"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
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 Alice Liddell Through the YearsClick on thumbnails for larger images
"Alice as a Beggar Girl." | "Alice Liddell, as a Young Woman" | "Alice Pleasance Liddell Hargreaves, 1932." |
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
FREE
Within U.S.A.
Book Description hardcover. Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 0385344139-11-30741847
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. Brand New Copy. Seller Inventory # BBB_new0385344139
Book Description Condition: New. Book is in NEW condition. 1.05. Seller Inventory # 0385344139-2-1
Book Description Condition: New. New! This book is in the same immaculate condition as when it was published 1.05. Seller Inventory # 353-0385344139-new
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. Buy for Great customer experience. Seller Inventory # GoldenDragon0385344139
Book Description Soft cover. Condition: New. 1st Edition. Softcover, Trade paperback format, Advance Reading Copy as printed on front cover, Uncorrected Proofs as printed on back cover and back side of Title Page, Condition: New, Unread, Spine Not Broken, Tight Binding, Never opened past copyright page, RARE, ONE-OF-A-KIND copy with NO listings on AbeBooks or OnLine for an Advance/Proof, First Edition as stated, First Printing with Full # print line 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1 as printed on copyright page, Letter Laid-In as 1st page from Kate Burke Miciak, V.P & Executive Editor to "Dear Reader,." RARE, One of a Kind Advance/Proof, Collectible, Debut Novel, Other Novels by Melanie Benjamin: * Alice I Have Been (2009) The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb (2011) The Aviator's Wife (2013) aka The Ambassador's Daughter The Swans of Fifth Avenue (2016) The Girls in the Picture (2018) Mistress of the Ritz (2019) The Children's Blizzard (2021). Seller Inventory # ABE-1684182320699
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Seller Inventory # Wizard0385344139
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think0385344139
Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # FrontCover0385344139
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_0385344139