The Alice Network

It's 1947 and Charlie has been brought to Europe by her mom to get her an abortion. But she has other plans. She needs to find her missing cousin Rose and intends to do just that. She finds Evelyn and asks for her help because she thinks Eve has relevant information. Eve is a sad perpetually drunk woman, but something about the story of Rose intrigues her and decides to help. Both the women along with Eve's man friday Finn decide to go to France retracing Rose's last known whereabouts. In the timeline of 1915, we follow Eve as she gets recruited as a spy and sent to France. We meet her fellow spies and friends Lili and Violette and how they take unprecedented risks to send information back home. Towards the end, the two timelines converge towards a revenge that seems inevitable.

This book is one in a series of books that I am reading these days related to female spies during the world wars. Eve's story shows us that women have always fought on their own terms since WWI, even when they didn't have equal rights or opportunities. The women of the Alice Network show indomitable courage in the face of evil every single day. Even when some of them are caught, they refuse to bow down and go back to their tasks with more determination. They are tortured and humiliated but nothing gets to them. Lili is known as the Queen of spies and does she epitomize the title. I was absolutely in awe of these characters. On the other hand, Charlie starts off as a bit unnerving but her single point obsession to find Rose is somewhat endearing. But being with Eve and Finn definitely improves her character and she comes into her own in the latter part of the book. This is definitely a very inspiring read and gives us much more insight into the sacrifices women make in wartime.

The Author' Note and the letters at the end of the book are very enlightening and provide valuable information about the women on whom this book is based. They really are heart wrenching. I suggest everyone to not give them a miss.