The Truth About Alice

The Truth About Alice is Jennifer Mathieu’s 2014 novel that tells the story of Alice Franklin, who is accused of sleeping with two separate guys in one night. When one of the guys, popular quarterback Brandon, dies in a car accident two weeks later, Alice is blamed for his death as she was supposedly sexting him, causing him to get distracted and crash his vehicle. Told from the first-person perspective of four separate teenagers, and then Alice herself, this coming-of-age story explores rumors, slut-shaming, and the power that a lie has to drastically affect the life of one teenage girl.

The book opens with Elaine, the school’s queen bee, who had an on-again, off-again relationship with Brandon before he supposedly slept with Alice and died in the accident. Elaine explains that Alice slept with Brandon and a second boy, Tommy, at a party she threw at her house. Almost immediately, Alice, who was once immensely popular, is labeled a slut and becomes the pariah of the school. When it is discovered that Brandon wrecked his car because Alice was sending him erotic texts, the whole community begins to shun her.

The narrative switches to Kelsie, Alice’s best friend, who was home sick the night of Elaine’s party. Kelsie explains that Alice calls her the day after the party wondering if she has heard any rumors. Kelsie lies to Alice, stating that she only received one text message about the party rumors. Alice denies having slept with Brandon or Tommy and says she can’t understand why Brandon would start such a rumor. Kelsie is internally conflicted about who to believe because she knows about boys Alice has slept with in the past. Kelsie reveals that she also has a history with Tommy, though no one else knows about it. Panicked about the rumors, she starts to distance herself from Alice to preserve her own popularity.



The story then turns to Josh, Brandon’s best friend, who survived the accident that took Brandon’s life. Josh explains how he and Brandon had a few beers that night, and then Brandon’s mother asked them to run an errand. He states that while Brandon was driving, he was distracted by his phone. Later, Josh tells Brandon’s mother that Alice was sending Brandon sexual text messages.

The narrative then switches to Kurt, a so-called nerd who has been in love with Alice for most of his life. While he is enamored of Alice, she seems to barely notice his existence. Kurt explains how Brandon was always kind to him. He would sometimes invite Kurt to his house to drink beers with him on the roof. During one of these talks, Brandon admits to Kurt that he started the rumor about Alice because she would not sleep with him. Kurt expresses that he wishes he had more power at school so that he could tell the truth about the situation and people would believe him.

We return to Kelsie, who explains that Alice angered her during their sophomore year because she lied about giving oral sex to a guy. Ever since then, Kelsie has felt like she could not quite trust Alice to always tell her the truth. As the rumors continue to circulate, Kelsie quits answering Alice’s text messages and phone calls. Kelsie ends up falling in with Elaine and the popular crowd. To get in good with them, Kelsie lies, stating that she witnessed Alice go to an abortion clinic. Then, Kelsie begins writing lies about Alice on the bathroom wall. The other girls follow suit, and soon the walls are covered with lies about Alice.



When we switch to Kurt’s perspective, he says that at one point he overhears his math teacher explain to Alice that she is close to failing his class. Kurt writes a note to Alice offering his help and puts it in her locker. She accepts his offer, and over the next several months, they become friends. Kurt searches for an opportunity to confess to Alice that he knows Brandon started the rumor about her, but he can never find the right moment. When he finally does tell her, she becomes very angry and quits speaking to him.

Kelsie begins talking about her very conservative and religious mother, who makes her attend anti-abortion protests. Kelsie then admits to having had a huge crush on Tommy during sophomore year. Tommy asked her to go for a ride with him shortly before he went to college. She lost her virginity to him that night and later realized she was pregnant. Kelsie’s mother made her get an abortion. She says that she still thinks about the baby, wondering whether it would have been a boy or a girl.

The night after Elaine’s party, Josh says he drove Brandon home and laid him down on the bedroom floor. He watched Brandon sleep and reached out to touch his hair. He admits that he lied about Alice sending lurid texts to Brandon. Truthfully, Brandon wanted to text Alice, and Josh snatched his phone away because he was jealous. This is what actually caused Brandon to crash his car.



Elaine explains that toward the end of the school year, she runs into Alice at a beauty salon and begins to think she has treated Alice a little unfairly. When Elaine tries to speak to her, Alice barely acknowledges her, but Elaine tells her she can start sitting at her lunch table again.

The final chapter is written from Alice’s perspective. She walks to Kurt’s house after having left a note in his locker explaining that she is sorry for not trusting him. She says she will go to his house that night and, if he forgives her, he could let her in. If not, he shouldn’t answer the door. Alice knocks, and Kurt answers. Suddenly, Alice realizes that she has fallen in love with Kurt without knowing it. For the first time in a year, she says, she has found a person she can trust.