If you want to read about a certain author and his life you have to go to the biographies, which are not always a fun read. Another option, not always available, is to read a fiction that touches a part of his life. This is the case, a readable one.

I quite enjoyed this story, it seems a plausible explanation for the rift between Charles Dodgson and the Liddell family. It's beautifully written, and brings to life the people involved in the story. I could feel Alice's joy and heartbreak throughout the book. The author's afterward gives an overview of what was historically accurate in the narrative, and what she imagined and filled in herself. The only thing not mentioned were the other children- there were ten children in the Liddell family, but only four are in the book. I understand cutting characters not important to the story, but it seemed odd that it wasn't mentioned in the afterword. Oh well. A lovely book for any Alice fan.

#TheDodoKnight #NetGalley

A beautiful novel from the perspective of the little girl who inspired Lewis Carroll for developing the character Alice. The author describes the friendship between the two as a relation between two individuals who are at a similar age in terms of richness of imagination and ingenuity, two kids at heart, rather than focusing on what in our times would consider creepy and inappropriate interactions between an older male and an underage girl. The image of Lewis Carroll that transpires from the narrative is that of a big child who feels unease in the adult world. This is an interesting way to develop the narrative, and fictionalize their relationship given the lack of complete accounts on the Liddell family. I enjoyed very much the atmospheric description of the Oxford setting.

"The Dodo Knight"is One of the ingenious books I have read about Louis Caroll's writings. Couldn't put it down. I was enthralling from start to finish. Very imaginative story of a beloved Classic..

I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions on this are my own.

This book was...interesting to say the least. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED it, but was not expecting much from the novel. All that I knew going into it was that it was supposedly following the girl who became Lewis Caroll's Alice from Alice in Wonderland.

I truly enjoyed the brevity of this story I think more than anything. It wasn't overtly fluffy, and wasn't feeling like it was someone trying to sell me their story with the man that would become of the most well-known authors in history. Each scene was purposeful and made sense why it was included. Going into that, the author seems to have done a lot of research regarding the life and relationship of Alice and Charles Dodgson (Lewis Caroll). At the end of the novel, there was a section that helped to answer a lot of questions that I had, so that made my enjoyment of the novel even higher than before. Most authors would not include this when writing on historical figures and people, so it was amazing to see that Rene decided to include it to provide authencity to the story.

I found no real flaws with it, due to the fact that it seemed true to the story of Alice and Charles. Therefore, I greatly enjoyed it and find it perfect for those that love the story of Alice in Wonderland and want to see where it started.

Rating: 5/5 stars

I'm a huge Alice fan (the book/ephemera collection is taking over my house...) so was interested to read this. An interesting look at the relationship between Alice and Dodgson from her point of view but nothing really new for me here.

Once upon a time there lived a mild mannered math teacher who loved nothing more than to spend time with and photograph (occasionally naked) children. How creepy does that sound? According to Michelle Rene not at all. And so in this tale of a relationship that inspired one of the most famous and most beloved children stories of all time she solves the Liddell Riddle to prove that Alice and Mr. Do Do Dodgson were the best of friends for a time and nothing more, a friendship that ended sadly and abruptly over some pesky unwarranted rumors and some social awkwardness. The thing with Liddell Riddle is that it’s pretty much unsolvable, since everyone involved is now dead and they weren’t discussing it when they were alive either. Alice Liddell grew up and went on to have a relatively normal and happy life. Mr. Dodgson found literary success if not companionship. He also destroyed pertinent pages of his diary to ensure his secrets stayed secrets. And thus as all unsolvable riddles go, this one has prompted much speculation over the years. Rene’s version is told by Alice herself (this seems to be the author’s favorite trick, telling stories of famous people through children…gimmicky, isn’t it) and presents a lovely and innocent friendship between a precocious girl and a lovely man who was happiest around young girls. Through Alice, Rene dismisses all salacious speculations as products of salacious minds and normalizes Dodgson’s behavior through Victorian social norms. Dodgson was the eldest of 11, he grew up entertaining kids, back in the day it was perfectly normal for families to have a sort of adapted uncles, bachelorhood was much more present and naked photos of children were en vogue and so on…and yes, of course, one must always strive to consider a person from another time through the framework of his era and all that, but a. that’s difficult because we think of world as we are, not as it is and b. even for all that Dodgson seems…well, odd. And really all too fond of young children. Was he the Michael Jackson of his time? Was Michael Jackson even the Michael Jackson of his time? I’m yet to watch Leaving Neverland. But essentially you will believe what you will believe based on your personal knowledge and opinions and prejudices, empirical evidence aside. This is probably the most deliberately adorable charming innocent version of events for the sunniest of readers to put a rainbow at the end of the cloud that has always hung around this specific origin story. It’s especially cutesy being told by a child and then a proper old lady. Rene gets her historical facts right mostly, except that she has (presumably for streamlining the narration) reduced Liddell’s family from ten kids to a much more manageable four, only three of whom are really present, because Dodgson (very, very innocently, of course) preferred girls. So yeah, that’s the story. It’s a novella and thus reads very quickly and if you’re a fan of stories behind stories, you might enjoy this one. It’s a decent read, but much too cute and sunny for serious consideration. Thanks Netgalley.