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A review by ederwin
Black Alice by John Sladek, Thom Demijohn, Thomas M. Disch
5.0
I picked this up because I'm interested in all things "Alice in Wonderland" related and it is co-written by a guy (Disch) known for dark science fiction. But this is not Sci/Fi and, apart from a few obvious references, has very little to do with "Alice in Wonderland". And yet, I'm so glad I found this. I devoured it from cover to cover with no stops to go read something else. (Many people read books that way, but I rarely do.)
The basics of the story is that a privileged little white girl gets kidnapped and gets to find out what it feels like for people to think she is black, and learns that not everyone is who they seem. She has to contend with being held prisoner in a very seedy brothel, and a confrontation with the KKK. Despite being put in an absurd and dangerous situation, she is never very scared and uses her wits to escape. (Just like the other Alice.) It is really a thrilling tale.
Two strangely coincidental big stories in the news just after I finished this book were about a white woman pretending to be black; and a mass murder in a black church by a white guy.
(The original book cover is off-putting, but I doubt the authors had much to do with that.)
The basics of the story is that a privileged little white girl gets kidnapped and gets to find out what it feels like for people to think she is black, and learns that not everyone is who they seem. She has to contend with being held prisoner in a very seedy brothel, and a confrontation with the KKK. Despite being put in an absurd and dangerous situation, she is never very scared and uses her wits to escape. (Just like the other Alice.) It is really a thrilling tale.
Two strangely coincidental big stories in the news just after I finished this book were about a white woman pretending to be black; and a mass murder in a black church by a white guy.
(The original book cover is off-putting, but I doubt the authors had much to do with that.)