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There are currently 26 member reviews
for Alice I Have Been
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Suri F. (Durham, NC)
A Contemporary Issue in Victorian Garb
Ms Benjamin is a fine storyteller with a great eye for the sort of detail that gives substance to imagined scenes. She has taken the difficult subject of child exploitation and placed it within the context of the creation of a much beloved piece of literature. In doing so, she allows us to consider the life-long impact of child abuse on even the most privileged among us.
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Kimberli M. (Jessup, MD)
Good Writing, not crazy about plot
The author creates a vivid picture with her prose, mingling fact and fiction. The author is gifted, but I think she should have followed Alice a bit further down the rabbit hole. While the first half of the book held my attention, the second half was disappointing. I think the story would have been better served by having more fiction to tell the story of Alice's adulthood. While I might enjoy another of this author's work, this story and material just ran its course rather than taking me on an adventure.
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Elaine B. (franklin, MA)
The middle is missing
I liked the beginning of the book and the end, especially the servant and social information of the times. I was frustrated throughout by wondering what happened and if I would find out or get some idea. The transformation of Alice into a woman very much like her mother could have been fleshed out more in the middle of the book. Maybe since the possible sexual abuse by the man who wrote the well known book is talked about so much it detracts from the story.
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Mary Lou C. (Shenandoah Junction, WV)
Lewis Carroll, a Pedophile?
Although the author did a wonderful job of detailing life in Victorian England, I found the story difficult to follow, wondering what was real and what wasn't. The reader is to form his/her own conclusions as to what really happened. But I, for one, was uncomfortable with the evidence, or lack of. In the end, I had more questions than answers. I didn't get it.
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Hallie MacDonald (Media, PA)
Careful with Historical Fiction
Historical fiction is tricky. You are taking real people and changing or inventing facts to create conflict in order to make a story. And in this book I spent the entire thing worrying about a particular (real life) character's, well, character. Ms. Benjamin didn't put the explanation of what was fiction and what was true until the end, which made it hard to just relax and enjoy the story often times.
The author has done beautiful research to paint the scene of Victorian England. Great juxtaposition, for example, of the attitude of servants in the 1920's as opposed to the 1870's. Details that are so wonderful they stay with you for days.
This story moved quite slowly for me at times and I was in a hurry to finish it and be done. When I was done, though, I found myself missing it.
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