The Alice Network: A Novel

American author Kate Quinn's new historical novel "The Alice Network", is set in two times - 1915 and 1947 - and the two stories are told in alternating chapters. The first one is told in the third person, while the second is told in the first person. That's a tricky maneuver for the best writer, but Quinn carries off one section quite well, while doing not as well in the other. The first story is about a British spy network - the "Alice Network" -operating in German-occupied northwestern France. Most of the agents were women and they were led by a real character, Louise de Bettignies, whose code name was "Lili". She was joined by fictional British/French Evelyn Gardiner, whose code name was "Marguerite". Marguerite was posted to work in a French collaborator's restaurant in Lille, serving the German diners and picking up tidbits along the way she'd pass to Lili, her British handler.The second story is set in 1947 and is the story about Evelyn Gardiner - now aged - and Charlotte St Clair - a 19 year old American who has come over to France with her mother to obtain a safe, legal abortion in Switzerland. She meets up with Eve and Eve's chauffeur, a Scot soldier named Finn. They are all looking for something, someone, in post-WW2 France. The second part is definitely the weaker of the two sections. Somehow, Eve - who was drawn really well in the first section - has devolved a bit into a caricature in this section and neither Finn or Charlie seem too real, either. I'm giving the book 4 stars because the first part is 5 star, while the second is 3 star.By the way, Kate Quinn writes about a real incident that happened in a small town outside of Limoges a few days after the DDay landings in Normandy. The Germans destroyed a village called Oradour-sur-Glane and murdered most of the residents. All told, over 600 people were murdered by a detachment of the Waffin-SS, who were looking for French partisans, supposedly operating out of the village. If you're interested in knowing more about this heinous crime, please look into Ethan Mordden's marvelous short novel, "One Day in France". It was published in 2015 and is still in print.

It is an entertaining book and I enjoyed reading it, but I gave it only 3 stars because it has incongruences and a all-is-well one-star end.It is the story of 2 women, 2 wars and one nasty male traitor.Eve and her story in WWI is well written and very engaging. I admired how the author could recreate masterfully the atmosphere of occupied France and the life of a female secret agent who was working to spy on the German invaders.  The male French collaborateur is also well depicted.  Eve and her challenges are all real.  The decadent verses of Bodelaire echoe in the air.  I went to re-read "Les Fleurs du Mal". The predator -prey relationship is artistically defined.The story of Charlie, on the other hand, is weaker and tainted by an unrealistic modern American feministic approach.  She is the second protagonist of this book: underaged, pregnant and searching for a purpose in life,  she goes on a quest all by herself, against the wishes of a pathetic mother, trying to clarify what happened to her beloved cousin who disappeared during WWII.  She's more predictable and less real.  No girl in those days would find liberation and consolation to a PTSD by sleeping with all her university pals.  Sex and self liberation were not connected.Her mother is more of a caricature of the ideal idiotic burgeoise maman than a true character.  The Scottish hunk who accompanies both ladies in their quest  is a little bit of a joke, a candy for dreaming housewives. It seems to spring out of one of those cheap romantic novels which you buy at gas stations and corner stores. The illustration on the cover would portray this handsome shirtless mechanic passionately embracing the beautiful young girl in the rear of a stunning 1900's collector car.The grand finale is bombastically unreal. It seems out of a Far West movie.  In a nutshell: half of this book was truly great, the other half was a disappoiniment.  Perhaps this stems from the fact that I had the privilege of hearing first hand stories from real French, Italian and German women, who lived during WWII and whose mothers lived during the previous war.  This talented but somehow naive author seems to have grasped some of the truths of what happened and how people were during those days, but her modern North American cultural approach reveals that she has more groundwork to do.Personally, I found the end a literay mistake: unrealistic, rushed, over optimistic and somewhat childish.

The premise was good but the feminist viewpoint was literally shoved down your throat. Constant references to how women didn't have the same rights and over exaggeration of how it was. It was a different time and you cannot judge the past by today's standards though the author repeatedly does. The main character is a total tramp who sleeps with multiple men and doesn't know the father of her baby. She then makes excuses for her behavior and acts angry when people treat her like a tramp??!! I mean what did she expect? The whole thing was infuriating and I couldn't finish it. The down your throat feminist ruined this story.

