by Kate Quinn
5/5 Stars
Genre: Historic fiction, War story, Spy fiction
Time period: WWI/post-WWII
Just when I thought war fiction (particularly when set around WWII) was getting over-done and worn out, Kate Quinn delivers this masterpiece. I received this as a gift last year and I’m a little angry with myself that I waited so long to pick it up!
Written from two perspectives in two time periods, we follow Charlie St. Clair in 1947 Europe on a mission to discover what happened to her cousin, Rose, during the war. Desperate for help and following the one meager lead she was provided, Charlie enlists the help of Eve Gardiner, retired WWI spy and active drunk.
Both women’s stories are well-written, believable and are intertwined beautifully, but Eve’s path is exceptionally captivating. She is recruited in England and thrown in to occupied France where she acts as a spy in the Alice Network. As a waitress for a war profiteer, she is uniquely positioned to uncover secrets from loose and trusting lips of the German soldiers who frequent the restaurant as well as from the owner himself, Rene. While undercover, she is forced to become mistress to Rene, whom she loathes, or else lose her position as a waitress in his restaurant.
As we learn more about Eve’s past, it becomes evident how entwined Charlie’s search for Rose is with Eve’s story. It’s a unique and refreshing take on wartime novels. There is never a dull moment, but the storyline never feels rushed. Multiple times I found myself getting chills from the descriptions of the German activities towards the French citizens – Quinn does the past justice and doesn’t gloss over the difficulties of day-to-day survival during the war.
At the end of the book, Quinn adds an Author’s Note to inform the reader The Alice Network is based on the true story of Alice, who was an active WWI spy for England in France. I loved this touch at the end, as it made the book that much more enjoyable – Quinn made sure to differentiate between what (and who) was fictionalized, and what she pulled straight from historic documents. This contributed greatly to the believability of the story and made the characters come even more alive.
Kate Quinn has officially been added to my list of favorite authors!
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