The Alice Network, by Kate Quinn

I think you know by now that I'm a big fan of historical fiction.  And I have read some very good books in this genre in the last couple of years.  Here are a few of them that spring to mind:

The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah
The Orphan's Tale, Pam Jenoff
Orphan Train, Christina Baker Kline
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Burrows

Well, add The Alice Network to the list.  In fact, TAN was one of my top books of 2017.  Thanks to Joni's cousin, Besi, for the recommendation. And it happens to be the January selection for the Books Inc. 4th Tuesday Night Book Club.  So I had a double motivation for reading it.

Take a look at the blurb:

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 hadn't heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth...no matter where it leads.

How cool is it that there was a female spy ring during WWI?  I continue to be amazed at how much history I just didn't have any idea existed.  In any case, I liked a whole bunch of stuff about The Alice Network.  Let's get to it, shall we?

1.  I liked the back-and-forth between Eve in WWI and Eve and Charlie in 1947.
2.  It wasn't until the last 65 pages that I had a slew of emotional reactions.  But, interestingly, the lack of tears and chills through most of the book definitely did NOT affect my enjoyment of it.  As you saw just a few weeks ago, this book was my #6 for the whole year (out of 71).
3.  I really liked learning such a fascinating piece of WWI.
4.  It's just always a pleasure reading a well-written book.

Kate has written 6 other full-length novels, 1 novella, and 3 collaborative works.  With all of the books I have sitting in my TBR pile, I don't know if I will get to her other books.  But I can tell you with great assurance that I will be grabbing anything that Kate Quinn puts out in the future.  She has earned that!