Passport: England author Melanie Benjamin on research & imagination
The truth is, despite being a life-long Anglophile, I’ve never been to England. And since I did not know, while writing ALICE, if it would ever be published – and having two sons in college at the time! – I couldn’t justify the expense of traveling there.
And you know what? I think it’s a better book because of this.
There was a moment in the writing of the manuscript, you see, when I was utterly obsessed with details. I recall that moment clearly; it was in the scene when Alice and Mr. Dodgson are sneaking off to the garden behind the Deanery so that he can photograph her as the gypsy girl. For some reason I was stuck, unable to continue, because I didn’t know whether or not Alice and Dodgson would step up, or step down, to enter the garden. That’s all it was – that one detail of a step – but it paralyzed me. I would have given anything, at that moment, to jump on a plane and fly to England, drive to Oxford and see for myself. I just knew that the entire success of the book depended on my getting that one – very minor – detail right.
| Gypsy Girl Alice |
After stepping away for a moment and clearing my head, however, I suddenly realized something that absolutely freed me up. I realized that if, at that moment in the novel, the audience was so concerned with whether or not Alice stepped up or down, then I had failed miserably. The audience should be so caught up in the characters, the story, that details about a step wouldn’t matter at all. And realizing this set me free; it allowed me to trust my imagination as much as I trusted the historical details I could reasonably uncover. It allowed me to realize, once and for all, that I’m not a researcher, not a biographer, not a historian; I’m a storyteller.
Now, of course it’s important, as a historical novelist, to give a story a believable background. I had to know certain details about Oxford, about life in Victorian England; I had to ground my characters in their surroundings and time. So I read books set in the period; I found an amazing website, called Virtual Oxford, that allowed me to manipulate web cameras to see certain spots in that beautiful city. But of course, I always had to then research what was and was not around in the 1850s. And my life-long love affair with all things British – in the form of British literature, histories and biographies – paid off; I already had a solid background in the social conventions of the time.
| Tom Tower, Oxford |
In short, too much research took away my biggest asset as a novelist – my imagination. My ability to make things up, spin good yarns. Create compelling characters.
So while I would never knowingly rearrange history or put characters in places or events where it’s absolutely recorded they never were – neither do I now let the truth get in the way of a good story. Good historical fiction has to be grounded in history, but it’s up to the author to let it soar on the wings of her imagination and vision.
Someday I would love to go to England, to walk where Alice Liddell and Charles Dodgson walked. But in a way, I feel as if I already have, simply by imagining myself as that 7-year-old girl, accompanied by her sisters, her governess, her trusted friend, living life under the dreaming spires of Oxford.
Just before the novel was published, my literary agent warned me that I would probably never sell the rights to ALICE I HAVE BEEN in England; apparently the British aren’t too keen on the idea of Americans writing about their icons. And indeed, this has proven to be true; while I’ve sold rights to over ten countries so far, I have not sold rights to Great Britain.
However, one of the compliments I’ve most cherished is from one of those British editors who passed on the book; grudgingly, he did allow that I “got Oxford right.”
I couldn’t help but grin when I heard that. I wonder what this editor would have said if he’d known I’d never been there; that I “got Oxford right” while never leaving my home.
Don’t ever discount the power and usefulness of an author’s imagination. And don’t ever be afraid to trust in your own, as well.
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Fantastic post! Thank you so much Melanie! An imagination is a wonderful thing!
i have an earlier edition of this book, i gotta say I LOVE this cover…
Thank you for the lovely review and for the feature! I must point out, however, that the photograph you've featured that appears to be Dodgson kissing Alice is photoshopped; no such photograph was ever taken, and unfortunately this one has been widely shared on the Internet, giving more false credence to some of the rumors. This is actually two separate photographs, one of Dodgson alone, the other of Alice (her sister was also in the original, but has been removed), simply spliced together.