4.5 stars.

Love, Alice is a heart wrenching story of loss and grief that is ultimately uplifting. With the secondary story arc that takes place during the 1960s, Barbara Davis brings much needed attention to the abhorrent "Magdalene Laundries" where unwed mothers were forced to give up their babies and endure horrific living conditions. The present day storyline is equally affecting as a grief-stricken young woman searches for answers about her fiancé's inexplicable suicide a year earlier.

On the one year anniversary of her fiancé William Prescott's death, Dovie Larkin is no closer to understanding why he took his own life and she still remains mired in grief as she visits his grave daily. With her family, boss and friends running out of patience with her inability to move past her tragedy, she is already in danger of losing her job when she becomes obsessed with a series of letters that were written by Alice Tandy during the 1960s. Trying to help Alice's elderly mom, Dora, find a measure of peace for forcing her unwed daughter give her baby up for adoption, Dovie puts her career in jeopardy when her search for answers leads to the Tate family, who just happen to have recently made a huge donation to the museum where she works. Working closely with Austin Tate on a fundraiser, Dovie tries to respect his request that she stay away from his grieving mother, Gemma, but she quickly realizes that Gemma quite possibly holds the key to finding out what happened to Alice. Will uncovering the truth about what happened to Alice and the baby she gave up for adoption help heal Dora's wounds? Can understanding Dora's grief provide a way for Dovie to move past her own grief?

Dovie's need for answers about William's suicide is completely understandable but it is very frustrating watching her push away her friends and family in the process. It is also somewhat maddening that even though she KNOWS her job is in jeopardy, she continues to make reckless decisions that puts her career on the line. It is not until she meets Austin that she is forced to take a hard look at her relationship with William and face the truth that has been staring her in face all along. Dovie is also very dismayed by her unnerving attraction to the handsome Tate heir, but Austin has his own demons to make peace with before their relationship can move forward.

The storyline about Alice's time at the Blackhurst Asylum for Unwed Mothers is incredibly poignant and utterly heartrending. The stigma of unwed pregnancy is the driving force behind Dora's decision to force her daughter to give up her child for adoption. Through a series of letters written over the years to her beloved baby, the truth about Alice's time at Blackhurst and her subsequent search for her child emerges in heartbreaking detail.

From the first gut wrenching and emotional letter to the final deeply moving missive, Love, Alice is an absolutely riveting story that is impossible to put down. The plot is a bit predictable but this does not lessen the impact of this touching story. The characters are beautifully developed and although deeply flawed, they are sympathetic and easy to root for. Barbara Davis's decision to include the "Magdalene Laundries" in the novel adds an incredible amount of depth and substance to the storyline. The addition of a slight romantic element lightens the story but it also forces Dovie and Austin to deal with the unresolved issues from their previous relationships. I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend beautiful novel of healing and redemption.
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Thirty or so years ago, a young woman in a village in Cornwall became pregnant, and before they could marry, her boyfriend was killed in a fishing accident. Her mother, unexpectedly much harsher than Alice had expected, sent her to a convent to have her baby--one of the now-notorious Magdalene laundries. From this experience, Alice emerged without her baby, but with an absolute determination to find and reclaim him--and an unforgiving anger toward her own mother.

A year ago, Dovie Larkin's fiancé, William Prescott, committed suicide two weeks before their wedding. He left no note, no hint of why he did it, and Dovie has not recovered from the blow.

Today, while eating lunch next to William's grave, she sees an old woman leaving a letter on a nearby grave--the improbably grand grave of Alice Tandy, former maid to the Tate family, substantial donors to to the museum where Dovie is director of fundraising.

The old woman is Dora Tandy, Alice's mother, who came to America seeking her daughter and, if at all possible, her grandson. Dovie, seeking a distraction from her own grief and confusion, first steals the letter from the grave, and later gets hold of letters Alice wrote--and never mailed--over many years, that were left at the gravesite and then taken to the lost and found office. Compassion for the grief of Alice's mother, plus the need for distraction, draws her into investigating Alice's mystery. What happened to her son? Did she ever find him? Why did the Tates give her the grand monument when she died?

