The Alice Network
by Kate Quinn
On This Page
Description
In 1947, during 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 show more 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. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
Member Reviews
Well researched and creatively plotted. The two storylines took very different characters in two timelines and built solid character arcs, with a climax that merged to complete both characters’ development. Yeah the whole Charlie storyline was slower and less interesting than the WW1 spy thread, but that kept the pacing stable overall and left you yearning to get back to Eve’s storyline. Yes Charlie’s character sometimes made me want to pop a pacifier in her mouth to shut her up, but I believe that may have been the point? It’s not often that I read a book that’s able to keep me interested in a character I really don’t like and then makes me welcome her happy ending too. I was most impressed with Kate Quinn’s ability to show more take a few random WWI historical records and create complex characters in Eve, Lily, Violette, and Finn. I appreciated the inclusion of the real stories in the supplemental material and found it interesting to see the threads of the story unraveled in history. show less
Nineteen-year-old Charlotte "Charlie" St. Claire is traveling from the U.S. with her mother, but she takes a side trip to meet Evelyn Gardiner, whom she thinks might be able to help her find her French cousin, Rose Fournier, who disappeared during the second World War. Eve was a British spy in 1916, and has her own set of secrets, but she reluctantly helps Charlie on her quest, revisiting places from her past.
The narrative goes back and forth between 1947 with Charlie's story and 1915-1916 with Eve's story. The historical details about a World War 1 network of spies, headed up by a real woman that we meet in the story, were especially fascinating to me. In fact, I was surprised that there was more about World War 1 as I had it my head show more it's a World War 2 story. There's some references to it, but it's not explored in great detail here, and Eve's and Rose's roles in it only hinted at. Charlie's love story and the ending was a little forced, to my mind. But it was a compelling story and taught me something I didn't know about the past, like the best historical fiction does. And I'll definitely want to read more about the Alice network. show less
The narrative goes back and forth between 1947 with Charlie's story and 1915-1916 with Eve's story. The historical details about a World War 1 network of spies, headed up by a real woman that we meet in the story, were especially fascinating to me. In fact, I was surprised that there was more about World War 1 as I had it my head show more it's a World War 2 story. There's some references to it, but it's not explored in great detail here, and Eve's and Rose's roles in it only hinted at. Charlie's love story and the ending was a little forced, to my mind. But it was a compelling story and taught me something I didn't know about the past, like the best historical fiction does. And I'll definitely want to read more about the Alice network. show less
There was a lot about this book I loved. I had the audio version, and the narrator was excellent. This is a long, winding mystery, bringing two very different women together over the course of World War I and II. Like many readers, I thought the book really came alive in the chapters dedicated to Eve's POV. What a wonderful character! I also liked Charley, but she was more thinly written. Her story also demanded more authorial intervention to make the plot come together. For instance, I think it's extremely unlikely that anyone could happen upon Oradour-sur-Glane and NOT know what had happened there. This was a well-known and well-reported atrocity. Charley's character also ruminated way too much over points that had already been show more established (up to 25 percent of the book could have been cut just on this alone). Also, I just didn't buy the Charley-Finn connection. On the other hand, the Eve-Rene relationship was rich, super-creepy, and all too engaging. I loved that this was based on the real Alice Network. show less
I knew very, very little about this book going in, but it was so much more than I expected. (It’s almost like Quinn wrote it for me.) Women in history, Europe and war stories, well-written and well-crafted without being overly so, comforting and engaging in a similar way to All the Light We Cannot See. There’s hope and fear and romance and that thing where the younger generation doesn’t repeat the mistakes of the old.
And it’s hugely feminist! There are multiple female characters who flout convention. It’s very much about women helping and inspiring women and of finding power in the feminine. There’s a lot about living under and standing up the patriarchy. I was basically cheering throughout and Eve? Old Eve is badass. So is show more Charlie, in a completely different way.
I also ended up reading the last 100 pages or so at home in a day, because I just had to know if they’d succeed and what they’d do after. I don’t know whether it was the feminism or the story (probably a bit of both) but I haven’t done that in years.
