Alice Blog

Foreshadowing

Hi! I have been rereading the Alice series and came across some foreshadowing that was established when Alice was in 8th grade. In “Alice in Lace”, the gang is given scenarios to help them make decisions in real life. Alice and Patrick are getting married and have to make decisions regarding housing, wedding and finances. Brian deals with the aftermaths of a DUI and Pamela is pregnant and asked the teacher if considering an abortion is an option.
Having read the whole series before, I found it interesting that these themes emerged with the same characters years before they truly happened. Did you always have an inclination to bring their stories in those directions? Was this intentionally foreshadowing the future?

It certainly sounds as though I did.  I’m actually surprised, because I  wouldn’t think I would give so much away in advance.  Maybe my subconscious was hard at work…

Queer character

Hello PRN!! First of all, I want to say I love your Alice series. They are a big comfort to me and I read the books all the time.
Second, would you have ever considered making Alice (or one of her friends) queer or interested in women? I feel like Alice would explore her sexuality since she did think about human bodies and sex a lot.

I did indeed.  Don’t ask me which of the 28 books it was in, but one of her friends lets Alice know that she is a lesbian, and she soon finds a partner.  Alice continues her friendship with both.  Perhaps other readers can remember in which book  this girl comes out to Alice…..

Elizabeth’s Ethnicity

Is Elizabeth East Asian? I feel like it was subtly implied throughout the series

That’s interesting, but no…  It encourages me, though, to think that the book can relate to almost any girl, of any ethnic group, any race…. not through her hair or  skin or neighborhood, but for her worries, her embarrassments, her hopes, and disappointments.

Did Patrick feel bad?

Hi, I just wanted to know if you think Patrick felt bad at all for all the times he broke Alice’s heart and if he still feels bad about hurting her like he did in the books. Like when he left her for penny, or all the times he broke up with her. Also, when he and Alice finally got back together for good do you think he wished Alice had been the first woman he slept with? I know he said he wouldn’t have wanted to hurt her the first time. Do you think he ever thought about him and Alice sleeping together when they were in high school?

For “all the times he broke up with her?”   Wow.  Was it that many?   I’d have to go back and read all the books.  Keep in mind that girls mature faster than boys,  and when he left Alice for Penny, I believe he simply thought he could have two girlfriends at once, just like he had a number of “best buddies.”  He may have thought some about her feelings, but I think it just made sense to him–dating for the first time–that if you liked both girls, why not go out with them both?  He did seem to have a serious relationship with someone in the Peace Corps, but I think he felt it was necessary to see if he could really commit to one woman, and I believe he felt that he could, but not the woman he thought he loved in the Peace Corps.  At this point, I believe he was indeed thinking of Alice, wondering if he made a great mistake, what she was doing, if he ever had another chance, and feeling sad at causing her grief.  That’s why their accidental meeting up was so important to both of them.

Ever thought of Alice becoming a widow?

Hello Phyllis Reynolds-Naylor! I love the Alice series and I can honestly say next to Shiloh, it’s one of my favorites you’ve written! I love how you ended the series with Alice and Patrick FINALLY getting back together for good and getting married and even having children and grandchildren. When I read that they had grandchildren I felt my heart warm! I was so happy. I was sad that Alice lost her father because he was so important to the series, it made me appreciate my father a lot more. Even though I LOVE the ending of the series with Alice and Patrick being married and traveling the world together, did you ever think about making Alice a widow? Like Patrick getting sick and dying and writing about the grief of losing a spouse?

No, I’m not sure I wanted to go that far.  I’m sure that Alice would have the courage to get through that, but I like seeing her happy too much to have the series end that way.

Lester’s snobby girlfriend

Let me start by saying I am a really big fan of Alice and I’m very much in love with the series! In one of the books, I remember hating one of Lester’s girlfriends, Eva (I think that was her name) because she was really snobby and in a way rude towards Lester. Did you know someone like her? Did your brother or sons date a girl who came from a rich family and was very spoiled and snobby? How’d you get the idea of Lester dating a girl like that?

I didn’t much care for her either.  I just thought that it would be interesting if some time he dated a girl that Alice didn’t much care for, and how Alice would react to that,

Hello?

