The Alice Network by Kate Quinn is a general market historical novel set during WWI and in the years following WWII. That being said there are adult situations and adult language. Plus content that may be distressing or offensive to some readers (war, torture, abortion). Okay, that’s out of the way. If any of that is not your cup of tea, you can quit reading now. 😉 It was definitely a hard read for me, and I am not sure I would have stuck with it if it had not been a book club selection. But as one friend put it, the ending more than made up for the hard stuff. The characters are complex, if not totally likable, the historical references fascinating, and the plot made it a page turner. There’s intrigue, suspense, mystery, and romance. There’s revenge and justice too. The backdrop of the WWI spy network known as the Alice Network made me Google. Did I like everything about the book? No. But I am glad I read it. My book club did agree, however, that we needed a recovery book following this. 😉
Audience: Adults
(I purchased the novel from Amazon. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)
1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She’s also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie’s parents banish her to Europe to have her “little problem” taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.
1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she’s recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she’s trained by the mesmerizing Lili, the “Queen of Spies”, who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy’s nose.
Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn’t heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth…no matter where it leads.
Kate Quinn is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. A native of southern California, she attended Boston University where she earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Classical Voice. She has written four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga, and two books in the Italian Renaissance, before turning to the 20th century with “The Alice Network”, “The Huntress,” “The Rose Code,” and “The Diamond Eye.” All have been translated into multiple languages. Kate and her husband now live in San Diego with three rescue dogs.
I am glad you liked this one, overall. I am starting a new book club in my new area, and we are meeting next Wednesday for the first time. I have said from the beginning it will be a clean reads book club, I am hoping that the ladies will stick with it and we will all get along and become friends.
We are pretty like minded as well. Sometimes it’s hard to vet a general market novel. The Gown was a favorite of ours.