not caring for her at all and blaming her for various rumors that were circulating at the time.
Our modern-day approach to things jumps to the conclusion that Dodgson and Alice had sex when Alice was eleven. Although one of the essays talks about how photos of young children were pretty much the rage in England at the time, the author does not include the tidbit that some of Dodgson's photos included young nude girls.
So the question becomes was Dodgson a pervert or simply a guy taking photos of young children without having any relationship with of them.
The other theme that is brought up is how having a story based on them can change a person's life, and how some people cannot handle the fame that comes about because of that. Even in today's world we see how people can handle fame and others can't.
Perhaps the main reason why a full conclusion about what happened between Alice and Charles Dodgson is that letters an diary entries were taken and destroyed, and so any possible answers were lost to the flames.
The book is well written and interesting throughout.
Main Index
Main Alice in Wonderland index page
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