Few works of literature are as universally beloved as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Now, in this spellbinding historical novel, we...
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Oct 15, 2011
The Holy Terror
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I enjoyed this book but I wouldn't recommend it if you really really love the story of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Whether you decide to take the author's liberties with the story at face value or not this book will forever change the way you look at Alice's story. It's hard after reading this book to not view Carroll's novel in a different light; I can't unknown what I know now and that makes me sad.
This novel tells the story of Alice Liddell Hargreaves, a real girl that inspi More...
This novel tells the story of Alice Liddell Hargreaves, a real girl that inspi More...
22 comments
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(37 people liked it)
Dec 26, 2011
Noce
rated it: 
Non ho 34 anni. Ne ho 3,4.
E con questo libro il verdetto è finalmente raggiunto: a me le favole piacciono.
Ieri sera, mentre il verduraio sotto casa mi faceva gli Auguri di Natale, e guardavo distrattamente la nebbiolina mentre parlava, (nebbiolina quando si parla = molto freddo), io non vedevo l’ora di tornare a casa, prepararmi il tè, e tornare a leggere la vita di Alice.
Mi si chiederà: è una biografia attendibile? La storia della Musa ispiratrice di Lewis Carrol, More...
E con questo libro il verdetto è finalmente raggiunto: a me le favole piacciono.
Ieri sera, mentre il verduraio sotto casa mi faceva gli Auguri di Natale, e guardavo distrattamente la nebbiolina mentre parlava, (nebbiolina quando si parla = molto freddo), io non vedevo l’ora di tornare a casa, prepararmi il tè, e tornare a leggere la vita di Alice.
Mi si chiederà: è una biografia attendibile? La storia della Musa ispiratrice di Lewis Carrol, More...
4 comments
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(6 people liked it)
Sep 18, 2009
Heather
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This was a wonderful book. It was written from the viewpoint of Alice Pleasance Liddell Hargreaves, the girl who inspired the book, Alice's adventures in wonderland. We follow her through her life, making leaps from childhood, to young womanhood, to her later years as a wife and mother. There is a scandal that haunts her from the time of her childhood through the rest of her life. There is also her fairytale love story that will pull at the heartstrings. All in all a great read. I think it woul
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2 comments
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(7 people liked it)
Dec 30, 2009
Mr. Pirkl
rated it:
Historically based on the relationship of Alice Liddell and Lewis Carroll, Alice I Have Been: A Novel
, chronicles the friendship, the emergence of the story of Wonderland, the falling out of the Carroll and the Liddell family, and Alice's path to adulthood, marriage, and old age. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel. The relationships and characters were well developed. I especially liked reading about Dodgeson (his name before published as Carroll) as a photographer (something odd th More...
, chronicles the friendship, the emergence of the story of Wonderland, the falling out of the Carroll and the Liddell family, and Alice's path to adulthood, marriage, and old age. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel. The relationships and characters were well developed. I especially liked reading about Dodgeson (his name before published as Carroll) as a photographer (something odd th More...
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(2 people liked it)
Sep 16, 2009
Stephanie
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I just received this as a goodreads giveaway.
Wow I really like this one so far!! At first I thought the Dodgson/Alice relationship was a little weird but I'm chalking that up to just reading Belinda and also recently Lolita.
This is a wonderful book and I am so happy I got to read the advanced reading copy. One of the things I loved about this book was how the author takes specific points in Alice's life to reflect her journey...instead of just a linear year by year recollecti More...
Wow I really like this one so far!! At first I thought the Dodgson/Alice relationship was a little weird but I'm chalking that up to just reading Belinda and also recently Lolita.
This is a wonderful book and I am so happy I got to read the advanced reading copy. One of the things I loved about this book was how the author takes specific points in Alice's life to reflect her journey...instead of just a linear year by year recollecti More...