What Dovie doesn't expect is that reading the letters, trying to find ways to talk to Gemma Tate, sitting every workday lunchtime by William's grave, and working on the museum's seasonal fundraising gala will all combine to bring her answers not only to Alice's mystery but her own: why William killed himself, two weeks before their wedding.

In the course of this, Dovie, Dora, Gemma Tate, her son Austin, and an unexpected person from William's past all have to work through feelings of grief they haven't even been able to admit to themselves.

This could have been maudlin. It isn't. I found it absorbing and emotionally satisfying. Even the least likable characters prove to have their reasons and their own viewpoint, without being whitewashed into shallow, feel-good, "all around nice."

Recommended.

I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. ( )

Ms. Davis has crafted her story using letters from Alice Tandy, an unwed mother committed to a Magdalene Laundry, to the child she was not allowed to keep. Enter Dovie Larkin who has lost her fiancee and her grounding. Every day she takes her lunch to the cemetery where she visits her fiancee's grave and seeks understanding. One day she sees a woman place a letter on a grave. Dovie just has to read that letter and the subsequent chain of events fills the pages with how far people will go to keep up appearances, how far people will delude themselves, how cruel people can be when the facts don't fit their special reality, how not everything can be fixed.

I think the narrative in many parts was too lengthy and overwrought. There was a constant feeling of "what are you not getting? One and One equals two just open your eyes." All the dots were in place and only needed to be connected for the AHA moment, and yet on and on it went. At times it was just frustrating and wearying. .

Having never heard of the Magdalene Laundries and the horrors perpetrated upon the young women confined within in their walls I was left speechless not only by my ignorance but the world's silence and acceptance of these institutions well into the latter part of the the twentieth century.

Thank you Penguin and Random House for an advance copy.
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Dovie Larkin's fiancé killed himself two weeks before the wedding and she is having trouble getting over it. She spends her lunch hour every day at his gravesite. It's there that she sees an elderly woman leave a letter at the foot of the grave that has Alice's Angel on it. While this book was pretty good, it turned into a romance, which I really don't like that much. If you're a romance fan, this will be a much higher rated book for you. ( )

Love, Alice by Barbara Davis is the story about grieving and moving beyond it. Dovie Larkin is thirty-six years old and lost her artist fiancé a year ago. He committed suicide two weeks before their wedding. Dovie cannot move on because she has unanswered questions. William, her fiancé, did not leave a note. Dovie does not understand why he killed himself. Was she not good enough for him? Dovie takes her lunch each day at William’s grave (which people think is weird). Dovie has been forgetful and flighty the last year. She needs to get her act together or she will lose her job at the museum (and she worked very hard for her promotion). Dovie is a curator at the Charleston Museum of Cultural Arts and is organizing a fundraiser for the new art education wing (with the help of the Austin Tate). One day in the cemetery Dovie sees a woman who seems to be as grief stricken as Dovie. Dovie watches her leave a letter at the grave that has Alice’s Angel on it. Dovie takes the letter and reads it. This letter leads Dovie on a journey to help Dora. It also sets Dovie on a path to get the answers she needs to help her move on with her life.

Love, Alice is about Dovie finding answers she feels she needs by helping Dora. Ultimately, though, the book is a romance novel (it dives into a romance between Austin Tate and Dovie). The story is set in 2005 with the letters taking the reader back in time. I liked Dora and her daughter Alice’s story. It was the best part of the book. It was interesting how the author tied everything together. I found the “surprises” were no surprise. The reader can easily figure them out in advance of the reveal. I wanted to give Dovie a good shake and tell her to open her eyes. Dovie was too old to not see what was right in front of her (it was so obvious). She is not some naïve twenty-something. I give Love, Alice 2.5 out of 5 stars. I found the book to be a too long. It desperately needed some rewriting and trimming. There are many slow sections in the book. Dovie does her “thinking” and “questioning” which gets tedious (I skimmed through these areas). Love, Alice was not my type of book. If you are looking for a feel-good romance novel, then you will enjoy Love, Alice. ( )