Book Recommendation: The Alice Network by Kate Quinn.

Posted On November 22, 2021

Hi Readers! It has been quite an eventful month! In November, not only have I read 9 books, I also watched 21 movies, caught on to making Instagram Reels, prepared dinner every weekend & also went to Mumbai to roam about! It’s always amazing to feel that the month is going long, especially when you are getting a lot done! The only thing where I would have increased my numbers are the blog posts I have written. It’s only 3 & I really wanted to write more. I read The Alice Network 7 books ago, but it was absolutely a stunning read. I didn’t review it until now because as you can see I am always doing something or the else. But, the time has finally come. Hope you like this review & would pick this up to read some day soon!

~~GOODREADS DESCRIPTION~~

In an enthralling new historical novel from national bestselling author Kate Quinn, two women—a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947—are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption.

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, code name Alice, 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.

~~WRITING STYLE & NARRATIVE~~

The story is divided into two parallels First one is during the Great War or World War I during the 1915s. This is the story where we meet young Evelyn Gardiner, aka Eve, aka code name Marguerite Le Francois, who goes from being a mere typist to being a spy. Another one is set in 1947, 2 years post World War II where we meet young knocked-up Charlie aka Charlotte St. Clair who sets off to find her cousin/best friend Rose Fournier who disappeared during WWII. We also meet many other war heroines during the story & one of the most evil scum of a man.

I loved reading both the parallels. In the WWI story, there is a lot of tension & anxiety, but the post WWII story is comparatively more like an adventure until it is not. The writing is such that the author has struck the perfect balance of tension & humour, war & love, naivety & experience. When I first started reading this book, I did not feel that energy & vibe which strongly lingers in the background in many wartime historical fiction novels. But, it soon picked up, but in a different sense. Through this story, we understand that not every woman needs to be a fighter or an under-cover soldier. Some of the legendary women are just spies who deliver all the substance through knowledge, which is incidentally mightier than the sword. It lacked action, but it made up just perfectly without it because women can be a lot more than just a body in the field. Women are intelligent, observant, perceptive & bold in addition to being a body in the field. The writing conveyed that message spot on which is what I found was different in this book.

~~EVE GARDINER~~

There are a lot of quite brilliant characters in The Alice Network. Let’s start with Eve, because her character development is nothing short of astounding. When we are first introduced to her, she is a deer caught in the headlights, but by the end of the story it is the other way around. She is a typist who couldn’t find any other job because she had a mild stutter. Her journey starts there & gets better & better. She is recruited as a spy & soon you realise how much of a natural she is at it. Her ability of not showing her inner emotions through her eyes or face was remarkable. Add to that, her way with words was simply brilliant. Also might I say, it was perfectly written & portrayed given that women are perceived to be ‘overly emotional fools blabbering all over the place’ even in the 21^st century. That implication was simply ingenious. We see all of this in the first parallel, and then we are met with the old & cranky Eve in the second parallel who is not only badass but sadly who also doesn’t give care about anything or anyone & finds herself completely purposeless in her own small world full of regrets. I will say it again, the writing was incredibly masterful insofar that so much happens to Eve from that girl to the old lady. It is a journey wonderfully written & one I loved to read. I always rooted for Eve & she was the sole reason I read The Alice Network. I can go on & on about this one character who has touched me greatly (only second time after Jude St. Francis from A Little Life!), but I will now move to others!

~~CHARLIE ST. CLAIR~~

19-year-old Charlie was the second main character in the story. Before Eve, she did not really stand much of a chance to make a solid impression on me. Nevertheless, I liked her & her character growth was really good too. But there are major characters arcs like Eve’s where there are multitudes of ups & downs like in a real person’s life. And then there are minor character arcs like Charlie’s where the only growth is her decision to keep the baby she is pregnant with, deciding how to make a livelihood & not live under the thumb of her parents & how to transform her hurt into passion & love. It was nothing traumatic & nothing measurable to Eve, but could be possibly relatable to many people & is a more modern yet cliché kind of an arc which we see in many books & movies these days.

~~OTHER CHARACTERS~~

In the WWI parallel, we see other characters of whom my favourites are code name Alice Dubois aka pet code name Lili aka real name Louise de Bettignies. The novel is named The Alice Network because she was the one who had hundreds of women spies reporting to her in France. Eve is just one of hundreds, but to the reader she is the one the book should have been named after. But I don’t have any complaints because as soon as you are introduced to Lili in Lille, you love her. She is this tiny colourful lively person on & off of her spy-life.

And then we have Alice’s lieutenant code name Violette Lameron aka real name Léonie van Houtte, who is like the elder sister to them all. I loved someone who was hard on them so that they could learn from their mistakes, especially since it’s a life & death job. Both Alice and Léionie are real-life historical figures who played a vital role in the real-life Alice Network which operated in German-occupied France and Belgium in 1947.

There was also René in this story who Eve worked for & who soon became her mortal enemy. I cannot write about that vile man. The kind of hate which is written into his character is brilliant, so much so that I, a book reviewer find it difficult to talk about such a cruel character without wanting to punch things. Lastly, in the post WWII parallel, we have the lovely Finn, who is a car geek & the third partner in crime alongside Eve & Charlie. There is also Caption Cecil Aylmir Cameron aka Uncle Edward (also real-life historical figure) who recruited and trained the women.

~~TO READ OR NOT TO READ~~

There are many trigger warnings you need to be aware about in The Alice Network. These include violence, rape, sexual assault, abortion, torture & alcoholism are a few of them. You should not read the book if it will affect you in a bad way because of these triggers. Also, this book talks about both the wars, so if that affects you, you should not read this book.

If you find it a worthy reading experience to feel the pain of characters in a wartime period historical fiction novel, then you should read The Alice Network. If you marvel over character-driven writing, then The Alice Network should be your next read. If you are a feminist & love reading stories about women empowerment in a fictional setting, then please read The Alice Network right away because it is a gem of a book in those areas. And lastly, if you are looking to jump out of a reading slump, then this book is definitely a good idea.

At 1600+ words, I think I should stop writing now, but if you read all these 1600+ words, thank you so much! Just like an author loved it when their readers pour themselves into their thick novels, this blogger & book reviewer also loves it when you all pour yourselves into my reviews! Thank you!

Until next time,