Little Lit and GIVEAWAY!: After Alice by Gregory Maguire

Summary:

Ada is a neighbor and friend of Alice. On the day of Alice's adventures, Ada escapes her governess and the confines of her house along with her new, squalling baby brother. On her way to deliver a jar of marmalade to Alice's family, Ada finds herself falling into the same rabbit hole as Alice and wandering around Wonderland, finding herself free, for once, of her back brace and with her limp much less noticeable. As Ada strives to enter the beautiful garden she sees through the keyhole and runs into the white rabbit, the Cheshire cat, the duchess, and other Wonderland creatures, Alice's older sister, Lydia finds herself caught up with the travelling companions of Charles Darwin including a freed slave boy named Siam. As the stories criss and cross and intertwine around each other, Ada, Lydia, and Siam find themselves changed by their encounters.

Available for sale October 27, 2015

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What I Liked:

• I really enjoyed Ada's adventures. It was interesting seeing her follow Alice, sometimes only a few steps behind.
• Yet at the same time, it was a completely different journey from Alice's. In some of the same situations (such as the mad tea party), Ada acts completely differently with interesting and entertaining results.
• As usual, Maguire picks up the flavor of the source material, so that Ada's adventures feel very much like they take place in the same world as Alice's did.

What I Would Have Liked:

• I would have liked more of Ada and less of the others, particularly of Lydia. Though it became interesting (to some extent), I found myself skimming more quickly through those parts to get back to Ada.
• I would have liked less commentary. I almost didn't even read the book because the first few pages were so heavy and convoluted that I didn't want to keep going. I always feel that Maguire is at his best when delving into the fantasy aspect. It's when he waxes political or philosophical that he loses me.
• I would have liked a different ending. In fact, I'm still just a bit confused. I feel like in his attempt to make the story less "dream-like" as the original Alice is, Maguire tipped the other direction and left me  with just a bit of a sour taste.

Verdict:

• I really enjoyed parts of it, and really didn't enjoy others.
• Those who liked the more political/historical aspects of Maguire's other books (such as in the Oz books, particularly the later ones), will most likely thoroughly enjoy this one as well.
• Those looking for a more fantasy based romp will probably be disappointed.

For more information you can check out Gregory Maguire's website or author page on GoodReads.

I received this book as an advance reader copy at BookExpo America.

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