This novel is well-researched and well-written, but also as long, slow, and dull as (I guess) the life of a middle-class Victorian woman must have been. Emotion, emotion everywhere, but there is almost no action of any kind. I love characters with rich inner life, but there is not such inner life in any of the characters, except for Ruskin, and in his case that inner life may be rich but is rather unattractive. Instead, Benjamin gives us daily routines, dresses, etiquette, gossip, and just a hint of thoroughly repressed sexuality. Unfortunately, the novel's greatest accomplishment is making me feel thankful that I was born in a very different time period from that of poor Alice. This story is from the point of view of Alice Liddell Hargreaves, the real life inspiration for the childhood favorite, Alice in Wonderland. The author effectively weaves a tale of fact and fiction, proposing this intimate relationship of Alice to Charles Dodgson aka Lewis Carroll.It was distressing, at times creepy, and always riveting!Imagine, living your entire life as a character in fiction, never able to create your own identity! And, of course, I WILL be re-reading Alice in Wonderland & a bio on Dodgson in the near future!
What do You think about Alice I Have Been (2010)?
Rather dark from beginning to end. It kept me interested with the characters. Plot okay.
—vicky
Great book, although somewhat disturbing at times.
—Ashmin
