The Alice Network - Book Review
Complex characters anchor an emotional tale of spies and post-war trauma.
As both a WW1 buff and a student of women in wartime, it's amazing (and slightly embarrassing) that I'd never heard of the real-life Alice Network before picking up this novel by Kate Quinn. Similar to the Special Operations Executive in WW2, the Alice Network was a group of spies operating in occupied France during the First World War. The Alice Network is an emotional, sometimes heart-rending, tale of friendship and redemption.
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.
The story begins in 1947 London, where American socialite Charlotte "Charlie" St. Clair is following a lead on her beloved, missing cousin Rose. Rose disappeared during the German occupation, but Charlie harbors a desperate hope that she's still alive. Her inquiries have led her to Eve Gardiner, an old recluse with a fierce temper and a drinking problem. To call Eve crotchety is an understatement. She is unlikeably hostile at first, greeting Charlie with harsh words and threats from a pistol. But as the story goes on, we (and Charlie) see the evidence of the physical and emotional scars that have led Eve to this point. It humanizes her in a meaningful way.
When it appears that Rose may be connected to Eve's old enemy, the two women (plus Eve's driver, Finn) embark on a road trip across post-war France. All three have been damaged by their wars—Eve (an ex-spy) and Finn (an ex-soldier) most directly, and Charlie through her family's suffering. The search is just a backdrop to let them work through their issues, each seeking redemption and connection in their own ways.
The story cuts back and forth between the Eve/Charlie/Finn timeline in 1947, and Eve's service as a spy in the Alice Network during WW1. Fake papers, bluffing through checkpoints, informers and collaborators, etc. Some encounters seemed too Hollywood to be true—but actually happened! While Eve is a fictional composite of other members of the network, her exploits are grounded in real history. Through it all is the story of Eve's friendship with Alice, an awesome tale of badass women supporting each other.
Honestly I expected there to be more emphasis on the WW1 side. Aside from the book being named after the network, there's certainly enough story fodder there for a full novel of its own. The stakes are also so much higher in the WW1 storyline that every cut back to 1947 felt like a drag. It didn't help that Old Eve started out so closed-off, and Charlie so insufferably self-centered, that I had a hard time getting invested in either of them. For much of the book, I read every 1947 chapter just waiting to get back to the spy stuff. Eventually, the storylines dovetailed enough to make the post-WW2 story interesting, but it took a while.
I did enjoy the book, and it was cool to learn about an area of history I hadn't heard about before. (Quinn's research notes at the end were particularly interesting.) I just think I would have enjoyed it more if it had been more focused on the actual Alice Network than on Charlie's drama.
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