Insanity : Book Review
While Lewis Carroll only wrote two Alice books, many authors have borrowed the characters and written books or even series of their own. I am currently reading the Mad in Wonderland Chronicles by Cameron Jace. The first book is called Insanity and is available for your kindle or in paperback.
![Insanity: An Alice Wonder Supernatural Thriller (Mad in Wonderland Chronicles) by [Jace, Cameron]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41WeakGa3mL.jpg)
In this book, we are introduced to Alice Wonder, a teen girl who is a patient in a psychiatric hospital. She was declared insane after murdering her entire class on a school bus. She doesn't remember her crime, or much of her life outside the hospital. All she knows is that she doesn't think she is a killer.
I found it interesting that Alice's name is Alice Pleasance Wonder, and the girl thought to be the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was named Alice Pleasance Liddell. The character in the book also has sister's named Lorina and Edith, just like Alice Liddell. In the book, Alice Wonder senses that her sisters don't like her, and she doesn't trust them. This is different from the accounts of Alice Liddell, who was supposedly close to her sisters.
Insanity also introduces to Dr Pillar, aka Pillar the Killer. He is a VIP patient at the hospital and is obsessed with the Original Alice book, Alice's Adventure's Under Ground. He claims that reading the book changed him, and inspired him to commit multiple murders. He smokes a hookah and is very good at escaping the asylum. He also is very good at manipulating the head doctor, which is how Dr Pillar and Alice are able to have adventures outside of the asylum.
In Insanity, Alice and Dr Pillar adventure outside of the asylum in an effort to catch the modern day Cheshire Cat who is a political assassin, escaped from Wonderland. He has been killing young women and taunting the police. Dr Pillar believes that only the real Alice can stop him, and has recruited Alice Wonder, because he believes she is that girl.
Alice Wonder goes to Tom Tower at Oxford University to look for clues to help find the Cheshire Cat and save a little girl named, Constance. While there, she comes across a plate of Cheshire Cheese that she must eat in order to find the clue inside. Cheshire cheese is a dense, crumbly cheese produced in Cheshire England.
Later in the book, Constance is kidnapped a second time while on her way to the Alice shop. This is a real store, located across the street from Christ Church College in Oxford, England. It has been selling Alice in Wonderland themed gifts since the 1960s, although it has been open for more than 150 years. It was originally a grocery store that appears in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass. I definitely have a new place to visit on my bucket list.
The last modern day thing I want to point out from the book Insanity is the festival called Kattenstoet. In the book, this is where Alice and Dr Pillar launch their final battle to save Constance. This is literally the Festival of Cats. The town of Ypres, Belgium has a yearly celebration where people dress up as cats, mice and witches. They parade through town to the Cloth Hall tower, where a jester throws stuffed cats down to the people. This is to symbolize the cats being thrown from the tower and killed during the witch trials of the 1800s. There is even a mock witch burning at the end of the festivities. I love odd little festivals, so I would definitely check this out.
Some of my favorite quotes from this book are:
In this book, we are introduced to Alice Wonder, a teen girl who is a patient in a psychiatric hospital. She was declared insane after murdering her entire class on a school bus. She doesn't remember her crime, or much of her life outside the hospital. All she knows is that she doesn't think she is a killer.
I found it interesting that Alice's name is Alice Pleasance Wonder, and the girl thought to be the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was named Alice Pleasance Liddell. The character in the book also has sister's named Lorina and Edith, just like Alice Liddell. In the book, Alice Wonder senses that her sisters don't like her, and she doesn't trust them. This is different from the accounts of Alice Liddell, who was supposedly close to her sisters.
Insanity also introduces to Dr Pillar, aka Pillar the Killer. He is a VIP patient at the hospital and is obsessed with the Original Alice book, Alice's Adventure's Under Ground. He claims that reading the book changed him, and inspired him to commit multiple murders. He smokes a hookah and is very good at escaping the asylum. He also is very good at manipulating the head doctor, which is how Dr Pillar and Alice are able to have adventures outside of the asylum.
In Insanity, Alice and Dr Pillar adventure outside of the asylum in an effort to catch the modern day Cheshire Cat who is a political assassin, escaped from Wonderland. He has been killing young women and taunting the police. Dr Pillar believes that only the real Alice can stop him, and has recruited Alice Wonder, because he believes she is that girl.
Alice Wonder goes to Tom Tower at Oxford University to look for clues to help find the Cheshire Cat and save a little girl named, Constance. While there, she comes across a plate of Cheshire Cheese that she must eat in order to find the clue inside. Cheshire cheese is a dense, crumbly cheese produced in Cheshire England.
Later in the book, Constance is kidnapped a second time while on her way to the Alice shop. This is a real store, located across the street from Christ Church College in Oxford, England. It has been selling Alice in Wonderland themed gifts since the 1960s, although it has been open for more than 150 years. It was originally a grocery store that appears in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass. I definitely have a new place to visit on my bucket list.
The last modern day thing I want to point out from the book Insanity is the festival called Kattenstoet. In the book, this is where Alice and Dr Pillar launch their final battle to save Constance. This is literally the Festival of Cats. The town of Ypres, Belgium has a yearly celebration where people dress up as cats, mice and witches. They parade through town to the Cloth Hall tower, where a jester throws stuffed cats down to the people. This is to symbolize the cats being thrown from the tower and killed during the witch trials of the 1800s. There is even a mock witch burning at the end of the festivities. I love odd little festivals, so I would definitely check this out.
Some of my favorite quotes from this book are:
- Some people don't like murder for breakfast. It's just not their thing. -Prologue
- I don't know that I want to commit a murder for my breakfast, but I definitely like reading the news while I drink my coffee. The news is full of death and dismay. Maybe that is what they are referencing.
- I wonder if evolution wasn't from ape to man, but from insane to sane. -Ch17
- This is an interesting thought. As a society we tend to act like people who think differently than we do are crazy. I bet people thought the Wright brothers were insane for wanting to fly, or Edison was crazy for playing with electricity. Maybe we evolve by adapting insane ideas to create a more sane world.
- The most common trait in insane people is that they think they aren't insane. According to the Pillar's logic, we're all insane. The only way to survive insanity is to admit it.
- I think this quote is the one that speaks to me the most. Not because I think we are all insane, but because I think in order to grow as people we must first accept ourselves, faults and all.
I highly recommend reading this book. It was fun and made me look into the insanity of the world around us. Hopefully I didn't spoil any of it for you.
Let me know your thoughts.
Happy reading,
Kristie
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