My Review of "Alice I Have Been" by Melanie Benjamin

Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars on audio, 5 of 5 stars on digital.

My mom recommended this book quite awhile ago.  The book is about a woman who was the inspiration of the “real life Alice” of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking Glass.”  At the time, my mom told me the book was fiction, and I started reading it, thinking it was purely fiction. Later, my dad looked online and told me that it appeared to be a true story, that “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” was inspired by a real person (which it was).  However, at the end of the book, it states that the book itself is fiction, with historical facts, which, in that sense, does make it fiction.  There is much speculation in the book, and I was starting to feel a little judgmental about certain characters, but after reading the afterword in the digital version, one cannot be sure if what was written really happened or not, or perhaps back then, for some reason, it may have been more acceptable, under the circumstances.  The afterword is not in the audio version of the book.

The book is funny in some parts, creepy in others, romantic, and heartbreaking.  It draws you into Alice’s view of growing up and growing old might have been like.

I started listening to the audio version first (as read by Samantha Eggar).  The voice actress has a pleasant enough voice, but there are a couple of times in her narration, that the tone seems wrong.  Like, for instance, when a character is supposed to say something calmly, and it comes out of the narrator’s mouth as agitated.  There are only a couple of incidents, but it was a bit distracting.


I might have been about half-way through the book, when I decided to also download a digital copy to read along as well.  I noticed it also had pictures, which always seems to bring the story to life a bit more.
The book was definitely intriguing.  I enjoyed reading it.  I wonder about some parts, hoping maybe the speculation was a bit misunderstood.



Because of this book, I am listening to an audio version of “The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass,” as read by famous actor, Christopher Plummer.  So far, he is doing an excellent job with the reading.  The voices are really perfect.


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