Scandal in Wonderland: Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin

Everybody's heard rumors about Lewis Carroll and his book "Alice in Wonderland." But what about the little girl who inspired the tale? Who was the real Alice, and what really happened to her? Read Melanie Benjamin's "Alice I Have Been" and find out.

A heartfelt debut novel, "Alice I have Been" isn't the story of a child. Rather, it's a story about a girl-turned-woman and her understanding of life. Growing up, this story states, is never quick and rarely easy. Growing older, however, is something we all have to come to terms with. Inspired by the Carroll Myth, Melanie Benjamin dances gracefully around some very twisted subject matter. Young love, forbidden love, and the intentions of an older friend.

Understated but still thrillingly scandalous, "Alice I Have Been" is a really great read.

The Specifics:

"Alice I Have Been" by Melanie Benjamin
January 2010
315 Pages

My Review: This book delicately deals with some really dark rumors. It's an interesting look at the trials of growing up.


Who'd Love It: Costume Drama Enthusiasts, or anyone who likes a good bit of gossip.

What's It About: The real Alice in Wonderland.

When's It Set: Victorian England

What I Thought: 
My sister says that I am a gossip. And, for the most part, she's entirely right. Maybe that's why I've always loved a good conspiracy theory. But if that's all you're looking for in a novel, then Melanie Benjamin's "Alice I Have Been" probably isn't for you. Like all good coming of age tales, this story has depth.

We've all heard the rumors surrounding Lewis Carroll, that his famous children's story was really just an in depth account of a very serious LSD trip. But what about Charles Dodgson, the man behind the rabbit hole. Did you know that he took photos of various young Victorian children? Did you know that the real Alice posed for one of these shots?

Was Charles Dodgson in fact a pedophile?

And stop.

Now you've probably read and reread that last sentence. A book about a pedophile, you're thinking. No, not for me. But that's the beauty of Benjamin's story. She is not writing about a pedophile (although those rumors do play into the story). Instead, she focuses on Alice Liddell, the real Alice in Wonderland, and the effect Charles Dodgson and his story had on her life.

Surprisingly, the actual story of "Alice in Wonderland" doesn't play a huge part in this tale. What Benjamin did focus on are the relationships surrounding Alice: The role of her mother, her sisters, her lover, and Mr. Dodgson. Love, the book clearly states, is curtail in the development of a child. But does it matter from whom this love is given? That's the real question Benjamin asks.

Again, this is not a tabloid novel, even though it covers incredibly scandalous subjects. Benjamin treats all of her characters with dignity, weaving a delicate mystery on each page. What I loved most about this novel was that Benjamin didn't reveal the real nature of Alice and Mr. Dodgson's relationship until the very end of the novel. Was the author of "Alice in Wonderland" in fact a pedophile? Sadly, no, I'm not going to spoil it for you.

"Alice I Have Been." I definitely recommend it.

Up Next: Alice I Have Been

"I do get tired; tired of pretending to be Alice in Wonderland still, always. Although it has been no easier being Alice Pleasance Hargreaves. Truly, I wonder; I have always wondered-- Which is the real alice, and which the pretend?"

- "Alice I Have Been" by Melanie Benjamin

"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 dear, I am tired of being Alice in Wonderland. Does it sound ungrateful?" 

Alice Liddell Hargreaves's life has been a richly woven tapestry: As a young woman, wife, mother, and widow, she's experienced intense passion, great privilege, and greater tragedy. But as she nears her eighty-first birthday, she knows that, to the world around her, she is and will always be only "Alice." 

That story, a wild tale of rabbits, queens, and a precocious young child, becomes a sensation the world over. Its author, a shy, stuttering Oxford professor, does more than immortalize Alice—he changes her life forever. But even he cannot stop time, as much as he might like to. And as Alice's childhood slips away, a peacetime of glittering balls and royal romances gives way to the urgent tide of war. 

For Alice, the stakes could not be higher, for she is the mother of three grown sons, soldiers all. Yet even as she stands to lose everything she treasures, one part of her will always be the determined, undaunted Alice of the story, who discovered that life beyond the rabbit hole was an astonishing journey. 

A love story and a literary mystery, Alice I Have Been brilliantly blends fact and fiction to capture the passionate spirit of a woman who was truly worthy of her fictional alter ego, in a world as captivating as the Wonderland only she could inspire."

- The Official Website of Melanie Benjamin

Check out this interview with Melanie Benjamin on NCTV17's Authors Revealed with Becky Anderson:

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. As Melanie Hauser, she published two contemporary novels. 

By incorporating her passion for history and biography, Melanie, now writing as Melanie Benjamin, has finally found her niche writing historical fiction, concentrating on the "stories behind the stories." Alice I Have Been is her first historical novel; The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb is her second, published in July 2011. Having recently signed a contract with Random House for two more historical novels, she is currently at work on her third. 

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."

- The Official Website of Melanie Benjamin

More Books by Melanie Benjamin:

Mrs. Tom Thumb