All Alice’s parents knew was that she had gone to a sleepover. Next thing they know, there’s a policeman knocking on their door at one o’clock in the morning - that can never be good. They’re rushed to hospital, where they then find their daughter lying on a bed, machines keeping her alive, almost as white as the sheets she lies on.
This story is the first I’ve read by Cathy Cassidy for a long time. I found it at my local library and after reading the first page or so, I found myself hooked. This is one of those retellings which could go either way, but Cassidy has done an amazing job weaving in literal and metaphorical links between her book and Carroll’s.
The story is told from three places - from the point of view of Alice, who is in Wonderland; from what happened at the sleepover that lead to her injury and it also tells the story of what is happening in the lives of those around her while she is in a coma. Each of the parts is woven into each other, with one chapter being of one time and place, the next of another, which I feel worked better than having it in three large chunks, as it slowly built up the picture of what happened that night and how everyone is coping.
This book reopened my eyes to what I used to love about Cathy Cassidy’s books. Personally, I would have liked a little more detail of the happenings in Wonderland, but I wouldn’t cut out any of the chapters to make room for elaboration. I give it four and a half out of five and would definitely read it again.
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Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop.
