William Morrow, October 27, 2015.
Four Stars
Maguire’s previous works have reimagined the stories of Cinderella,
Snow White, and the Land of Oz. In his new book, After Alice, he sets his sights on Wonderland, giving us a glimpse
at what happened after Alice fell down the rabbit hole. While her family “above
ground” half-heartedly search for her and mostly carry on with their lives,
Alice’s friend Ada tumbles down after her. Ada travels through Wonderland,
consulting with Humpty Dumpty and the Cheshire Cat, among others, as she tries
to find her friend.
Although Ada is witnessing the wonders of life beneath the rabbit
hole, she is reluctant to believe in such a fantasy world. Her realism is
relatable, and her childish surliness makes her somehow likeable. Instead of
seeing Wonderland through Alice’s eyes, where everything is magical and
amazing, Ada uses reason to work her way into the court of the Queen of Hearts.
Ada’s real life isn’t great – she has medical problems and an unsettled home
life – yet she doesn’t use Wonderland as an escape. “Her gait was still lopsided,
but so was the world, so she kept on” (p. 42) – Ada’s disability is not
important here, and being different actually helps her to fit in. Wonderland is
a place to exercise her reason and intellect, so she can return to real life
smarter and stronger.
Ada is preoccupied with Dante’s Inferno,
and her references to it force the reader to compare the rabbit hole with a
descent into hell. She makes clever observations of various well-known
characters, such as the Walrus and the Carpenter, as she looks at the political
and religious connotations of their words and actions. To preserve her
childlike innocence, Maguire makes many of these observations as asides, as he
digs deeper into the sociopolitical climate in which Carroll wrote the original
story of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
There are remarks on the royal impact of Queen Victoria, as well as Marxism and
the class divide. As a companion to the original, Ada’s story provides the
context of 1860s Oxford that the original story was lacking.
Many reviewers did not like this new, darker version of Wonderland,
which surprises me because I think it only serves to enhance the original. Don’t
expect it to be a continuation of Alice’s story, because it is very different,
with many new elements. A young audience could still appreciate this version,
but I think that adults with a knowledge of history will get much more out of
it.
With that being said, I think children would also be delighted to hear
this story read out loud, as the tonality, rhythm and internal rhymes are just
as much fun as Carroll’s original. Ada’s fall down the rabbit hole is
described: “In time – and when does a fall take time, except for the drift of a
leaf or a snowflake, or perhaps a lapse into perdition? – Ada’s attention
turned to her plight.” (p. 28) This is language that is meant to be savoured
out loud, with a childlike sense of enjoyment.
I received this book for free from William Morrow and Edelweiss in
exchange for an honest review.
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