The Story of Alice :Lewis Carroll and The Secret History of Wonderland
The Story of Alice :Lewis Carroll and The Secret History of Wonderland
paperback
Published:
4 February, 2016
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Description
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2015 COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD
This is the secret history of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Wonderland is part of our cultural heritage. But beneath the fairy tale lies the complex history of the author and his subject. Charles Dodgson was a quiet academic but his second self, Lewis Carroll, was a storyteller, innovator and avid collector of ‘child-friends’. Carroll’s imagination was to give Alice Liddell, his 'dream-child', a fictional alter ego that would never let her grow up.
This is a biography that beautifully unravels the magic of Alice. It is a history of love and loss, innocence and ambiguity. It is the story of one man’s need to make a Wonderland in a changing world.
Prizes
Short-listed for Costa Biography Award 2016 (UK)
More Details
| Type | Book |
|---|---|
| ISBN13 | 9780099594031 |
| ISBN10 | 009959403X |
| Number Of Pages | 496 |
| Item Weight | 396 g |
| Product Dimensions | 129 x 198 x 32 mm |
| Publisher / Reseller | Vintage Publishing |
| Format | paperback |
Media Reviews
It is the ultimate book about Alice - comprehensive and scholarly, but so delightfully and elegantly written that it's a true work of literature -- Jacqueline Wilson
The Story of Alice is the best book on the myriad enigmas of Carroll’s heart-breaking wonderland I have ever read -- Robert McCrum * Observer *
Superb…toweringly the best of the dozens of books on Carroll which I have read -- AN Wilson * Financial Times *
Douglas-Fairhurst is a startling and exciting writer -- A.S. Byatt * Spectator *
This is biography at its best -- Lyndall Gordon * New Statesman *
Magnificent -- 5 Stars, Charlotte Heathcote * Sunday Express *
Fascinating -- Book of the Week, Philip Collins * Times *
This accomplished book provides ample inspiration for readers to return to Wonderland -- Francesca Wade * Prospect *
Different times, and Robert Douglas-Fairhurst makes a sure-footed guide in unraveling them…intriguing -- Anthony Quinn * Mail on Sunday *
A fascinating telling of a great mystery story * The Times *
GoodReads Reviews
Author's Bio
Robert Douglas-Fairhurst is a Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Magdalen College. His books include Becoming Dickens, which won the Duff Cooper Prize, The Story of Alice, which was shortlisted for the Costa Biography Award, and Metamorphosis. He writes regularly for publications including The Times, the Literary Review and the Spectator. Radio and television appearances include Start the Week and The Culture Show and he has also acted as the historical consultant on TV adaptations of Jane Eyre, Emma, Great Expectations, the BBC drama series Dickensian and both of the Enola Holmes feature films for Netflix. He has judged the Booker Prize and the Baillie Gifford Prize, and in 2015 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.