Glen Ellyn author examines the world of the real-life Alice

In her first historical novel, Glen Ellyn author Melanie Benjamin takes readers into the world of the young girl who inspired author Lewis Carroll's classic tale, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."

Benjamin's novel, "Alice I Have Been," was published by Random House's Delacorte Press and hits stores Tuesday.

The novel is based on Alice Pleasance Liddell, born in 1852. It explores the mysterious relationship of Lewis Carroll, whose real name was the Rev. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, and the Liddell family, whom Dodgson met in 1855 and grew close to when he was a mathematics professor at Christ Church, Oxford.

Dodgson was known for telling fantastic stories to the Liddell youngsters as they picnicked and walked in the countryside. But the Liddell family broke off its relationship with Dodgson suddenly in June of 1863. No explanation has ever been confirmed, but many rumors have swirled about regarding the nature of Dodgson's relationship with young Alice.

Benjamin, 47, who has published two contemporary novels under her real name of Melanie Hauser, took some time to talk about what inspired her to research and write "Alice I Have Been," and the ongoing mystery of what happened between Alice Liddell and Charles Dodgson.

Q. You don't recall reading the book "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" as a child, but you were inspired to write "Alice I Have Been" after seeing some photographs taken by author Lewis Carroll at the Art Institute of Chicago?A. Yes. I didn't know much about Lewis Carroll - I didn't even know that Lewis Carroll was not his real name. But I just happened to be at the Art Institute several years ago when the "Dreaming in Pictures: The Photography of Lewis Carroll" exhibit was there. I had no idea Carroll was a photographer. All of the images were of young girls - which was very unsettling. Some of them were nude photos, taken with permission from the girls' parents. I knew that there was much more to this man. In Carroll's photograph of Alice Liddell, she is clad in scanty rags. I thought the expression in her face looked like a little girl, but the expression in her eyes looked very old and very worldly and frank. It was like a lightning bolt for me. I wondered what happened to Alice when she grew up, and I wondered what happened between the two of them to result in such a startling photograph.Q. There have always been rumors that Carroll was romantically attached to young Alice Liddell. But no proof has ever been found?A. Christ Church, Oxford, is a very small town, and there were rumors that something happened - something when Alice was 11 and Charles Dodgson was 31. There were rumors that he had asked for her hand in marriage. No one has ever been able to say for sure. Dodgson doesn't address what happened between he and Alice. But he wrote in his diary of having conflicted, tormented thoughts around the time that he was close to Alice and her family. Whatever it was, we are still fascinated by their relationship 150 years later.Q. How much of your historical novel is fact and how much is fiction?A. It's a definite blend of fact and fiction, with known facts about Alice Liddell's life that I have worked into the story. What I made up was what her motivations were to get to certain points in her life - the story behind the story.Q. How much research did you have to do?A. I feel blessed to live in an age where you have so much information at your fingertips. It didn't take me long to find out the brief highlights of Alice's life - the scandal with Dodgson, the torn pages from his diary. I had a strong background in the Victorian era, so I felt very grounded that I knew enough about the class system, the traditions and the social structure to get the atmosphere of the novel right.Q. Alice Liddell died in 1934, but what would you have said to her if you could have met her?A. As I wrote the book, I did feel that I got to know her. She was such a survivor - an indomitable little girl who grew up to be an indomitable old lady. She was a survivor, so I would say to her "bravo." She seemed to take on the world in her own terms. I admire her a lot. Today, we might call her a bit of a snob. She was a proper Victorian woman of a certain class.Q. What did you think of Lewis Carroll's writing when you did eventually read "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland?" What did you glean from his story?A. He was a brilliant author who created a world that was a takeoff on Victorian society at the time. He was poking fun at and pointing out the absurdities of that society. And yet, in the way he wrote it, he left us all free to put our own stamp on it.Q. After working so hard to research and write this book, what is it going to be like for you to see "Alice I Have Been" published - to turn your words over to the public?A. I have to say that there is a great sense of accomplishment and pride when you see people reading your book. And there's a little bit of shyness involved too. You are exposed in a way. "Alice I Have Been" is a story about someone else's life, so I don't feel quite so exposed. But for me, there is a combination of shyness and pride and accomplishment.Q. I know that you are already hard at work on your next historical novel. Can you reveal a little bit of your subject matter?A. I can only tell you that it's about the American Civil War.False383515Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," as a young woman.Courtesy of Random House, Inc.False <p class="factboxheadblack">If you go</p><p class="News">Author Melanie Benjamin of Glen Ellyn will sign copies of her new historical novel "Alice I Have Been" at two suburban bookstores in the coming weeks.</p><p class="News">• 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 14, at Anderson's Bookshop, 123 W. Jefferson Ave., Naperville. Call (630) 355-2665.</p><p class="News">• 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 28, at The Bookstore, 475 Main St., Glen Ellyn. Call (630) 469-2891.</p><p class="News">Visit Benjamin's Web site at <a href="http://melaniebenjamin.com" target="new">melaniebenjamin.com</a> for details on the events and to register for a book-launching party at a nearby restaurant following her Jan. 14 appearance.</p>