‘A
lice in Wonderland has a level of cultural capital that perhaps a lot of other children’s classics don’t,” Anna James tells me, speaking over video call.
“Almost everybody has some familiarity with Wonderland, which means that it’s a really fun world to play in. There’s a lot of affection and knowledge.” In June, 160 years after the publication of the original Alice, HarperCollins Children’s Books will publish James’ middle-grade novel Alice with a Why, a sequel of sorts – although it can also be read as a standalone book. Featuring Matthew Land’s gorgeous black and white illustrations, James combines joyful homage and fantastical adventure to take readers on a whirlwind trip through Wonderland with a new protagonist, who is the granddaughter of Lewis Carroll’s original heroine. The year is 1919 and Alyce is living with her grandmother following the death of her father in the First World War. A mysterious invitation to a very curious sounding tea party brings the realisation that her grandmother’s strange stories of a place called Wonderland might just be true… But the Wonderland Alyce finds her way to has changed from her grand- mother’s time, trapped in its own war between the Sun King and the Moon Queen. Alyce is tasked with putting things right, with help from friends old and new. James worked as a school librarian before
becoming a book blogger and arts journalist (including a stint as book news editor at The Bookseller). Always an aficionado of classic children’s books, she wove this passion into her children’s fiction debut, Tilly and the Bookwanderers. The first in a six-book series, Pages & Co, the story revolves around a magical bookshop where Tilly and her friends can follow beloved characters into their thrilling worlds. Her decision to write about the classics was very much rooted in her love of them as a reader.
began to play with ideas of using the classics motif outside of Pages & Co, eventually landing on Alice in Wonderland. From there James says that “the phrase ‘Alice with a why’ came to me quite organically”.
C
arroll’s original is out of copyright, meaning that James had free rein without the restrictions of a literary estate, although she is keen to stress that: “I do feel that you have a
responsibility to other people’s characters and worlds.” The world itself is, she believes, what readers are keen to revisit, and the daunting process of reimagining that world without trampling all over people’s perceptions remained at the forefront of her mind. “Wonderland itself is out of time. You can use a mix of Carroll’s characters and your own,” she continues. “But I wanted it to be a book that wasn’t just nostalgic. I wanted it to feel like Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland but with an Anna James story in it.” The original book is, she explains, wonderful in so many ways “but it doesn’t necessarily have a linear arc”. James wanted to honour that feeling of stumbling from vignette to vignette, meeting different characters in each one, but also wanted to thread through an emotional journey. The timeline enabling the original Alice’s granddaughter to become the heroine put the story quite neatly just past the end of the First World War. James’ grandfather, who was integral to her relationship with books and reading, passed away before she became a published author and remains influential to her writing. “I find myself drawn to that idea of what happens when someone who has had a big impact on you is no longer there.” Her vision of Wonderland echoes the ambience of post-war England, a little faded and battered, allowing Alyce to work through her own feelings of grief. Finding a unique voice for the book, which
Nonsense is so hard to write. Realising that the nonsense needed to be rooted in real things, almost all the time, really helped me to get the voice and work it out.
“With Pages & Co I had been playing with the classics, which was honestly my favourite part of writing them,” James confesses. “I’ve always been interested in which books last and why, how children’s relationships with them evolve, which books modern children enjoy.” Key to this, she continues, was the creative challenge of capturing the feel of the different worlds. “Why does Green Gables feel like Green Gables? Why does Wonderland feel like it does? I really enjoyed writing those scenes and trying to get to the core of how you make those worlds feel the same.” James and her editor Nick Lake
also captured the literary nonsense of the original, was, James admits, her biggest challenge. “Nonsense is so hard to write,” she tells me, laughing. She found herself agonising over every sentence; the wrong word might feel too silly, or not nonsensical enough. “One word in the wrong place ruined the tone. It took a lot of tinkering to get that balance right.” She kept Martin Gardner’s The Annotated Alice, an encyclopaedic guide to the extensive literary, political and historical references in Carroll’s work, close to hand. “Realising that the nonsense needed to be rooted in real things, almost all the time, really helped me to get the voice and work it out.” Aside from all the clever- ness of Carroll’s book, James believes its enduring appeal lies firmly with the iconic characters, many of whom make an appearance in Alice with a Why. “The Hatter, the White Rabbit, they’re incredibly appealing, silly characters. It does a disservice to the book not to note the fun of it.” The original Alice was, she asserts, perhaps the first children’s book that prioritised reading for
Key backlist
Anna James Tilly and the Bookwanderers HarperCollins Children’s Books, £7.99, 9780008229870
James’ debut novel introduces Tilly and her grandparents’ bookshop, where classic literary characters, including Anne of Green Gables, appear through the magic of “bookwandering”. “A delight from the first page to the last,” said the Mail on Sunday.
57,176 TCM copies sold
Anna James Tilly and the Lost Fairy Tales HarperCollins Children’s Books, £7.99, 9780008229917
Tilly and best friend Oskar bravely bookwander into the world of fairy tales in the second Pages & Co adventure. BookTrust called the series “a warm tribute to the joy of stories”.
21,667 TCM copies sold
Anna James Tilly and the Map of Stories HarperCollins Children’s Books, £7.99, 9780008229948
The third instalment of Pages & Co sees Tilly head to America to find the legendary Archivists and save bookwandering. The series enjoyed a strong reception in the US, including a Barnes & Noble Book of the Month slot.
16,283 TCM copies sold
pleasure. “At the time it was a revelation to have a book about joy and the fun of words and not trying to teach anything.” James has carved a literary niche for herself
by reimagining classic characters in a way that makes them resonate with today’s children. She picks the books very carefully, only choosing things she would personally recommend, and is careful to have her characters discuss the context of any troubling aspects, such as the language in The Secret Garden. She is curious to know what modern readers might make of Carroll’s original and hopes Alice with a Why will inspire them to try it. “It makes my librarian soul happy when children tell me they have wanted to read the books they have encountered in my work.”
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JACK WRIGHTON
Books Author Profile
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