The Alice Network

Young Eve arrives in Le Havre in June 1915 to meet her contact—a tiny woman in a flamboyant hat who is Cameron’s favorite agent. Her code name is Alice Dubois, but she insists on being called Lili. She says Cameron now calls all his recruits by the names of flowers: Lili, Violette, Marguerite: “We’re his garden, and he fusses over us like an old maid with a watering can” (80).

Lili gives Eve her first assignment, which is to get herself hired as a waitress at a restaurant in Lille called Le Lethe. This is the favored meeting spot in town for German officers. Eve’s job will be to pass on to Lili whatever useful information she overhears. As the two women prepare to return to Lille together, Lili says, “Welcome to the Alice Network” (85). Eve is now officially a spy.

During the road trip to Rouen in May 1947, Charlie recalls an incident from her childhood. On a family excursion into Provence, she and Rose were accidentally left behind by their parents at a roadside café for six hours. Rose is frightened that no one will ever come back for them. She confesses that her mother doesn’t like her.