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A review by heartsneedle
Alice James: A Biography by Jean Strouse
4.0
4/5
Intellectual, Internal Conflict
“I passed through some rather dark hours last spring which I fondly hoped might lead me into celestial light, but I evidently did not deserve the best, so only got the second best, London fog in all its glory!”
Overall: While Strouse's biography is applauded and a breathtaking account of Alice, it ultimately bears too heavily on the brothers and less on her outside of the psychological and physical struggles.
Pros:
-- Alice's portrait is well researched, and I very much enjoyed the inclusion of footnotes
-- Moved along without historical tedium, proved representative and fascinating
Cons:
-- Not a lot of commentary or exposé about her diary entries
-- Alice's illness was treated shallow, not offensive, but surface-level
Intellectual, Internal Conflict
“I passed through some rather dark hours last spring which I fondly hoped might lead me into celestial light, but I evidently did not deserve the best, so only got the second best, London fog in all its glory!”
Overall: While Strouse's biography is applauded and a breathtaking account of Alice, it ultimately bears too heavily on the brothers and less on her outside of the psychological and physical struggles.
Pros:
-- Alice's portrait is well researched, and I very much enjoyed the inclusion of footnotes
-- Moved along without historical tedium, proved representative and fascinating
Cons:
-- Not a lot of commentary or exposé about her diary entries
-- Alice's illness was treated shallow, not offensive, but surface-level