Header image: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/06/08/npr-the-alice-network-is-a-crackling-tale-of-spies-and-suspense
The Alice Network finally reaches its conclusion.
To start off, I believe that the thematic idea of this novel has been adjusted based on what has happened in this third of the book. I mentioned in a previous post that this book served a purpose in highlighting the important roles that females had taken during the World Wars. However, I think its safe to say that the acceptance of one’s own failures plays a fairly large role in this book.
After Claire learned about the death of Rose she was initially distraught saying that she failed to help her beloved cousin as well as her brother. “I loved them both so much, and I’d failed them so utterly.” However, eventually, she learns to accept the fact that nothing can be done to help Rose and her brother and that she should focus on what she still has left. “I’d lost my brother. I’d lost Rose, I wasn’t losing anyone else I loved.” Due to this realization, Claire was able to clearly see the potential danger that came with Eve wanting to murder René and in the end, was able to help save Eve from dying to the hands of René.
This thematic idea also applies to Eve. Eve has been living the past 30 years in the novel with this false sense of guilt that she was responsible for the death of Lili (a.k.a the Queen of Spies). When Eve learns about this lie fabricated by René, it acts as a catalyst for Eve to accept that she was not able to save Lili even though she put forth her best effort. As a result, instead of living in a state of depression which was amounting to suicidal thoughts, Eve decides to continue on with her life with her being able to accept her failure. She evens decides to don the war medals that she immensely despised because of how it represented success even though she let Lili die.
Relationships between the character have also changed.
One of the main changes in a relationship between characters would be René and Claire. In the previous two sections, the connection between René and Claire was formed due to how they both knew Eve. However, in the final portion of the novel, a more personal connection is established between the two. This is because Claire finds out that René played a role in the murder of her beloved cousin, Rose.
The relationship between Eve and Claire has also progressed further. “It was as though Charlie had turned into Lili right before her eyes, little and fierce as a wolverine, dancing on her wits just a hair’s breadth ahead of a disaster, improvising her way out of death.” Eve compares Claire to Lili who was her most treasured friend. This shows that Eve has the same admiration for Claire as she did with Lili.
In addition to character relationships, the perspective from which the story is told has shifted.
Up until the third part of the novel, the story has reflected on Claire’s story in the 1940s and reflected on Eve’s story based in World War I. In the third part, when the story switches to Eve’s character, its timeline is the same timeline with Claire and the audience can now see what thoughts Eve has in the current timeline. Before, the audience could only see Claire’s thoughts and opinions on what has happened in the novel in the present time. I personally think this is a nice adjustment simply because we can learn more about Eve’s character in the current timeline rather than just learning through Claire’s perspective. This is also the reason why we are able to learn that Eve cares about Claire.
With that being said, the journey that the Alice Network has taken me on finally comes to an end. Overall, this book has done a wonderful job in keeping me interested in its plot. It had enough twists and turns that it wasn’t lacking or excessive. I found that the characters were likable and somewhat relatable showing that life comes with its failures and successes. The fact that the story switched between two different perspectives was also a factor in why I really enjoyed this book. If you would like to learn more about this book, click here.
Analysis Paralysis 
I really enjoyed how you focused your blog on two thematic ideas that have been prevalent throughout this novel. I do believe that Charlie’s grief had definitely turned into determination throughout the last third of the book because she realized that she had to get out of the haze she was in before, she loses someone else she loves and cares about. That person is Eve, which has a hard exterior but had somehow allowed Charlie to worm her way into her heart. This connects to how friendship had taken these two protagonists out of their grief and how it made them realize things that were still in front of them that needed to be appreciated. The adjustment the author Quinn had made about having Eves perspectives in 1947 did help the reader to understand the depth of her character but also the thoughts that she has towards Charlie.
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This blog focuses on many important ideas in the final portion of the novel. Specifically, I love how you spoke about the relationship between René and Claire, and how it has changed compared to the beginning of the book, where René was just a name mentioned by Eve. Also, I love how you mention the fact that the perspective changes in the end towards Eve’s perspective, which truly does help the reader in terms of understanding the story. To me, It was like two worlds colliding, and Quinn made sure they collided with a BANG! (Quite literally). I love the link to Goodreads in the end, which truly does help those who have no Idea what the book is about.
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