I wanted to know about Patrick and Alice’s relationship, In the books, Alice and Patrick do eventually break up ( even though they end up together in the end) I wanted to know why their breakup dragged on for so long? Reading back on the beginning books Alice and Patrick were practically obsessed with each other so I was confused as to why it seemed like they lost interest in one another or how their relationship broke up so easily?

They were exploring other aspects of their lives, and very wisely, I think.  Patrick, obviously, wanted the experience of living abroad, and Alice–with Patrick gone–felt the need to explore another relationship.  The fact that they felt so intensely happy when they met up again made their decision to marry convince them that they were right for each other.

the meaning of sex

Hello! this may be an awkward question but let me start by saying that I am a big fan of the Alice books and love how you discussed certain topics that a lot of people think about but don’t really talk about. As a shy, introverted girl who grew up without a mother, I often thought of some of the same things Alice did and thought I was the only one, reading the series made me feel less alone and it helped me get through some tough times, sometimes it was like Alice took my thoughts clear out my mind. Alice in a way did think about sex often especially in her younger years. I’m 16 and I was wondering, how does having sex show someone you love them? How does it make the people closer? I’ve often heard people say that and they could never give me an easy answer. I’ve never experienced it. In your own opinion, would you recommend young girls to wait until marriage to have sex?

I would tell young girls to wait until both they and the men they wanted to marry had the same idea that married love should contain passion, tenderness and joy.  And joy, I think, would be number one, because if you are truly joyful in your relationship, you probably are looking forward to sexual relations with each other, and your love involves  tenderness–kindness and wanting the best  for your partner.   Sex doesn’t automatically make two people closer, even though their bodies could not be closer.  But if they know each other well, and love each other deeply, they look forward to sexual pleasure, and want to give it as well as receive it.  A couple really needs to be able to talk about anything, especially what gives them sexual pleasure.  As Alice’s older cousin always tells her, “It’s not like it is in the movies, Alice.”   It’s very personal, different for different women, especially, and a young woman should feel comfortable enough with the man she wants to marry to discuss things like this with him.  Having sex does not automatically make you love each other more.  With the wrong person, it could drive you apart.

Regarding Patrick’s Superman Costume

 

I am a huge fan of the Alice series having read and reread the books since I was 10. I am now 35. One thing that always wondered is why Patrick wore his blue underwear for the Superman costume, when Superman typically wears red underwear over his blue suit in the comics and most tv/film adaptations (particularly at the time the book was published). Only in 2013, the red underwear was removed from the version of Superman played by Henry Cavill.

You’re asking me to think too far back.  I’m sure that I simply went to Google, typed “Spiderman costume” or something, and used the first example I came to.  But I’m fascinated at the small details  readers remember years after reading the books; I know that we all treasure some of the small things that attract out attention.

Forever Grateful

 

I started to read the Alice series when I was a young girl and immediately fell in love. There was something so pure and real about Alice that made me feel as though I had just made a lifelong friend. It was incredible that when I started the series I was in elementary school and that as I grew older and was constantly questioning things, so was she.

I am embarrassed to admit that as life continued and got busier I had less time to read and ultimately did not know about the last book in the Alice series.

Recently, I found myself wondering about you and your series and realized that I had not completed the series. I got “Now I’ll Tell You Everything” and finished it within a day. I am so happy I did because it gave me the closure I didn’t know I needed within Alice’s story and all the beloved characters.

It was a very full circle moment for me as I realized I am growing as fast as Alice. I wanted to extend my gratitude for you and this series. I will forever be grateful to you, Alice and all thw wonderful books that helped me grow up to handle love, loss and hardships.

Forever grateful to you,

 

Thank you so much for writing to me.  There are 28 books in the Alice series and it took me 28 years–writing one per year–to complete it–keeping enough time to write other books on the side. But it was always a joy when the time came to write another Alice book, and it was always in the back of my mind–how old she would be, what grade she’d be in, what Patrick was doing, how her dad was getting along…  They were like a family I had known forever, and I was a bit sad when it was over, but time to move on to other books.