The Other Alice: The Story of Alice Liddell and Alice in Wonderland (original 1993; edition 1993)

I know five "biographies" of Alice Pleasance Liddell Hargreaves. I have yet to read a biography of her.

The sad fact is, this brilliant, beautiful, imperious, tragic woman needs to have her story told -- but everyone buries the story under the story of Alice in Wonderland. Sometimes in rather distressing ways; there is no evidence to think that Charles Dodgson/Lewis Carroll was involved with Alice, nor indeed much evidence that he was a paedophile (he dated adult women, and he was still trying to get back into Alice Liddell Hargreaves's good graces when she was in her thirties and married). Yet people still talk about that story (which probably originated as a spoof of Freudian psychology). But, because that myth is so pervasive, people who don't want to address it often end up telling very vapid tales. As here.

Leave out the Alice books and there is still much to tell about the life of Alice Hargreaves: The girl who captivated John Ruskin as well as Dodgson. The daughter of the reforming college president. The talented artist. The commoner who was loved by a prince. The marriage to the rich student. The two sons killed in World War I. It is not a happy story; Alice was probably deeply scarred for much of her long life. But it is a very moving story.

Sadly, this book tells very little of it. Like most books about Alice, it's really about "Alice" -- and tells mostly of her childhood life in Oxford. This part of it is done fairly well, if in a too-cutesy way. The photographs and illustrations are often more interesting than the text. But little girls -- even little girls who inspire great works of art -- grow up. And get married, and die. A story of Alice Liddell should tell that part, too. Even in a children't book. ( )

Alice Liddle is the child that Charles Dodgson used as the model for his famous book. The story of the real Alice is told here in simple detail that will delight older children. Later chapters in the book are about Alice after she grew up, and about how Mr. Dodgson lived, but most of the story centers on Alice when she was between the ages of 10 and 12. The chapters, although told chronogically, are two- or three-page standalone stories. The stories are interspersed with what Charles Dodgson called "misch-masch" - a collection of games, puzzles and trivia. The illustrations by Inga-Karin Eriksson really add to the story, and a look at Dodgson's photographs of children is fascinating. John Tenniel's original illustrations are here too, and it's also interesting to have a glimpse of how Dodgson and Tenniel got along. All in all it's a nicely told story for children - and adults can enjoy it too. ( )

A biography for children, about the real Alice. Charming illustrations are paired with photographs. Gloss over the eventually more unhealthy aspects of Alice and Dodgsons relationship, but then, this IS a book for kids. ( )