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(2 people liked it)
Aug 29, 2011
Julie (julie37619)
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This is the absolute best first reads book I've read so far. I couldn't put it down, and I can't stop thinking about it now that I've finished. I was a little worried when I got it because I'm not typically a fan of historical fiction, but this book was amazing. I loved the characters, even the more dispicable ones, and can't wait to go to the library and look up some more information on Lewis Carroll and Alice.
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Jan 23, 2010
Elly
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After I finished reading this book I did some research on Alice Liddell and Lewis Carroll to separate fact from fiction. Before doing this I was going to give it 3 stars but changed my rating to 4 stars. I realized that the author did an amazing job in weaving a novel around the lives of these two people. The book is about the life of Alice and her family, friends, loves and especially her relationship with Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll).The connection between these two and the suggestion of in
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(13 people liked it)
Sep 23, 2010
karen
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Melanie Benjamin's fictional account of Alice Liddell's life, Alice I Have Been, is written in the form of an autobiography.
I was listening to the book via iTunes while I worked, and sometimes I would zone out a little (there are a few spots that are slow) but for the most part it kept me involved in the story. Benjamin's writing is lovely and she uses language well.
The story itself is told by an elderly Alice; it begins with Alice's childhood, and her relationship with More...
I was listening to the book via iTunes while I worked, and sometimes I would zone out a little (there are a few spots that are slow) but for the most part it kept me involved in the story. Benjamin's writing is lovely and she uses language well.
The story itself is told by an elderly Alice; it begins with Alice's childhood, and her relationship with More...
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Jun 12, 2010
Laura
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Alice of Wonderland's story--both her actual existence and Carroll's created existence--makes for fascinating fiction. In Benjamin's historical novel, readers are invited inside the mind of Alice of Wonderland, or rather, of Alice Pleasance Liddell (later Alice Hargreaves). As Alice looks back on her early years from her current viewpoint as a woman in her eighth decade, she reflects, "But oh my dear, I am tired of being Alice in Wonderland. Does it sound ungrateful?"
Alice More...
Alice More...
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Jan 06, 2010
Nancy
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An eighty-year-old woman recounts her life in this fictionalized account of the real Alice in Wonderland, Alice Liddell. Alice was raised in Oxford, one of the daughters of the Dean of Christ Church. It was a world of privilege, though not a world that revolved around children. The Liddell family, but especially Ina, Alice, and Edith, the three oldest daughters, were befriended by a solitary and stuttering mathematics tutor named Charles Dodgson. Mr. Dodgson enjoyed photographing the children, t
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(3 people liked it)
Nov 17, 2009
Amanda
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I loved this book. I won this as a pre-release from Goodreads, and I am thrilled it came to my doorstep. I started with a fascination with Alice in Wonderland and a slight knowledge that there was some mystery surrounding the relationship between Lewis Carrol and the real-life Alice. The book presents this mystery through the eyes of Alice in three different periods of her life. It is fictionalized, though I got the sense that Benjamin stayed true to the spirit of who Alice Liddell really was.
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Aug 26, 2011
Krista
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The facts of the girl who inspired Alice in Wonderland, woven into a fictional account of what might have really happened between her and Chaled Dodgeson (aka, Lewis Carroll). I thought it was going to be slow the first few pages, then got very drawn into it. Not overly sappy, not overly dramatic, just the words and thoughts of a girl turning into a woman, then growing old and reflecting on the loves and loss of loves that plagued her life, simply because of the rumors and the attitudes of soc
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(1 person liked it)
Feb 05, 2010
Lisa
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This was a wonderful historical novel based on the life of Alice Liddell who inspired Lewis Carroll to write Alice in Wonderland. Benjamin did an excellent job of telling a complex story of young Alice's relationship with Caroll aka Charles Dodgson - who was a young man at Oxford when they met. But is it more than that - it is about Alice's strength through a catastrophic time in her young life, followed by love and loss. It is about a girl becoming a woman - navigating Victorian England's stric
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(3 people liked it)
Feb 09, 2011
Mandy
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I really liked this book and it made me think of Alice In Wonderland oh so differently.
