I've been seeing this book all over Instagram and every time I go to Target, but I never picked it up. I didn't know if it was really for me because historical fiction isn't my forte.
However, I was sorely mistaken because this was a great book!
For being historical fiction, The Alice Network was quite a quick read and I think I do owe that to the fact that I was reading a physical book.
The novel is classic in the way it's told, past and present. It centers around two women, Eve and Charlie. It takes place during the 1st World War, and then right after the 2nd World War so the stories of the women are very intertwined in that sense.
This is the publisher's summary:
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, code name Alice, 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. That is 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.
At first, it sounds like it's going to be a confusing book but it really wasn't. It was very simple to follow, and very interesting. I loved learning about life after (and during) the wars, and seeing these stories come to life.It wasn't a supense story or a thriller but there was a bit of mystery in both Charlie and Eve's story. Charlie was looking for Rose, and you wanted to know what happened to her.. and then on the flip side, you wanted to see how Eve made out as a spy during the 1st war.
The ending, when you find out what really happened to Eve when she was a spy, was shocking and intense.
I think between Eve and Charlie's stories, I loved Eve's more. I think it was just much more interesting and had more heart to it. She was putting her life on the line for her country, and being a spy seems really cool and dangerous.
I think this is the perfect book for someone who isn't crazy about historical fiction because it really could've taken place during any time of history. There wasn't a crazy amount of detail about the time periods that was difficult to understand, and I think the stories were interesting enough to stand on their own. There was romance, comedy (I laughed out loud a few times) and a lot of drama, mix that in with the actual plotlines and you have a great novel.
I compare it to the only other historical fiction book I've read recently, All the Light We Cannot See and I thought that was super painful to get through. I listened to it on Audible and I don't think I would've been able to read it.
The Alice Network wasn't anything like that and I really do recommend it!
What are you currently reading?
xoxo
B
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