So yeah, definitely recommended, especially if you’re looking for something right between “light and fluffy” and “deep and thoughtful,” or something to help you channel your bad self. Given the season I’m posting this in, yes, it would make a good vacation read!
Warnings: Torture, dubiously consensual sexual relations, PTSD, misogyny, patriarchal oppression including but not limited to the ideas of “nice girls” and virginity. One instance, somewhat dwelt on, of a Nazi war crime. Very brief description of a concentration camp and a Roma victim (though a different race-related word is used). Nazi collaborator as a major villain.
8.5/10 show less
And it’s hugely feminist! There are multiple female characters who flout convention. It’s very much about women helping and inspiring women and of finding power in the feminine. There’s a lot about living under and standing up the patriarchy. I was basically cheering throughout and Eve? Old Eve is badass. So is show more Charlie, in a completely different way.
I also ended up reading the last 100 pages or so at home in a day, because I just had to know if they’d succeed and what they’d do after. I don’t know whether it was the feminism or the story (probably a bit of both) but I haven’t done that in years.
So yeah, definitely recommended, especially if you’re looking for something right between “light and fluffy” and “deep and thoughtful,” or something to help you channel your bad self. Given the season I’m posting this in, yes, it would make a good vacation read!
Warnings: Torture, dubiously consensual sexual relations, PTSD, misogyny, patriarchal oppression including but not limited to the ideas of “nice girls” and virginity. One instance, somewhat dwelt on, of a Nazi war crime. Very brief description of a concentration camp and a Roma victim (though a different race-related word is used). Nazi collaborator as a major villain.
8.5/10 show less
I gobbled up this propulsive historical fiction. From 1915 to 1949 the author takes us through harrowing war time experiences filling us with the agony that was reality in Europe at the time. She examines the role of women in the Resistance with great detail and respect. I appreciate her exposure of their bravery and the devastation to their lives as a result of their experiences.
The dual timeline was expertly managed to bring the two plot lines together seamlessly. I found all the characters well drawn and it’s not until the author note that the reader discovers which portions are true and which are fictional. Although the subject matter is difficult, I was not put off from reading it…quite the contrary. I found the story show more inspiring and redemptive despite its harsh content. show less
The dual timeline was expertly managed to bring the two plot lines together seamlessly. I found all the characters well drawn and it’s not until the author note that the reader discovers which portions are true and which are fictional. Although the subject matter is difficult, I was not put off from reading it…quite the contrary. I found the story show more inspiring and redemptive despite its harsh content. show less
After being burned by The Woman with the Blue Star (blech, drivel, adult up please) recently I was a bit hesitant to step into another “bookclubbish” novel dealing with material related to the two World Wars. Thankfully, Kate Quinn does a much better job than Pam Jenoff with this subject material, and I was pleasantly engaged in the dual storyline following Eve Gardiner and Charlie St. Clair. The story starts out post-WW2 with the younger of the two women, Charlie, a knocked up American girl who has come to Europe in search of a solution to her “Little Problem.” Being a bit of an upstart Yank (haha), Charlie quickly ditches her suffocating mother and goes in search of her French cousin Rose, who disappeared sometime midway show more through the war, and even more quickly ends up teaming up with acerbic Eve Gardiner - the last person to seemingly have contact with Rose. Little does Charlie know, Eve has her own harrowing tale of service and suffering thrown back to the Great War, where she was part of the infamous Alice Network of female spies. Quinn’s research seems to be on par, even though the character of Eve (code name Marguerite) is a fiction, and the way that she brings both Eve and Charlie (and their surrounding characters) to life made me want to know how everything turned out by the end! Neither Charlie nor Eve really got the happy ending they were looking for (well, maybe Eve did), but the stark realism definitely works to keep the story grounded where others would rather romanticise. show less
Sharp and tense, occasionally horrifying, occasionally heartbreaking yet ultimately hopeful, and oh, do I have lots of thoughts and feelings about this book!