This book was painful to read. I had to force myself through the text to justify my purchase, but I was completely disappointed from the onset with the narration, the characters, and the overall plot. I love historical fiction, and I love spy books, so this book seemed like it would be a win for me. Turns out, while the book boasts to be historical fiction about a spy network during WWI, what it actually is, is cheesy chick-lit. Everything down the the heroine's name (Charlotte "Charlie" St. Clair- really?) is frivolous. Charlie's chapters rendered her very unlikable to me, though I imagine the goal was to make her come across as cheeky and independent, I just thought it was trite. Really, I found the story line could have been compelling if I wasn't so distracted by the terrible writing style that screamed of super market romance novel. Bottom line- I hated this book.

In the never-ending search for good novels, reviews play a significant part. I bought this novel based on the reviews on Amazon, Goodreads and in the press. It is the story of two female spies, one working in the First World War and the other in the Second, who are brought together through a mutual connection. The premise ought to have resulted in a compelling story, but sadly the characters are shallow and wooden, the plots poorly executed and, a particular bugbear of historical novels, the research is poor. Nothing stops a novel in its tracks more than anachronisms and this is a case in point.I know many people have enjoyed this book, but I really do think we should be more demanding of authors. The superficial can only entertain for so long.

Spy story ? We think of 007 or some sleazy character popping out of the cold. In “The Alice Network”, the spy is female, afflicted with a stutter and masquerading as a waitress in Lille in 1915. Eve, the spy in question, is a good comedian. To René, the owner-manager of the luxury restaurant where she works, she can appear as a simpleton, but an attractive simpleton just the same. She ends up in his bed. Eve, in fact, is very clever, well-organised, disciplined and resourceful. She is also fluent in three languages : English, French and German.Lille is then in German-occupied France. Just as Eve does not fit in with the usual idea of a spy, René does not fit in with the general idea of an arch villain : he is tall, slim, elegant and educated, but down deep he really is a horrible human being. Actively collaborating with the Germans, he is totally self-centred and ruthless.What René does to Eve and to another one of his waitresses, is for the reader to discover. There is also a secondary plot : a love story told vigorously, without sentimentality.It is important to know that the character of Eve was inspired by a real female spy of WW1 : Louise de Bettignies.The novel is well written, and keeps us on tenterhooks the whole time. The style remains sober while managing to create an atmosphere of unrelenting dread and gloom.A final remark : when anyone mentions the words "occupied France", we think of WW2 and the cloak of horror that Nazis had been spreading over occupied countries, but the attitude of the Germans in the part of France they controlled in WW1 was equally horrific.

The Alice Network is a dual timeline spy thriller.When World War One broke out, Eve yearned to take part. Raised by dual nationality parents and brought up in a French town where she also picked up a third language, Eve became an ideal recruit for Britain’s spy network.In 1947 Charlie St. Clair, an American teenager, comes to Britain searching for a woman who might be able to help her find her French cousin who disappeared during the Second World War. In London, she discovers a broken and grieving woman who finds nightly solace in a bottle of whisky.As the story unfolds, Eve and Charlie connect and we are drawn into a tale of the Alice Network, one of the most successful spy rings of the first World War.I’m so glad that I finally got to read this book. I’m a fan of well-written and atmospheric stories of espionage, particularly set during war times. The dual timeline worked well and I was equally invested in both women's stories. It was one of those books that I didn’t want to end. The author’s notes at the back were also particularly interesting, giving a little more insight into the true events of the time.Overall, give this a go if you enjoy books about women's roles during World War One.

This novel alternates between two time periods with one of the main characters, Eve, as the link between the two. The earlier period focuses on her time as an English spy working in German-occupied France as part of The Alice Network in the First World War. The novel goes back and forth to the events of 1915 from 1947 when an American girl, Charlotte, is looking for a missing relative. She tracks down Eve whose name she has been given as a possible lead and they form an alliance to seek out the truth. As the novel progresses, I warmed to Eve in the same way that Charlotte does, and the author skilfully builds up this relationship as well as Charlotte's relationship with Eve's driver. It is well written with good historical accuracy and themes of the emotional as well as physical damage from war, as well as love, guilt and revenge. I couldn't put it down when I nearer end the end as I needed to know what happened! Always a good sign!! I've given this a four star instead of five only because I felt the story about Charlie and Finn, whilst enjoyable, was a little predictable.

I give this book 4 stars as I can't give 3½. The story of Eve during WW1 is very interesting, and even more so when you get to the end and read the author's notes about the spy networks and the input of the women involved. The 1947 'lead', Charlie, is a spoiled brat who acts like one most of the time. And a calculus student who makes up silly equations. What was that about? I also had issues with some of the social history aspects - food and prices, and petrol and travel during the immediate post-war years were the main ones. Bread was still on ration in 1954 for example. American authors may do their research but they never seem to get Europe and UK quite right. Pavement please, not boardwalk. Read like a YA rather than a full adult book to me.