After Alice by Gregory Maguire | 256 pages | Published 2015 by Headline | Fantasy, Retelling, Historical Fiction, Fairy Tale
---This is the UK cover, which I found more appealing than the US one---
Summary:
When Alice fell down he rabbit hole, she found Wonderland as rife with inconsistent rules and abrasive egos as the world she left behind. But how did Victorian Oxford react to Alice’s disappearance?
Gregory Maguire turns his imagination to the question of underworlds, undergrounds, underpinnings - and understandings old and new, offering an inventive spin on Carroll’s enduring tale. Ada, a friend mentioned briefly in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, sets out to visit Alice but, arriving a moment too late, tumbles down the rabbit hole herself.
Ada brings to Wonderland her own imperfect apprehension of cause and effect as she embarks on an odyssey to find Alice and bring her safely home from this surreal world below the world. The White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat and the bloodthirsty Queen of Hearts interrupt their mad tea party to suggest a conundrum: if Eurydice can ever be returned to the arms of Orpheus, or if Lazarus can be raised from the tomb, perhaps Alice can be returned to life.
Either way, everything that happens next is After Alice (blurb on book).
When Alice fell down he rabbit hole, she found Wonderland as rife with inconsistent rules and abrasive egos as the world she left behind. But how did Victorian Oxford react to Alice’s disappearance?
Gregory Maguire turns his imagination to the question of underworlds, undergrounds, underpinnings - and understandings old and new, offering an inventive spin on Carroll’s enduring tale. Ada, a friend mentioned briefly in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, sets out to visit Alice but, arriving a moment too late, tumbles down the rabbit hole herself.
Ada brings to Wonderland her own imperfect apprehension of cause and effect as she embarks on an odyssey to find Alice and bring her safely home from this surreal world below the world. The White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat and the bloodthirsty Queen of Hearts interrupt their mad tea party to suggest a conundrum: if Eurydice can ever be returned to the arms of Orpheus, or if Lazarus can be raised from the tomb, perhaps Alice can be returned to life.
Either way, everything that happens next is After Alice (blurb on book).
My thoughts:
Read March 24-29, 2016 | 5 stars
So, to preface this, I’ve only read one other book by Maguire, Wicked. So, I’m somewhat familiar with his writing, in that it’s dense and wordy. After Alice was definitely an easier read than Wicked because there’s only so much new story to tell and it’s unnecessary for him to over explain the setting.
Now, I looked at Goodreads and noticed it’s rated with 2.77 stars, and I’m confused as to why. I found this so inventive and interesting compared to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass because it runs on the assumption that Alice had actually left Oxford and found somewhere new, rather than dreaming. Her family and friends spend the whole novel looking for her, but Ada is the only one looking in the right place.
The novel switches between (mainly) Ada, a friend mentioned in Carroll’s work, and Alice’s sister, Lydia. Ada has some physical deformities that are looked down upon by most others in her society. From what I gathered, she’s got severe scoliosis, or something like that, because she has to wear a metal corset to keep her posture as straight as possible. Alice seems to be the only one who does not look at her like she is her disability.
Lydia, on the other hand, knows Alice to disappear frequently, and thinks she’ll turn up sooner or later. Lydia tries to hide it, but is dealing with the death of her mother and the now absence of her father, and Alice’s floaty personality. She’s an average 15 year old girl for the time.
I think the reason this book was not received well is because readers wanted something like Wicked, or something like Alice in Wonderland, and it’s neither. Maguire perfectly mixed Victorian England with a beloved work to make something different. There are wonderful nods to the original work, but there are characters we learn more about and ones that aren’t mentioned until the end. I also think there’s some sort of commentary being made here, but I don’t feel like figuring it out.
Overall, I really enjoyed this and gave it 5 stars. I believe this is a super creative book and that it should be read with nothing else in mind. Take it for what it is and try not to compare it to other things.
So, to preface this, I’ve only read one other book by Maguire, Wicked. So, I’m somewhat familiar with his writing, in that it’s dense and wordy. After Alice was definitely an easier read than Wicked because there’s only so much new story to tell and it’s unnecessary for him to over explain the setting.
Now, I looked at Goodreads and noticed it’s rated with 2.77 stars, and I’m confused as to why. I found this so inventive and interesting compared to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass because it runs on the assumption that Alice had actually left Oxford and found somewhere new, rather than dreaming. Her family and friends spend the whole novel looking for her, but Ada is the only one looking in the right place.
The novel switches between (mainly) Ada, a friend mentioned in Carroll’s work, and Alice’s sister, Lydia. Ada has some physical deformities that are looked down upon by most others in her society. From what I gathered, she’s got severe scoliosis, or something like that, because she has to wear a metal corset to keep her posture as straight as possible. Alice seems to be the only one who does not look at her like she is her disability.
Lydia, on the other hand, knows Alice to disappear frequently, and thinks she’ll turn up sooner or later. Lydia tries to hide it, but is dealing with the death of her mother and the now absence of her father, and Alice’s floaty personality. She’s an average 15 year old girl for the time.
I think the reason this book was not received well is because readers wanted something like Wicked, or something like Alice in Wonderland, and it’s neither. Maguire perfectly mixed Victorian England with a beloved work to make something different. There are wonderful nods to the original work, but there are characters we learn more about and ones that aren’t mentioned until the end. I also think there’s some sort of commentary being made here, but I don’t feel like figuring it out.
Overall, I really enjoyed this and gave it 5 stars. I believe this is a super creative book and that it should be read with nothing else in mind. Take it for what it is and try not to compare it to other things.
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