'The Alice Network' and 'While I Was Gone'

The Alice Network, Kate Quinn (4.0)

While I’m not normally a fan of historic fiction (it makes me question what I already know about that time in history), this is an engaging story made up around a real female spy in WWI. The author carefully outlines in the Afterword which elements were fiction and which characters were real, with the main characters being fiction. I liked how the author illustrated the basic issues women had being spies in that time – both their day to day situation and the overall cultural assumptions made by their male counterparts. She also highlights very real intelligence that came from the network of women spies around events in WWI. The interweaving stories of WWI and 1947 also helped to move the story along briskly. I intend to look into the other books Ms. Quinn has written based on extraordinary women participating in WWI and WWII.

While I Was Gone, Sue Miller (3.5)

I appreciated the beautiful writing in this book, though I found the main character to have a melancholy that seemed unwarranted. She has a wonderful husband (and seemingly very happy marriage), a satisfying career and 3 grown daughters. The idea that she has serious mid-life crisis/empty nest syndrome issues made me sad. Who can make it through their 50’s intact? The narrative moves forward based on someone from her past showing up. Nothing too secret, but apparently the effect on her was buried deeply and now must be addressed. Sadly, I found her husband too perfect, her potential affair unrealistic and left disappointed.