Jan 15, 2012
Susan
rated it:
Bookclub choice by Caryn Kent. Child pornography? Pervert? Oh, some of the bookclub girls have a problem with these "touchy" subjects. I thought it was a good book.
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.
But oh my dea More...
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.
But oh my dea More...
Jan 03, 2012
Sue
rated it:
I have mixed emotions about this story, partly attributable to the writing of the story, and partly to the story itself.
First, as to the writing, my review is mixed. I had a difficult time keeping engaged during the first third of the book, but then the story picked up for me and my reading became smoother.
It was at that point, about a third of the way in, that I decided to do a little internet research on Alice Liddell and Charles Dodgson to see if I could find out what More...
First, as to the writing, my review is mixed. I had a difficult time keeping engaged during the first third of the book, but then the story picked up for me and my reading became smoother.
It was at that point, about a third of the way in, that I decided to do a little internet research on Alice Liddell and Charles Dodgson to see if I could find out what More...
Dec 17, 2011
Christina (Reading Thru The Night)
rated it:
This is the fictionalized account of Alice Liddell, the inspiration behind Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. Whereas many stories are about the man, Mr. Dodgson (Carroll was a pen name), author Benjamin focuses in on Alice, as a young child until her elderly age of eighty-something. It is this journey that makes the novel interesting, observing what happened to young Alice and her fight to separate herself from the Alice in Wonderland.
This will be a rather broken review because t More...
This will be a rather broken review because t More...
Dec 16, 2011
Diana
rated it: 
This is the second Melanie Benjamin book I have read. This focuses on Alice Liddell who was the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland. It is meant to be in her voice as a woman in her eighties recollecting her past with Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll). Apparently when Alice was 12, her family cut off all interaction with Charles Dodgson because of something that happened between him and Alice. Charles Dodgson's meticulous diary entries from that time were cut out by his family. Nothing is rea
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Dec 08, 2011
Jen3n
rated it:
The fictionalized life story of Alice Pleasance Liddel who was one of the inspirations for the fiction Alice of the Wonderland stories.
Told in first person and going from when she was five years old up through her 90s, this book is ....
Look, I don't know what to say. This is coming off dry and my eyes hurt. I really liked it. Most of it. I am very fond of this period in history, though it's generally the beginnin gof the 19th century that has my fancy rather than th More...
Told in first person and going from when she was five years old up through her 90s, this book is ....
Look, I don't know what to say. This is coming off dry and my eyes hurt. I really liked it. Most of it. I am very fond of this period in history, though it's generally the beginnin gof the 19th century that has my fancy rather than th More...
Aug 31, 2011
Susan
rated it:
I found this book quite interesting in a number of ways. It's a study in how times have changed and, perhaps, a class distinction. It is inconceivable to me that adult men could entertain young girls in outings and visits to the man's house and nobody seems to raise an eyebrow. I try to picture sending my 7 year old daughter out for the day with a single man in his late 20's and can't do it. Dodgeson seems to be a pedophile who doesn't act on his feelings. John Rushkin, also, seems to be a pedop
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Aug 25, 2011
Alanna
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This would really be 3.5 stars. I was getting a little nervous about it because, as historical fiction, I just couldn't be sure what was fact and what was just the author's imagination. But she had a note at the end clarifying all that, so then I felt much better. (I'm starting to think that historical fiction is not the right genre for me to be reading-- I keep getting worried that all the fiction in the book will end up on a Wikipedia page somewhere and lead lots of people astray!)
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Aug 05, 2011
C. Teresina
rated it:
Told from the point of view of the inspiration for "Alice in Wonderland", Alice Liddell, and covers that fateful day where Dodgeson first told the story of Alice and Wonderland to the end of Alice's life.
Alice is relucant to accept her role as the inspiration for Alice--people are often disappointed to see a woman with dark hair instead of the little blonde child in a pinafore (as depicted in drawings). She can't seem to read the book, even after Dodgeson is gone.
Alice has a brief roma More...
