The Alice Network

In May 1947, Charlie’s mother intercepts her at the hotel in Roubaix. Mrs. St. Clair immediately makes plans to schedule another abortion appointment in Switzerland to take care of the Little Problem. Charlie only consents to go if her mother promises to help search for Rose afterward.

Late that night, unable to sleep, Charlie goes outside the hotel for a smoke and finds Finn sitting in his car. She climbs in. Charlie reveals that her brother’s suicide after the war left her demoralized and numb. She began sleeping around with college boys, which was how she became pregnant. Now, she can’t decide what to do about the baby. Finn advises her, “‘Do what you want’ […] ‘It’s your life and your bairn. You might be underage, but it’s still your life. Not your parents’” (170).

In July 1915, Eve overhears a tremendous secret. The Kaiser will be passing through Lille on a private inspection tour in two weeks. Eve can’t suppress her excitement, and this draws René’s notice though he assumes she may be in love. That night when Eve is caught without her curfew permit, René walks her home. Before he leaves her at her doorstep, René says he wants to make Eve his mistress.

Once back in her flat, Eve divulges the news of the Kaiser’s trip. Lili is so excited that she plans to carry the information to Folkestone personally. A well-timed assassination could end the war in a matter of weeks. Eve tells Lili about René’s proposition. The two decide that Eve can get more information from him if she agrees to sleep with him.

Lili advises Eve never to let their male superiors know about her affair with René, or they won’t trust her: “If a woman surrenders her virtue to an enemy, they are confident her patriotism can’t be far behind” (182). Lili matter-of-factly sets about instructing the inexperienced Eve in ways to please a man. 

In May 1947, Charlie and her mother are at breakfast in the hotel dining room when the two get into a heated argument about Charlie’s future. Charlie declares that she doesn’t want an abortion and is going to continue her search for Rose on her own.

Finn witnesses the scene and loads Charlie’s suitcase into the Lagonda. Charlie tells Eve, “I’m going to look for my cousin, and somewhere in that whole mess is a man you’re afraid of. I think you should find out if he’s alive or dead. I think you should come with me” (191-192). Eve consents without demanding any payment as they head for Limoges to find the second restaurant called Le Lethe.  

In July 1915, Eve and Lili go to the countryside outside of Lille to scout the best location to ambush the Kaiser’s train. Lili tells Eve that she’s arranged for the two of them to meet Cameron in Brussels. He will want to personally question Eve for every scrap of information she can recall about the Kaiser’s trip. Since Eve has a crush on Cameron, she’s looking forward to the meeting.

At work, Eve asks René for a day off, not revealing that she needs the day to travel to Brussels. He grants her request, but, in exchange, coerces her into sleeping with him that night. She thinks to herself, “Get through it […] Because you can use this. Oh, yes, you can. She let the towels drop, tilting her face up for his next kiss. What did it matter if something scared you, when it simply had to be done?” (204).

In May 1947, Eve, Finn and Charlie are driving to Paris while Eve recounts her past exploits as a spy. Both her listeners are enthralled. On the outskirts of Paris, they stop for the night in a cheap hotel. Charlie goes to a nearby resale shop to buy some less frilly clothes than the ones her mother chose for her. She’s already invented a dead husband, sports a cheap wedding ring, and concocts a story to explain her pregnancy. Eve coaches her on coming up with a convincing backstory and even offers to pay for dinner that evening.

Charlie counts out Eve’s money for the check, realizing she’s been managing the money for all three since they started because of her extraordinary math skills. It makes her feel competent for the first time in her life. She fantasizes about finding her cousin and then buying a cottage where the two of them can pass themselves off as widows and raise their children in peace: “I imagined Mrs. Donald McGowan and Madame Étienne Fournier, both of them doing fine. Just fine” (214).