"The Alive Network: A Novel." This title deserves to end with a period. The title doesn't say much about this amazing piece of literature, but it is a sobering read that is well-written. "The Alice Network" is a work of historical fiction which jumps between World War I in 1915 and post-war 1947. It follows Eve Gardiner's story of being a wartime spy and how she copes with life afterwards, but Eve isn't the first character you meet. Charlie is the other main narrator and she's on a desperate search for her cousin that disappeared during the war. Charlie and Eve end up on a cross country mission together with Eve's driver Finn.
Too often, I found myself having to Google different parts of the story. Things were so descriptive at times you would believe Kate Quinn was actually there to write about these historical events. The more I read these styles of books, the more I see how much the American education system is lacking in history. I can give a brief overview of the different wars America has been in, I can even name all of the presidents, but there were historical details in this book I never knew about. Everyone learns about the Holocaust and the events within Germany themselves, but the surrounding European countries were effected as well. Besides concentration camps or death marches, the atrocities that happen outside of Germany are rarely mentioned in our education system. I started writing this review as I was halfway through the book because Quinn and her depictions of history have elicited such strong emotions from me. I needed to stop and appreciate her writing, while taking a mental break from the events. Even without this blog post documenting my thoughts while reading this novel, I'm sure I'll remember most of this when it comes time to discuss it in our book club next month. I can count the number of books on one hand that have elicited this strong of a response before. With the amount I read that is a low number, but any author who can do such a thing earns a praised spot in my brain.
I don't want to frighten you away from this book because it is excellent and as I mentioned before I am writing this review entirely as I read the book. In this previous section I wanted to cry while reading it, but now I find myself smiling at my computer screen. There are some horrifying memories, but you can expect nothing less from a historical novel about World War I. I've found myself alternating between cringing and smiling depending on which chapter I'm in.
"The Alice Network" will take you on a careening journey around France and learning more than you would expect form a historical fiction novel. I found myself alternating between tears and smiles. Kate Quinn's writing is exceptional. She has a way of keeping the reader on the hook, which many historical fiction novels lack. Whenever an author can elicit such emotion from me, it almost guarantees I will be reading more of their works. Keep an eye out for future reviews on Kate Quinn's works; it may not be soon, but it most definitely will happen.
In closing, I strongly recommend this novel to everyone. It inspired me to look into history a little more and I think it could do that for a lot people. I can't wait to discuss it at my library's book club next month. Depending on the discussion I might just need to do a follow-up post.
I give "The Alice Network: A Novel" by Alice Quinn a 5 star review. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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