Alice's Tulips [Paperback]

Sandra Dallas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 18, 2001

Alice Bullock is a young newlywed whose husband, Charlie, has just joined the Union Army, leaving her on his Iowa farm with only his formidable mother for company. Alice writes lively letters to her sister filled with accounts of local quilting bees, the rigors of farm life, and the customs of small-town America. But no town is too small for intrigue and treachery, and when Alice finds herself accused of murder, she discovers her own hidden strengths. Rich in details of quilting, Civil War-era America, and the realities of a woman's life in the nineteenth century, Alice's Tulips is Sandra Dallas at her best.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Loyalty, trust and friendship are the themes of Dallas's (The Persian Pickle Club) cozy, suspense-driven epistolary novel, set during the Civil War. When her husband enlists as a Union soldier, teenage newlywed Alice Keeler Bullock must live on his family's Bramble Farm on the outskirts of Slatyfork, Iowa, with only her stern mother-in-law, Mother (Serena) Bullock, for company. Alice is lonely without the constant companionship of her sister, Lizzie, and their six younger brothers. She passes the time writing long, gossip-filled letters to Lizzie in Galena, Ill., and growing passionate about her quilting. Newly pregnant, Alice hopes that the baby will win over her fault-finding mother-in-law, but Alice doesn't make things easy for herself. She regularly boasts about her superior sewing skills, yearns aloud for fashionable clothing and speaks before she thinks. In other words, she is young and ignorant of the ways of the world, which leads to trouble with a Confederate sympathizer, Samuel Smead, who, encouraged by Alice's innocent flirtations, pursues her with an intensity that tarnishes her reputation. Meanwhile, Alice slowly makes friends with girls her own age, including Samuel's sister-in-law, Nealie, and a runaway mother, Annie, seeking shelter for herself and her blind daughter. As the story unfolds, secrets and mysteries abound, and Alice shares every joy and sorrow with her sister by letter, a credible narrative form except when Alice reproduces extended dialogue. The last third of the novel is a delicate balance between sentiment and tragedy; in some instances, the secrets spilled go over the top, with no adequate motives for why characters are so cruel. Alice is a feisty Northern counterpart to Scarlett O'Hara, however, and her irreverent humor and precise expression will keep readers entertained. First serial to Good Housekeeping; author tour. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-The significance of a planting of yellow tulips in an Iowa garden becomes evident at the end of this beguiling novel of the Civil War home front. Immature, overconfident, congenial, and flirtatious, newly wed 18-year-old Alice is left with her stern, repressive mother-in-law on a small farmstead when her husband Charlie "goes for a soldier." The book is comprised of the letters Alice writes to her sister over a period of three years to relieve her frustrations and to offer advice on fashion, love, and society. Alice is an outstanding quilter and each chapter is prefaced with a paragraph of information on quilting details. The letters take readers through wartime difficulties of isolation, food shortages, cruel gossip, loss of reputation, and the complexities of a small, closed community. Through the occasional letter from Charlie as he enters into Army life on the Union side, readers see the rigors of camp life, horrors of battle, and imprisonment in the notorious Andersonville prison camp. Alice's growth, brought about by these circumstances, is natural and understandable, as is the slowly emerging bond of affection between the young woman and her formidable mother-in-law. This unfolding maturity of insights lends realism to the light concerns of fashion, sociability, and other trivialities that engage interest in the opening pages.-Frances Reiher, Fairfax County Public Library, VA

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (September 18, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312283784
• ISBN-13: 978-0312283780
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #85,252 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Prize-winning author Sandra Dallas was dubbed "a quintessential American voice" by Jane Smiley, in Vogue Magazine. Sandra's novels with their themes of loyalty, friendship, and human dignity have been translated into a dozen foreign languages and have been optioned for films.

