Lewis Carroll Letter Points to Pedophile Leanings

Alice in Wonderland's author is sending a message from the grave to the literary experts who have long wondered whether he was a pedophile. A privately held letter has emerged in which Lewis Carroll tells real-life Alice—a child friend 18 years his junior—about his fondness for kids and a preference for girls over boys, the Daily Mail writes.

The Oxford math don was good friends with Alice’s family until relations mysteriously cooled when she was 11. In the correspondence, written when Alice is 25, Carroll defends his fondness for children, particularly young girls whom he often photographed naked. The soon-to-be auctioned note provides a rare glimpse into the author’s shielded life. (More author stories.)