Book Review: What Alice Knew by Paula Marantz Cohen

 
What Alice Knew by Paula Marantz Cohen

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

Publish Date: September 7, 2010

Paperback, 352 pages

My Review:
Why I read this: I was given a chance to read this by the publisher, it sounded fascinating and the author is new to me so I wanted to give it a try.

How is the novel driven: Primarily plot/action-driven though the character development is well-done also.


My thoughts: After the read-a-thon was done, this one was next on my list and I had a whole Sunday to myself (I have been sick, the kids were still at their grandparents and the hubby out of the house again), so I sat down to enjoy this novel.  And enjoy it I did.  I loved the look at the artist side of London in the late 1800s.  Where groups of authors, painters and other artists and patrons of the arts often had meals together and had fun together and made fun of each other.  The look into Henry James, his brother William and their sister Alice was a very interesting way to also look into the case of Jack the Ripper.

All of this wonderful backdrop was there, but that wasn't all, the story itself was very well-done.  I was kept entertained throughout with the antics of society and the trio of siblings trying to solve the difficult case of Jack the Ripper.  The mystery was fascinating and held my attention.  I was constantly wondering who it might be and was kept wondering right up until the end.  What Alice Knew was well-plotted, the characters well-developed and the setting was perfect.  I loved learning more about the time period and the writers of the time.

I will definitely look for more of Paula Marantz Cohen's work, her writing is very interesting and her story was entertaining.  The mystery is at the forefront but the characters steal the show and make this a magnificent book.


My Rating: 4.75/5.0

About the Book:

What is an American writer, a master in his own mind but less regarded by his peers, to do in 1880s London?  If you are Henry James, it means frequent dinner parties with the likes of Oscar Wilde, John Singer Sargent and George du Maurier, eating too much while suffering barbs and engaging in silly repartee.  But when Henry's brother William--a professor at Harvard renowned for his groundbreaking work in the new science of psychology--is summoned from America by Scotland Yard to help investigate an East End serial killer who calls himself "Jack the Ripper," things suddenly become more exciting.


Not to take a back seat to her m ore famous brothers, Henry and William's invalid sister Alice takes on the role of lead detective as the three precocious siblings attempt to unravel the true identity of the killer.  Searching London high and low, encountering characters both suspicious and ridiculous along the way, they inch closer to a killer, neither they, nor modern readers, would ever suspect.

With a pitch-perfect knowledge of the period and the players, Cohen, who has had a successful writing career in fiction with alternative takes on literary classics, captures a colorful Victorian London and its environs.  The action ranges from lavish dinner parties, music halls, and seances to Whitechapel slums, the Slade School of Art, and the Broadmoor Asylum for the Criminally Insane, in this delightful take on one of America's greatest literary families and one of England's most terrifying killers.


About the Author:

Paula Marantz Cohen is a Distinguished Professor of English at Drexel University where she teaches courses in literature, film, and creative writing. She  is the author of Jane Austen in Boca, Jane Austen in Scarsdale, and Much Ado About Jessie Kaplan, and four scholarly works of nonfiction including, Alfred Hitchcock: The Legacy of Victorianism, Silent Film and the Triumph of the American Myth and The Daughter’s Dilemma: Family Process and the Nineteenth-Century Domestic Novel. Paula is also the host of The Drexel Interview, a cable TV show based in Philadelphia

Her website


FTC Information: I received this book from the publisher, Sourcebooks for review.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.