In 1947, Charlie St. Clair, a college student from New York, takes advantage of a trip across the Atlantic to look for her cousin Rose, who disappeared in France during the war. The first person she turns to, Eve Gardiner, turns out to be cranky foul-mouthed and drunk -- but Eve unexpectedly agrees to help. The book alternates between Charlie in 1947 and Eve’s experiences in 1915, working as spy in France. I love how the two storylines fit together, occasionally echoing each other with themes and variations. Those echoes explain why Eve agrees to help Charlie and why Charlie, as show more she learns more about Eve and her scars, comes to care about Eve.
I love how this is about fierce, difficult, unconventional, broken, women and how so much of the story is driven by their relationships.
I also liked Charlie’s habit of thinking in terms of mathematical equations, and Eve’s Scottish driver. (The narrator does an excellent job with all the accents -- to my surprise, as I didn’t find her narration of another book all that memorable.)
There are a couple of scenes I found very hard to listen to -- although I am glad there weren’t any more of them. And switching back and forth between Charlie and Eve made some of the intense parts more bearable.
I have to say, I wish there wasn’t quite so much detail of Eve’s relationship with a man who seduces her. His significance to Eve’s story would still have been apparent, as would his true character (he thinks his employee is 17 year old, ignorant, friendless, desperate for work) and the terror of Eve’s situation (she has the skills and resources of a spy, she isn’t who he thinks she is, but she’s still so very vulnerable). I wanted less of him and more time given to Eve friends in the Alice Network, who are -- arguably -- just as important.
Yet in spite of that, even though it fell short (of my idea) of perfection, even though it made me uncomfortable at times, I appreciated that it balanced out darkness with hope, and I found myself captivated by this story. Even after I had finished it. It’s stuck with me.
I’d been so focused on getting here, I hadn’t thought how exactly I should begin. Two girls times eleven summers, divided by one ocean and one war... show less
In 1947, Charlie St. Clair, a college student from New York, takes advantage of a trip across the Atlantic to look for her cousin Rose, who disappeared in France during the war. The first person she turns to, Eve Gardiner, turns out to be cranky foul-mouthed and drunk -- but Eve unexpectedly agrees to help. The book alternates between Charlie in 1947 and Eve’s experiences in 1915, working as spy in France. I love how the two storylines fit together, occasionally echoing each other with themes and variations. Those echoes explain why Eve agrees to help Charlie and why Charlie, as show more she learns more about Eve and her scars, comes to care about Eve.
I love how this is about fierce, difficult, unconventional, broken, women and how so much of the story is driven by their relationships.
I also liked Charlie’s habit of thinking in terms of mathematical equations, and Eve’s Scottish driver. (The narrator does an excellent job with all the accents -- to my surprise, as I didn’t find her narration of another book all that memorable.)
There are a couple of scenes I found very hard to listen to -- although I am glad there weren’t any more of them. And switching back and forth between Charlie and Eve made some of the intense parts more bearable.
I have to say, I wish there wasn’t quite so much detail of Eve’s relationship with a man who seduces her. His significance to Eve’s story would still have been apparent, as would his true character (he thinks his employee is 17 year old, ignorant, friendless, desperate for work) and the terror of Eve’s situation (she has the skills and resources of a spy, she isn’t who he thinks she is, but she’s still so very vulnerable). I wanted less of him and more time given to Eve friends in the Alice Network, who are -- arguably -- just as important.
Yet in spite of that, even though it fell short (of my idea) of perfection, even though it made me uncomfortable at times, I appreciated that it balanced out darkness with hope, and I found myself captivated by this story. Even after I had finished it. It’s stuck with me.
I’d been so focused on getting here, I hadn’t thought how exactly I should begin. Two girls times eleven summers, divided by one ocean and one war... show less
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
Historical Fiction
889 works; 91 members
Best Spy Fiction
153 works; 102 members
Top Five Books of 2018
802 works; 264 members
Pleasant Surprises: Books That Exceeded Our Expectations
418 works; 142 members
Best Revenge Stories
69 works; 9 members
Books About World War II
102 works; 29 members
Phi Beta Kappa reading list
260 works; 8 members
World War I Fiction
94 works; 15 members
Five star books
1,767 works; 110 members
Books about World War II
241 works; 22 members
Books Set in France
13 works; 5 members
Deena's Favorites--How Many have you read?
