The Story of Lewis Carroll

This is a book from 1951 about the life of Lewis Carroll. It does not contain any of the speculation various newer books have had about his relationship to little girls and whether or not it was purely platonic.

He was a very complex man, very much not at easy with adults that he did not know well. He was able to get along with children much better because they didn't seem to judge him and accepted him just as he was.

Also, it points out that Lewis Carroll did, indeed, allow young ladies into his room as well as children. (p. 135). Also, it tends to contradict what books today imply and that was that Alice Liddell was his main interest in young girls. On page 138 of this book it says that Isa Bowman, who later went on to act in an Alice in Wonderland play, was really his closest young friend.

The book also says that he apparently seemed to have fallen in love with someone around 1860 or earlier but it didn't work out.

One of the main values of getting older books on different topics is that they often are more accurate and don't tend to be as critical as newer books about people and what they did. This book presents him as a complex, lonely, and brilliant man who appreciated beauty but chose to keep pretty much to himself, especially after his Alice books became famous.

Main Index

Main Alice in Wonderland index page