In The Shadow Of The Dreamchild

A revolutionary and much-acclaimed study of the work and motives of the Alice In Wonderland authorThis is the most significant biographical work on the author of Alice In Wonderland to be published in recent years, and this new edition marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Karoline Leach's study contends that Carroll was far from being emotionally—and sexually—obsessed with female children and his "muse" Alice Liddell. She tells the strange story of how the false image of Carroll came into being and how he adored—and was adored by—women of all ages and enjoyed adult relationships that woud have scandalized the Victorian age in which he lived. The author gained access to unpublished evidence from the family archive, as well as letters and diaries, that led her to uncover Carroll's secret passion for another member of "Alice's" family. In The Shadow of The Dreamchild is a radical re-evaluation of the life and work of one of England's most mysterious literary figures, and the revised edition expands on Leach's important research.

In the Shadow of the Dreamchild uses new research to show that the long-standing image of the life of Charles Dodgson, better known to millions of fans around the world as Lewis Carroll, as exclusively child-centred and unworldly, his preoccupation with Alice Liddell, and his supposedly unnatural sexuality are all in fact nothing more than myths: that they belong to an invented persona, created around the name "Carroll," and have almost nothing to do with Dodgson's real but overshadowed life. Meticulously researched, the book traces the development of this false persona and demonstrates how generations of biographers have helped to create fictions about Dodgson's life, rather than bring the documentary facts before the public. It uses the data to recreate a startlingly new picture of Dodgson's personality, his experiences, and, crucially, his all-important relationship with the Liddell family. In the Shadow of the Dreamchild challenges almost every scholastic and literary insight on Carroll that has developed over the past century.

It has long been suggested that Lewis Carroll entertained sexual thoughts about the young girl who was the inspiration for Alice. This book rejects such claims and uses hitherto-unpublished evidence to suggest the real focus for his affections.

"'Lewis Carroll was not the tragic deviant all previous biographers have assumed him to be. He was not in love with Alice Liddell or obsessed with little girls...The objects of his intense sexual desire were women, full-blooded, 'tall and lithe'. His one testament of passion is of erotic physical consummation with a mature and powerful woman. In his most private writings, he identified himself with the sin of David, which was not masturbation, or unruly fantasy, but adultery.....David's Psalm of keening repentance, 'make me a clean heart oh God', was Dodgson's most frequently-invoked prayer...'This is the central argument that has made this new biography of Lewis Carroll both controversial and enthralling.It uses new research to show that the long-standing image of Lewis Carroll (the pen-name of the author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson): his exclusively child-centred and unworldly life, his legendary obsession with Alice Liddell, and his supposedly unnatural sexuality, are in fact nothing more than myths.With precision and analysis the book traces the development of this false persona and demonstrates how generations of biographers have helped to create fictions about Lewis Carroll's life, rather than bring the documentary facts before the public. The dismantling of the myth, and the new image that is put in its place are inevitably controversial. Not everyone will be able to accept its conclusions, but the amount of new original research it contains means it is an immensely significant book, and one that anyone who has any interest in Lewis Carroll and his work, probably ought to have read.With its careful analysis, and its Gothic tale of cut pages, death bed confessions and hidden secrets, it is both an important scholastic work, and a book for anyone who enjoys an historical detective story." -- Amazon.com.

Max is not your usual five-year-old boy. Unable to speak, shy and strange, he was conceived while his mother was the victim of an alien abduction. Max is a unique being: a hybrid of human and alien. He carries the fate of all mankind in his tiny hands. And now that the government has discovered his powerful connection to the aliens, will Max survive long enough to fulfill his purpose--for either side? At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

The perfect companion to Lewis Carroll's classic book and director Tim Burton's March 2010 remake of Alice in Wonderland Alice?s Adventures in Wonderland has fascinated children and adults alike for generations. Why does Lewis Carroll introduce us to such oddities as blue caterpillars who smoke hookahs, cats whose grins remain after their heads have faded away, and a White Queen who lives backwards and remembers forwards? Is it all just nonsense? Was Carroll under the influence? This book probes the deeper underlying meaning in the Alice books, and reveals a world rich with philosophical life lessons. Tapping into some of the greatest philosophical minds that ever lived?Aristotle, Hume, Hobbes, and Nietzsche?Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy explores life?s ultimate questions through the eyes of perhaps the most endearing heroine in all of literature. Looks at compelling issues such as perception and reality as well as how logic fares in a world of lunacy, the Mad Hatter, clocks, and temporal passage Offers new insights into favorite Alice in Wonderland characters and scenes, including the Mad Hatter and his tea party, the violent Queen of Hearts, and the grinning Cheshire Cat Accessible and entertaining, Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy will enrich your experience of Alice's timeless adventures with new meaning and fun.

A new biography of Lewis Carroll, just in time for the release of Tim Burton's all-star Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carroll was brilliant, secretive and self contradictory. He reveled in double meanings and puzzles, in his fiction and his life. Jenny Woolf's The Mystery of Lewis Carroll shines a new light on the creator of Alice In Wonderland and brings to life this fascinating, but sometimes exasperating human being whom some have tried to hide. Using rarely-seen and recently discovered sources, such as Carroll's accounts ledger and unpublished correspondence with the "real" Alice's family, Woolf sets Lewis Carroll firmly in the context of the English Victorian age and answers many intriguing questions about the man who wrote the Alice books, such as: • Was it Alice or her older sister that caused him to break with the Liddell family? • How true is the gossip about pedophilia and certain adult women that followed him? • How true is the "romantic secret" which many think ruined Carroll's personal life? • Who caused Carroll major financial trouble and why did Carroll successfully conceal that person's identity and actions? Woolf answers these and other questions to bring readers yet another look at one of the most elusive English writers the world has known.