Alice is relucant to accept her role as the inspiration for Alice--people are often disappointed to see a woman with dark hair instead of the little blonde child in a pinafore (as depicted in drawings). She can't seem to read the book, even after Dodgeson is gone.
Alice has a brief roma More...
Aug 04, 2011
Amanda
rated it:
In Finding Neverland-esque style, author Melanie Benjamin examines the life of the real Alice behind Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Alice Liddell is introduced as a young child, having moved to Oxford with her family after her father took a prestigious deanship at the university's flagship Christ Church college. Unfortunately for young Alice, the majority of the faculty are considerably older, and other children to play with are in short supply aside from her sisters. Alice and her sisters be
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Jul 27, 2011
Tina
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Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin
Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland is a universally recognized piece of literature, read by adults and children the world over. It has been adapted for television, film, comics and live performances as well as being translated into numerous languages. The book, Alice I Have Been, focusses on the historical context of this work with a fictional twist.
The story is told by the main character, Alice Liddell Hargreaves, and goes back and forth More...
Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland is a universally recognized piece of literature, read by adults and children the world over. It has been adapted for television, film, comics and live performances as well as being translated into numerous languages. The book, Alice I Have Been, focusses on the historical context of this work with a fictional twist.
The story is told by the main character, Alice Liddell Hargreaves, and goes back and forth More...
Jul 26, 2011
Lynn
rated it:
I have mixed feelings about this book. It is very well written and the premise is fascinating: Who was Lewis Carroll and what was his real relationship with "Alice in Wonderland"? I enjoyed the Victorian sensibilities, the use of language, and the characters. The "mixed feelings" part comes in because of the creepy atmosphere that pervades the entire book. At 80, Alice is recalling her life and trying to find the truth about what happened between the family's friend, Mr.
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Jun 08, 2011
Shebrews
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I was not disappointed with this book. Melanie is an excellent writer and I am looking forward to her next historical novel. Although disturbing, the story of the real Alice gave another dimension to the fantasy of Alice in Wonderland. I will have to go read about Dodgson more now, with Melanie's depiction of him in mind. Obviously, something was eccentric about Dodgson.
Her portrayal of Ruskin, which she admitted she took liberties with, was somewhat uncomfortable. I was angry at firs More...
Her portrayal of Ruskin, which she admitted she took liberties with, was somewhat uncomfortable. I was angry at firs More...
May 22, 2011
Clee
rated it:
In „Alice und Ich“ wird das Leben einer Person beleuchtet, die jedes Kind kennt, und über die dennoch in Wahrheit fast keiner etwas weiß – nicht über die historische Figur.
Wenn ein Leser mehr über Alice Lidell, die hinter der fiktiven Figur Alice steckt, erfahren möchte, so möge er zu diesem Buch greifen.
Melanie Benjamin gelingt es ganz wundervoll die historischen belegten Fakten und reinen Hypothesen miteinander zu verbinden, sodass keine langweilige Biographie dabei herausgekommen More...
Wenn ein Leser mehr über Alice Lidell, die hinter der fiktiven Figur Alice steckt, erfahren möchte, so möge er zu diesem Buch greifen.
Melanie Benjamin gelingt es ganz wundervoll die historischen belegten Fakten und reinen Hypothesen miteinander zu verbinden, sodass keine langweilige Biographie dabei herausgekommen More...
May 01, 2011
Sarah
rated it:
Alice I Have Been is Melanie Benjamin's debut novel and presents an historical account of the life of Alice Liddell Hargreaves -- the subject and muse of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.
Spanning the late 19th century through the early 20th century, Benjamin chronicles Alice's life from childhood during which she met Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) to her late adulthood. Coming from a well-off, scholarly family, the rambunctious Alice compels Dodgson enough to inspire him to write A More...
Spanning the late 19th century through the early 20th century, Benjamin chronicles Alice's life from childhood during which she met Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) to her late adulthood. Coming from a well-off, scholarly family, the rambunctious Alice compels Dodgson enough to inspire him to write A More...
