The Alice Network Book Club Kit
Book Club Kit for The Alice Network by Kate Quinn includes book club discussion guide and party menu.
Where are my historical fiction lovers at?
After a season of beach reads and lighter reading, I absolutely love to dig in on a super thick, super thought provoking book in the fall.
This month’s book club pick is a heart pounding page turner you’ll have a hard time putting down.
Peanut Blossom Book Club
This book was our official September 2019 pick for the Peanut Blossom Book Club.
Want to see what we’re reading today? Check out our book club book list here.
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This book club pick is one of the awesome books from our fifth year of book club.
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What is The Alice Network About?
Here’s what Amazon had to say about the book:
“In this enthralling novel from New York Times bestselling author Kate Quinn, two women—a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947—are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption.
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, 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. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn’t heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth…no matter where it leads.”
The Alice Network Book Club Questions
I believe the best book club questions to spark a lively discussion in your group help readers make personal connections to the story.
You can read about how to write the best book club questions on your own here, but hopefully these will get you started!
Question 1:
How did you feel about how being a real-world spy was described in this story? Did the realities surprise you? Could you be a spy like this?
Question 2:
Which of the characters did you identify with the most in the story and why? If you had to take the place of one of them, which one would it be?
Question 3:
The character of Eve starts out young and flashes forward to her older years throughout the novel. At what point in the story did you see her becoming more like her older self?
Question 4:
Historical fiction always includes surprising insight into real events, did you know about the Oradour-sur-Glane massacre before reading this book? What other events were new to you? Which were you already familiar with?
Question 5:
Charlie and Eve disagree about the fate that Rene deserves. Which one do you believe was right?
Question 6:
Everyone in the story suffers from some form of emotional damage from the war. Who do you think is most effective at coping with their war wounds?
Question 7:
Who would you cast in a movie adaptation of this novel?
For fun, you can see who the author of the book would cast here.
Book Club Party Menu
For the book club party menu, an obvious choice would be to serve some French recipes in honor of the location of the book.
Kate Quinn suggested a platter of buttermilk drop biscuits with clotted cream and rose jam but my homemade blackberry jam would be perfect for the dark fleur du mal theme!
You can turn a French baguette into crispy crostini in just minutes. Serve it with softened goat cheese and my fresh strawberry bruschetta topping.
For a sweet finish, why not try your hand at Grand Marnier creme brulee? Fire up the kitchen torch to toast that crispy sugar topping.
You May Also Enjoy
If you enjoyed this book, you’d likely enjoy these other fun book club picks from through the years: