Book Review: The Alice Network

There are two kinds of flowers when it comes to women…the kind that sit safe in a beautiful vase, or the kind that survive in any conditions…..even in evil.

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

Since reading THE THINGS WE CANNOT SAY and THE TATTOOIST OF AUSCHWITZ, I have wanted to read EVERYTHING and ANYTHING related to WWII. I REALLY go in phases when I read…I guess I am in my WAR phase this year. All the way last year, one of my sweet IG friends recommended THE ALICE NETWORK, and I finally got around to crossing it off my TBR list and I am SOOO glad I did.

THE ALICE NETWORK by Kate Quinn is really two intersecting stories, one from WWI France and one from post-WWII America. Charlie, an American college student, travels to Europe to deal with her “little problem”, aka an unplanned pregnancy, but decides while there, to attempt to find her cousin Rose, who has been missing since the war. Charlie manages to acquire the help of Eve Gardiner, an ex-WWI spy with A LOT of skeletons in her closet and a penchant for drinking. The story bounces back and forth between German-occupied France, where Eve is working with a network of British spies, and 1947 France where Eve is using her spy knowledge to help Charlie track her lost cousin. I was SOOO intrigued by the idea of a network of women spies, that I could NOT put this book down. Spies in general, but specifically women, are a part of history that I know VERY little (pretty much nothing) about, and I am so glad I was able to learn about these real-life women war heroes. (FYI–after reading the book, a GOOGLE search on the real-life Alice Network is SUPER interesting. But read the book first…otherwise…SPOILER ALERT.)

There was just SOOOO much to love about this book…the flawed characters, the raw truth, the historical backdrop, a touch of romance, the SPIES!! As a historical fiction lover, THE ALICE NETWORK checked off ALL of the boxes for me. I always love it when I find a book about a topic that is ENTIRELY new to me as well as a new author to enjoy. Happy Reading!! Jessica

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