The Alice Network

The Alice Network takes its inspiration from the real wartime experiences of female spies. The novel amplifies on those experiences through the theme of women warriors. Eve embodies the typical warrior woman as she and her female colleagues experience the double-standard applied to women who enter the male-dominated arena of combat. Allenton excludes Eve from weapons training, and Lili cautions Eve that none of their superiors would trust a female agent who’s been sleeping with the enemy.  

The book repeatedly demonstrates the danger of underestimating warrior women. Cameron believes women make the best agents because everyone believes they are passive and harmless. Lili looks fragile, but she does more real damage to the enemy than a bomber squadron. Eve’s greatest strength as a spy is her stutter because most people think she’s an imbecile. Both women play up their perceived helplessness and confusion when they want to slip past German checkpoints.

Warriors women come in all stripes, as demonstrated by 19-year-old Charlie. Although she’s been dominated and controlled by her overbearing family all her life, she finds a way to assert herself and save her friends. The unlikely combination of a handicapped crone and a pregnant ingenue proves to be lethal when the pair of them take down René Bordelon: “He toppled back, sliding to the floor with his ruined hand flung out in surprise.