A journalism graduate of the University of Denver, Sandra began her writing career as a reporter with Business Week. A staff member for twenty-five years (and the magazine's first female bureau chief,) she covered the Rocky Mountain region, writing about everything from penny-stock scandals to hard-rock mining, western energy development to contemporary polygamy. Many of her experiences have been incorporated into her novels.

While a reporter, she began writing the first of ten nonfiction books. They include Sacred Paint, which won the National Cowboy Hall of Fame Western Heritage Wrangler Award, and The Quilt That Walked to Golden, recipient of the Independent Publishers Assn. Benjamin Franklin Award.

Turning to fiction in 1990, Sandra has published nine novels, including Whiter Than Snow, and the New York Times best seller Prayers for Sale. Sandra is the recipient of the Women Writing the West Willa Award for New Mercies, and two-time winner of the Western Writers of America Spur Award, for The Chili Queen and Tallgrass. In addition, she was a finalist for the Colorado Book Award, the Mountain and Plains Booksellers Assn. Award, and a four-time finalist for the Women Writing the West Willa Award.

The mother of two daughters--Dana is an attorney in New Orleans and Povy is a photographer in Golden, Colorado--Sandra lives in Denver with her husband, Bob.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hoping For A Sequel, October 24, 2000

By 

Jonathan Wilhelm (Lorain, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alice's Tulips: A Novel (Hardcover)

I have read all of Sandra Dallas' books (and have enjoyed them all) since finding a copy of "Buster's Midnight Cafe" at a used book shop many years ago. "Alice's Tulips" is a delightful book about women, friendship, quilting, the Civil War, and murder - although not necessarily in that order. When we first meet Alice, she is a newlywed who - since her husband has enlisted with the Union - has just moved from the city to live with her mother-in-law (Mother Bullock) in the farming community of Slatyfork. Even though the story is told in Alice's voice through letters she writes to her sister, Alice comes alive as a charming but flawed individual. At the beginning of the novel, she is vain, immature, quite a flirt, and not an entirely good judge of character. As the War continues, Alice must face a number of challenges and re-examine her relationship with Mother Bullock. It is their growing respect for each other which neither is willing or perhaps able to express that forms the core of the story. It was refreshing to read a novel where characters change and grow with such believability. Throughout the novel, a good deal of information is given about quiliting, which is Alice's passion - and her refuge. I read this novel aloud to my wife and we both agreed that are only disappointment was that it was too short. Hopefully Ms. Dallas will let readers know what happens to Alice and Charlie, Piecake and Harve, Annie and Joybell, and the irrepressible Miss Kittie.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!!!!, February 5, 2004

By 

Mercedes L. Johnmeyer "The Most Happy" (Summerville, SC) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alice's Tulips (Paperback)

Wow!! What a great book. I was rooting for Alice all the way! The book consists of letters Alice is writing to her sister during a 2 1/2 year time period that her husband Charlie is away fighting for the union in the civil war. It's amazing to see just how much young Alice grows up in those 2 1/2 years. Living with her mother-in-law, Alice starts out very prideful, wasteful, and immature, but by the end of the book she has grown so much, for the years were not easy on her. I highly recommend this book. A great read.

35 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars a disappointment, September 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Alice's Tulips: A Novel (Hardcover)

This is a story of Alice, the wife of a Union soilder and herstuggles during the Civil War. It is told in letter fashion. We(the readers) read the letters Alice has written to her sister over a 2 1/2 year period. I have read all of Sandra Dallas' works and this was a disappointment. It took story lines out of her other books and placed them in a Civil War setting. The "letters" included lengthy quotations of conversations and copies of other letters therefore making them unlikely to be in a letter. There were many explicit references to sex in the letters which were not necessary.It should have been written in a different format. The "letters" did not seem like letters. The characters could have been developed better. It was easy to guess the mystery and know what was going to happen next. I would suggest reading Dallas' other works and leaving this one on the shelf. Buster Midnight's Cafe, The Diary of Mattie Spencer and The Persian Pickle Club.