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A review by book_concierge
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
3.0
Book on CD narrated by Saskia Maarleveld
3.5***
Charlie St Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and heading to Europe with her mother to take care of “the little problem.” It’s 1947 and Charlie is reeling from the death of her brother and worried about her beloved cousin, Rose, who has not been heard from in a couple of years. She decides to find Eve Gardiner, the one name and only clue she has to Rose’s whereabouts. But Eve is an alcoholic recluse with her own demons. During WWI she had been recruited as a spy working with the French Resistance. Along with other women they formed The Alice Network.
Based on the real stories of women who served as spies during World War I, Quinn has crafted an interesting, engaging story of wartime heroines and the price they paid for their service. She uses a dual timeline, moving back and forth between Charlie’s search for Rose, and Eve’s remembered experiences thirty years earlier.
I found Charlie irritating. She was in turns stubborn, hysteric, weepy, lost and determined. I thought she was mostly immature, and she got on my nerves almost as much as she got on Eve’s.
I was much more interested in Eve’s story. She’s a broken woman when we meet her, racked with survivor’s guilt and trying to numb her pain with alcohol. But as I learn more about her back story, how she came to be recruited for the spy network, her courage and bravery in the face of very real danger, I grew to admire her. Her story is what compelled me to keep reading / listening.
I found the ending rather rushed and implausible. I am referring mostly to Lost half a star there.
The author’s note at the end expounds on the real people and events that inspired the novel. Additional historical information (letters and trial records) is also included.
Saskia Maarleveld did a marvelous job performing the audiobook. She sets a good pace and has the skill needed to differentiate a large cast of characters from a number of countries (Scotland, USA, France, England, and Germany). My only complaint about the audio is that it does NOT include the author notes and historical documents that the text.
3.5***
Charlie St Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and heading to Europe with her mother to take care of “the little problem.” It’s 1947 and Charlie is reeling from the death of her brother and worried about her beloved cousin, Rose, who has not been heard from in a couple of years. She decides to find Eve Gardiner, the one name and only clue she has to Rose’s whereabouts. But Eve is an alcoholic recluse with her own demons. During WWI she had been recruited as a spy working with the French Resistance. Along with other women they formed The Alice Network.
Based on the real stories of women who served as spies during World War I, Quinn has crafted an interesting, engaging story of wartime heroines and the price they paid for their service. She uses a dual timeline, moving back and forth between Charlie’s search for Rose, and Eve’s remembered experiences thirty years earlier.
I found Charlie irritating. She was in turns stubborn, hysteric, weepy, lost and determined. I thought she was mostly immature, and she got on my nerves almost as much as she got on Eve’s.
I was much more interested in Eve’s story. She’s a broken woman when we meet her, racked with survivor’s guilt and trying to numb her pain with alcohol. But as I learn more about her back story, how she came to be recruited for the spy network, her courage and bravery in the face of very real danger, I grew to admire her. Her story is what compelled me to keep reading / listening.
I found the ending rather rushed and implausible. I am referring mostly to
Spoiler
the final confrontation between Eve, Charlie and Rene, but also to the Epilogue set in 1949.The author’s note at the end expounds on the real people and events that inspired the novel. Additional historical information (letters and trial records) is also included.
Saskia Maarleveld did a marvelous job performing the audiobook. She sets a good pace and has the skill needed to differentiate a large cast of characters from a number of countries (Scotland, USA, France, England, and Germany). My only complaint about the audio is that it does NOT include the author notes and historical documents that the text.