102 works; 3 members
Historical fiction by women authors
15 works; 5 members
Books Read in 2017
4,249 works; 130 members
Female spies
13 works; 2 members
Books Read in 2020
4,379 works; 124 members
Books Mentioned in the A+ Autostraddle Pop Up Discords Nov 2022 & Dec 2022
223 works; 3 members
THE WAR ROOM
813 works; 24 members
Books Read in 2024
4,623 works; 126 members
KayStJ's to-read list
1,616 works; 11 members
Names in Titles
4 works; 3 members
Global Reads: Books Set in Western Europe
186 works; 10 members
Books Read in 2019
4,052 works; 110 members
To Read
617 works; 7 members
Books Read in 2018
4,360 works; 110 members
Historical Fiction Books
99 works; 5 members
Reese's Book Club
122 works; 2 members
Author Information
25+ Works 19,167 Members
Kate Quinn was born and raised in southern California. She attended Boston University, where she earned a Bachelor¿s and later a Master¿s degree in Classical Voice. She has always been a lifelong history buff. She put that love of history to work when she wrote four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga, and two books in the Italian Renaissance. show more She then moved on to the 20th century with "The Alice Network". (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Work Relationships
Is contained in
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Alice Network
- Original title
- The Alice Network
- Original publication date
- 2017-06-06
- People/Characters
- Charlotte 'Charlie' St. Clair; Evelyn 'Eve' Gardiner (aka Marguerite Duval Le Francois); Rose Fournier (aka Hélène Joubert, Charlie's French cousin); Louise de Bettignies (aka Lili aka Alice Dubois, Eve's contact); Cecil Aylmer Cameron (aka Uncle Edward, recruits Eve Gardiner); Finn Kilgore (Eve's Scottish man-of-all-work) (show all 16); Léonie van Houtte (aka Violette Lameron); René Bordelon (aka René du Malassis, aka René Gautier); Jeanne Fournier; James St. Clair; Mrs. St. Clair; Mr. St. Clair; Charlotte Fournier; Madame Rouffanche; Major George Allenton; Evelyn Rose Kilgore
- Important places
- Lille, Nord, Hauts-de-France, France; London, England, UK; Folkestone, Kent, England, UK; Grasse, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France; Siegburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; Rouen, France (show all 14); Le Lethe restaurants (in Lille and Limoges); Roubaix, France; Limoges, France; Bennington, Vermont, USA; Vevey, Switzerland; Oradour-sur-Glane, France; Tournai, Hainaut, Belgium; Grenoble, Isère, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
- Important events
- World War I; World War II; Oradour-sur-Glane massacre (1944-06-10)
- Dedication
- To my mother,
the first reader, the first critic, the first fan
This is for you - First words
- The first person I met in England was a hallucination.
- Quotations
- I remember my father exhaling contentedly over the newspapers after VE-Day, saying, "Excellent, now it can all go back to the way it was." As if roofs and buildings and shattered windows just leaped back into wholeness the ... (show all)day after peace was declared.
"Are you ever afraid?" ..."Yes, just like everybody else. But only after the danger is done—before that, fear is an indulgence."
Life ought to be more like a play; the entrances and exits would be a lot cleaner.
"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."
“What did it matter if something scared you, when it simply had to be done?” - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Smiled. And led the way inside.
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Epilogue: She sighed, and rose, and went grinning to be hugged. “Goddamn Yanks.” - Publisher's editor
- Bergeron, Amanda; Woodward, Tessa
- Blurbers
- Webb, Heather; Jefferson, Marci; Robson, Jennifer; Dray, Stephanie; Cleeton, Chanel; Rosen, Renee
- Original language
- English
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 5,719
- Popularity
- 2,297
- Reviews
- 247
- Rating
- (4.07)
- Languages
- 13 — Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 44
- ASINs
- 8
