Clara in Blunderland

Clara in Blunderland
First edition cover of Clara in Blunderland
Author(s)	Caroline Lewis
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre(s)	Fantasy novel, Parody
Publisher	William Heinemann
Publication date	1902
Media type	Print (Hardback)
Pages	xvi, 150
ISBN	NA
Followed by	Lost in Blunderland

Clara in Blunderland is a novel by Caroline Lewis (pseudonym for Edward Harold Begbie, J. Stafford Ransome, and M. H. Temple), written in 1902 and published by William Heinemann of London. It is a political parody of Lewis Carroll's two books, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. The book was followed a year later by a sequel, Lost in Blunderland.

The book is critical of the British Government's engagement in the Second Boer War. A number of prominent politicians are represented by characters from the "Alice" books: Clara (the equivalent of Alice) represents Arthur Balfour, the Leader of the House of Commons;^[1] the Red Queen is Joseph Chamberlain, the Duchess is Robert Cecil, Crumpty-Bumpty is Henry Campbell-Bannerman, the Walrus is William Vernon Harcourt, the Dalmeny Cat is Lord Rosebery,^[2] and the Caterpillar is Winston Churchill.

The book features 40 drawings after the originals by John Tenniel which were drawn by journalist J. Stafford Ransome, credited as "S.R.".

2010 edition cover of Clara in Blunderland

Bibliography

• Lewis, Caroline (2010) Clara in Blunderland. Evertype. ISBN 9781904808497

Notes

1. ^ Sigler, Carolyn, ed. 1997. Alternative Alices: Visions and Revisions of Lewis Carroll's "Alice" Books. Lexington, KY, University Press of Kentucky. Pp. 340-347
2. ^ Dickinson, Evelyn. 1902. "Literary Note and Books of the Month", in United Australia, Vol. II, No. 12, 20 June 1902