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Book Summary and Reviews of The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

The Alice Network

A Novel

by Kate Quinn

  • Critics' Consensus (3):
  • Readers' Rating (2):
  • Published:
  • Jun 2017, 560 pages
  • Rate this book

About this book

Book Summary

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, 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.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
  1. Female friendship is a constant theme throughout The Alice Network. Charlie St. Clair and Eve Gardiner begin as antagonists, whereas Eve and Louise de Bettignies (Lili) are friends from the start. How does each friendship grow and change over the course of events?
  2. The young Eve introduced in 1915 is very different from the older Eve seen through Charlie's eyes in 1947. How and when did you see the young Eve begin to change into her older self? What was the catalyst of those changes?
  3. Lili tells Eve, "To tell the truth, much of this special work we do is quite boring." Did the realities of spy work surprise you, compared to the more glamorous version presented by Hollywood? How do you think you would have fared working for ...
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Reviews

Media Reviews

New York Times & USA Today Bestseller
#1 Globe and Mail Historical Fiction Bestseller
One of NPR's Best Books of the Year!
One of Bookbub's Biggest Historical Fiction Books of the Year!
Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick!
The 2017 Girly Book Club Book of the Year!
A Summer Book Pick from Good Housekeeping, Parade, Library Journal, Goodreads, Liz and Lisa, and BookBub

"This fast-paced story offers courageous heroines, villains you love to hate, and dramatic life-or-death stakes. A compelling blend of historical fiction, mystery, and women's fiction, Quinn's complex story and engaging characters have something to offer just about everyone." - Library Journal (starred review)

"Amazing historical fiction... a must read!" - Historical Novel Society, Editor's Choice

"...Kate Quinn announces herself as one of the best artists of the genre. The plotting is seamless, the pace breathtaking, and the prose is both vivid and laced with just the right amount of details. Fans of historical fiction, spy fiction and thrilling drama will love every moment..." - BookPage

"Lovingly crafted and brimming with details, readers are sure to be held in Quinn's grip watching as the characters evolve. Powerful reading you can't put down!" - RT Book Reviews (top pick)

"Kate Quinn delivers an enthralling tale filled with breath-taking narrative that will make the reader feel as if they're in the back of the roadster, riding along with the raucous Eve and courageous Charlie on their clandestine adventures. Suspenseful and engrossing, The Alice Network is a must-read!" - Heather Webb, Author of Rodin's Lover

"Kate Quinn strums the chords of every human emotion with two storylines that race over continents and through decades to converge in one explosive ending." - Marci Jefferson, author of Enchantress of Paris

"The Alice Network... perfectly balances a propulsive plot, faultlessly observed period detail, and a cast of characters so vividly drawn that I half expected to blink and see them standing in front of me. This is historical fiction at its best--thrilling, affecting, revelatory." - Jennifer Robson, international bestselling author of Moonlight Over Paris

"Both funny and heartbreaking, this epic journey of two courageous women is an unforgettable tale of little-known wartime glory and sacrifice. Quinn knocks it out of the park with this spectacular book!" - Stephanie Dray, author of America's First Daughter

This information about The Alice Network was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

Cathryn Conroy

A Pressure-Cooker of a Novel with an Extraordinary, Richly-Imagined Plot. I Devoured This Book!
Wow! What a book! This is a stunning, page-turner about daring, courageous women made of inner steel who, against all odds, successfully spied on the Germans in World War I…until they were caught. This is a pressure-cooker of a novel that just builds and builds and builds until the explosive ending.

Written by Kate Quinn, this is a historical fiction-ChickLit combo that is unputdownable. OK, the early chapters are a little slow to get going, but this is where the story foundations are laid, so it's all essential. Just keep reading.

The story is told in two timelines that eventually merge:
• It's May 1915, and 22-year-old Evelyn Gardiner of London is recruited to join an elite network of women spies in France: The Alice Network. After training, she moves to Lille where she gets a job as a waitress at a posh restaurant run by a war profiteer/traitor who caters to the German generals and their high-level staff. Eve, whose code name is Marguerite, assumes a whole new personality of an innocent and somewhat stupid French country girl, never letting on that she is fluent in English and German. As she is pouring wine and clearing plates, she listens to the conversations, which sometimes include war plans. All is going amazingly well until the nefarious owner of the restaurant, René Bordelon, decides to take Marguerite as his lover. How can she refuse?

• It's May 1947, and Charlotte St. Clair, nicknamed Charlie, is a 19-year-old Bennington College student who falls apart emotionally after her brother's suicide following his return from World War II. No longer caring about anything, she takes a series of lovers—all sordid backseat trysts with many different fraternity boys—and soon enough finds herself pregnant and unable to name the father. Not that that would matter since she was never in love with any of them. Her wealthy parents are appalled, outraged, and determine to rid her of her Little Problem with a discreet mother-daughter trip to a clinic in Vevey, Switzerland. They sail to Southampton where Charlie makes a break from her unsuspecting mother, determined to find out what happened to her beloved French cousin Rose, who was a refugee during the war. Three years earlier, her letters suddenly ceased, and still no one in the family knows what happened or seems to have any inclination to find out. But Charlie has a London address of a woman who may know something. That woman is Eve. And when Charlie knocks on Eve's door late one rainy night and is met with a crazed, drunken woman pointing a loaded Lugar pistol at her face, life changes irrevocably for both. Added to this duo is Mr. Finn Kilgore, a Scottish ex-convict whom Eve has hired to serve as her chauffeur and cook. (The description of his one-pan Scottish breakfast will make you head to your kitchen to replicate it!)

The plot in both timelines is riveting with each chapter ending in a page-turning cliffhanger. But the timeline chapters alternate, so you must wait to find out what happens. This is tricky storytelling. In the hands of a less talented author, the reader could be confused, bored, or just stop caring, but the opposite happens in Kate Quinn's hands. Instead, I devoured this book—anxiously wanting to find out what happens, but also not wanting it to end.

The novel is based on fact. While Eve, Charlie, and Finn are fictional, the bones of the story are all based on real people and real events. Do read the Author's Note at the end to find out what is fact and what is fiction. So much of this book is (surprisingly) true! You'll learn a lot of World War I history just by reading it.

Do know this: There are several scenes of torture and brutality that I found difficult to read and could be impossible for some to handle. They are not gratuitous and are essential to the story, but that doesn't make it any easier.

Simmering with tension and populated with vibrant and distinctive characters, this is a richly imagined novel that is packed with historical details. Highly recommended.

LakesClaire

Peak into WW1 and WW2 through the eyes of women.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Saskia Maarleveld. Her skill at a range of accents is astonishing. Having listened to many, many crime & thriller books; I now find I am looking for more narrative & connections with people. Especially historical fiction where the story intertwines with real events. This book was just perfect for me & I will be looking for more Kate Quinn books & narrations by Saskia Maarleveld.

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Author Information

Kate Quinn Author Biography

Eva Nyika

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 bachelor's and master's degrees in classical voice. A lifelong history buff, she has written four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga and two books set 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. She and her husband now live in California with three black rescue dogs.

Link to Kate Quinn's Website

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