Author: Gregory Maguire
Format: ARC
Publisher: William Morrow
Publish Date: October 27, 2015 (Today!)
Source: TLC Book Tours
What's the Story?:
From Goodreads.com: "When Alice toppled down the rabbit-hole 150 years ago, she found a Wonderland as rife with inconsistent rules and abrasive egos as the world she left behind. But what of that world? How did 1860s Oxford react to Alice's disappearance?
In this brilliant new work of fiction, Gregory Maguire turns his dazzling 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 of Alice's mentioned briefly in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, is off to visit her friend, but arrives a moment too late — and 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 see her safely home from this surreal world below the world. If Euridyce can ever be returned to the arms of Orpheus, or Lazarus can be raised from the tomb, perhaps Alice can be returned to life. Either way, everything that happens next isAfter Alice."
My Two Cents:
In "After Alice," Gregory Maguire, author of books such as "Wicked," turns his attention to one of my very favorite stories, "Alice in Wonderland." In that book, Alice disappears into Wonderland and has a wonderful adventure but did you ever wonder about the people that she left behind in Oxford? Maguire explores what her family and what her friend, Ada, might have thought about Alice's disappearance. Ada is so distraught that she follows Alice to Wonderland and meets many of the old familiar (and strange) faces of the characters that Alice meets in the original.
The story is split between Ada's adventures in Wonderland and Alice and Ada's family worrying about each of them. We get to know a little bit more about Alice's sister, Lydia, and how she is only a few years older but much beyond Alice's hijinks. I love anything "Alice in Wonderland" but this book fell a little short for me. I liked visiting Wonderland with Ada but we've seen so many of these characters before doing the same things and saying similar things that there was not much to ignite me.
The writing is pretty good! Maguire has a way with words and the gift for making the unlikely seem likely. The writing kept me going! There were several places in the book that had me laughing out loud and I love when a book can make me do that! Overall, this book was enjoyable but we've been to these places before!
I always enjoyed the story of Alice so this one is going on my list!
ReplyDeleteThanks for being a part of the tour.