cover image Alice I Have Been: a Novel

Alice I Have Been: a Novel

Melanie Benjamin, , read by Samantha Eggar. . Random House Audio, $35 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-3077-1344-5

Samantha Eggar is a consummate actor, and the character of Alice Liddell Hargreaves, from girlhood into old age, is a great vehicle for her talents. The three young Liddell sisters who dominate the first half of the book are easily distinguished and thoroughly believable. So are their parents and the shy, stuttering Oxford professor Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll), who entertains the girls with long, highly imaginative stories. Romance, mystery, and tragedy soon erupt in the life of the “real” Alice; fans of the classic and of smart, atmospheric contemporary fiction will find much to relish. A Delacorte hardcover (Reviews, Oct. 12). (Jan.)