The Mystery of Alice

Throughout the reading, it constantly slipped my mind that our narrator was a woman named Alice B. Toklas. I kept thinking it was Gertrude Stein or even some unnamed omniscient person. As I continually reminded myself of Alice, I became more intrigued by her and wanted to find out more. Why would Stein choose her and what value does she bring to the book? Well, I did some online research and found some very interesting information on our lovely narrator. According to the hopefully reliable Wikipedia, Alice was Stein’s “confidante, lover, cook, secretary, muse, editor, critic, and general organizer.” Wait a minute…lover? Apparently the two were a couple for quite some time, but Alice was always sort of overshadowed by Gertrude and her writing. I find it interesting that although Alice is the narrator of this novel, she is still often forgotten by the reader. One very telling section of the book is on page 14, where Alice tells us of all the “wives of geniuses” she has sat with. If it is true that Alice and Gertrude were a couple, Gertrude likely considered Alice the wife of a genius (and herself, of course, the genius). In my opinion, this characterization of Alice speaks volumes about Stein and reveals her egotistical attitude. Despite her unabashed love of herself, I find Gertrude Stein’s writing very interesting and I’m glad we’re reading this book.