From the TBR Pile: Blog Tour: After Alice by Gregory Maguire

Friday, October 30, 2015

Blog Tour: After Alice by Gregory Maguire

Author: Gregory Maguire
Publisher: William Morrow
Date of publication:

Down the rabbit-hole, where adventures await . . .

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. The White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, the bloodthirsty Queen of Hearts—droll and imperious as always—interrupt their mad tea party to suggest a conundrum: If Eurydice can ever be returned to the arms of Orpheus, or if Lazarus can be raised from the tomb, perhaps Alice can be returned to life. In any case, everything that happens next is After Alice.

I will confess, this is only the second book by this author that I have attempted to read. I tried and failed to get through Wicked, but that was a long time ago. Long before I realized what the story was really about I have always intended to give it another shot. Anyway, knowing that, I decided to give this one a try. I love Alice in Wonderland, at least the commercialized versions of it since I have not had the pleasure of reading Lewis Carroll's original story. So what would be better than what happened after, right?

Unfortunately, I didn't like this book. I can honestly say, I tried, I really did. But, I felt like I needed to have a dictionary and thesaurus with me while reading it. I read the first few chapters a couple of times because I was so lost. For instance, it took me a while to figure out that Ada had a new baby brother who had stomach issues and was not sleeping well. It should not take me 3 re-reads to figure that out. I'm not sure if the author was trying to mimic Lewis Carroll's writing style, but it just didn't work for me.

About the author:

Gregory Maguire is the New York Times bestselling author of Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister; Lost; Mirror Mirror; and the Wicked Years, a series that includes Wicked, Son of a Witch, A Lion Among Men, and Out of Oz. Now a beloved classic, Wicked is the basis for a blockbuster Tony Award–winning Broadway musical. Maguire has lectured on art, literature, and culture both at home and abroad. He lives with his family near Boston, Massachusetts.

Find out more about Gregory at his website and follow him on Facebook.

Purchase Links

Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble

Gregory’s Tour Stops

Tuesday, October 27th: A Bookish Affair

Wednesday, October 28th: Books Like Breathing

Thursday, October 29th: A Chick Who Reads

Thursday, October 29th: Reading Reality

Friday, October 30th: From the TBR Pile

Monday, November 2nd: 100 Pages a Day…Stephanie’s Book Reviews

Monday, November 2nd: Read. Write. Repeat

Tuesday, November 3rd: Snowdrop Dreams of Books