The Final Alice
by
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Riddle me this, riddle me that. Deal the cards and roll the dice. Had I a choice, I’d begin with the blonde sand, the wooden boardwalk and the cool autumn wind. I’d start with the image of my hands draped along the last of the swaying green fronds and my shiny black shoes, difficult to walk in on the uneven boards. I knew who waited for me on that beach, probably counting the seconds until my arrival. Had I a choice, I’d begin at the very moment I turned the corner but, as they told the first Alice, it’s always best to begin at the beginning and make your way from there.
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About the Book
When thirty year old Alice Pleasance feels her life and writing career going nowhere, she fears her namesake ancestor, a resourceful girl immortalized in a classic novel, would be disappointed by and ashamed of her failures. This fear is abated when Alice is approached by a talking deer who explains that Alice has been chosen to battle the Red King, a manipulative and evil shape-shifter, in order to thwart his plans to infect and control humanity. Mysterious and ominous appearances of the numbers 10:10 convince Alice that although she may not know what is coming, she must relinquish self doubt to defeat it. Joined by a makeshift army of two telekinetic children, a dog who grows to dragon-size, a pair of ex-soldier Nigerian twins, and a bodiless Compass who desperately wants to become a real girl, Alice prepares for a terrifying and unpredictable confrontation.
A ring of child pornographers, cruel office managers, sadistic cheerleaders, and a two-headed contractor are only some of the obstacles Alice must face and eliminate in order to own her role in a family well-versed in nightmarish fairy tales and spiritual riddles.
Funny, poignant, provocative, and disturbing, the story illustrates the epic details often existing in everyday life, the power of imagination, and the requirements of redemption. This surreal, adult adventure is a new slice of Wonderland for a very modern audience.
A lysergic head trip of a novel, The Final Alice is the rare tale that possesses equal measures of heart, wit, and inspired, demented madness. Alycia Ripley's fine novel deserves to be read, re-read, analyzed, debated, and perhaps become the sacred text of a passionate cult.
-James Ponsoldt, writer/director of Off the Black, Smashed, and The Spectacular Now
About the Author
A Buffalo, New York native, Alycia Ripley is a graduate of Syracuse University and received her M.F.A in Creative Writing from New York University. Her first novel, 'Traveling With An Eggplant', a surreal story based on her time in New York CIty at a music magazine and swirled with personal life and relationship details, was published in 2005. The book tour for 'Eggplant' brought her to several cities and gave her the chance to answer questions from and speak to many enthusiastic readers including college students and ladies who lunch. Her intention has always been to build a Decalogue of work that deals with themes of destiny, struggle, self-actualization and redemption through community. To this end, her latest offering, 'The Final Alice,' is the first book in a trilogy that deals expressly with these themes and allows her to utilize her love of 'Alice in Wonderland' through bringing to life a very modern and adult update. In addition to her new novel, she is a co-editor of the 'Voices from the Herd' anthology, a frequent magazine and website contributor, and an actress, having performed in such Off-Broadway plays as 'Burn This,' 'Barefoot In the Park,' a voice actor on an animated series, and a spokemodel for the Australian skin care line, Become Beauty. In her spare time her extracurricular activities include protecting the magical source seated within the middle of her favorite South Pacific island alongside Jack, Hurley, Kate and Jacob, her ultimate goal being to defeat the Man in Black. More information can be found at www.alyciaripley.com.