Like I said, I don’t want to give away all historical and mad facts mentioned in the series, as I plan to use them as plot devices in future books. However, here are a few facts I was asked to mention by readers who received advance copies:
1) Addresses and locations used in the series are all real, including the Fat Duck restaurant and its famous mock turtle soup. Even the Kattenstoet festival in the last book is real. Please check the Pinterest page.
2) Fat Duck restaurant is owned by Heston Blumenthal, not Gordon Ramsey, who is famously known for the Hell’s Kitchen TV series – not our Gorgon Ramstein/Muffin Man/cook in the book.
3) Einstein’s room in Oxford University is real, and it was Lewis Carroll’s studio two centuries ago. As for Einstein’s Blackboard, it can only be found in the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford. I have no idea if it can time-travel, but wouldn’t be cool if it does?
4) Lewis' obsession with poor Victorian children, especially girls, is true. It shows in his photography, which will play a crucial role in future plots. They are maddeningly interesting, dark, and very mysterious if you take a look at them.
5) According to my research, and some BBC documentaries, legal controversy about the double-bar chocolates is true. I am sure the food companies didn’t kill the Muffin Man’s family, though. But the debate is there, and not a figment of my imagination.
6) The Iain West Forensic Suite, an extension to the Westminster Public Mortuary in London, is also real. It’s high tech and was developed by the government for intricate investigations.
7) Lewis wrote the Queen of Hearts alluding to Queen Victoria. There is a lot of research that supports that fact. Alice in Wonderland isn’t just a children’s book filled with amusing mathematical facts, plays on words, and nonsensical arguments. It’s also a political satire concerning the Victorian era.
8) Last but not least, the Queen of England’s case about her nuts did happen in real life. You can Google it and get the details. However, there isn’t the slightest intention to offend anyone with the possibility of her being the Queen of Hearts. (So far, we can’t really tell if she is. Further explanations will take place in book 3.) The way most of this series is written, I try to stay true to Lewis Carroll’s work in its context. If the Queen of Hearts was alluding to Queen Victoria, then in a modern fictional adaptation, it could be the Queen of England. (Which, again, we aren’t really sure about yet.)
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