Narrated by Rosalyn Landor
This is the third book in Ms Balogh’s Survivors Club series of books that follows a group of war veterans who were physically and/or mentally wounded in the Napoleonic Wars.
In The Escape, our hero is Sir Benedict Harper, whose legs were so badly damaged that he was told he would never walk again. Through a combination of his own sheer bloody-mindedness and the support of his friends, he has confounded expectations – and though he will never be able to walk without the aid of his canes, he does walk and is able to live a more or less normal life. Previously a career soldier, that avenue of occupation is now closed to him, and because he has still not worked out exactly what he wants to do with his life, he’s restless and aimless.
While riding one day, Benedict almost runs down a young woman who is walking her dog, and in his shock at how close he’d come to inflicting serious injury upon her, he yells at her and blames the dog for spooking his horse. When he calms down, however, he realises how ungentlemanly his conduct was, and determines to apologise to the lady for his poor conduct.
Samantha McKay is twenty-four, and a widow of some four months. Her husband of seven years has recently died following a protracted illness caused by injuries sustained in the war, and during that time she was his sole carer. Despite the fact that she discovered the truth of her husband’s selfish, philandering nature not long after their marriage, and even though he was fractious and demanding throughout the course of his illness, Samantha took “for better, for worse” at face value, and devoted herself to his care for five years. His sister, Lady Matilda, now resides with Samantha, and feels it her duty to squash every little piece of joy Samantha may be able to find in her life. Being in “deep mourning”, they never go anywhere other than to church, they must be heavily veiled when venturing outside, the house has taken on the aspect of a mausoleum, and Matilda is adamant that her esteemed father, the lofty Earl of Heathmoor, would not approve of their doing anything as sinful as calling upon a neighbour or going out for a walk.
But Samantha has had enough of living for others and has decided that now it’s time to live for herself. When Ben discovers the identity of the woman he almost mowed down, he asks his sister to accompany him on a visit, during which he manages to apologise to Samantha. They find it surprisingly easy to talk to each other about personal subjects and a friendship quickly develops between them. Ben invites Samantha to ride with him – and his sister, of course – but her intention to do that pushes Lady Matilda over the edge and she packs her bags and leaves in a huff. Samantha is rather glad to see the back of her – but when the coach returns a few days later, complete with several burly servants and a letter from the earl instructing her that she will be taking up residence under his roof where he can make sure she behaves in an appropriate manner, Samantha is distraught.
She remembers suddenly that she had been bequeathed a cottage in Wales some years ago by her great aunt. She has no idea exactly where it is or whether it’s habitable, but if she wants her freedom, then it’s her only chance. Ben has already planned to travel for a while and he offers to accompany Samantha on her journey.
The Escape is a beautiful story, lyrically told. Samantha and Ben are engaging characters, who are searching for something more, seeking to “escape” from certain aspects of their lives; Samantha from drudgery and the oppressive restrictions being placed upon her, and Ben from his purposelessness and the limitations he thinks his disability have imposed upon him. They admit to feeling an attraction, but Samantha is adamant that when she remarries, she wants it to be to someone untouched by war – she has had enough of living under its shadow. And Ben is struggling with many insecurities; he feels his injuries make him unattractive and that his disability makes it unfair to ask a woman to spend her life with him.
The love story unfolds at a leisurely pace, allowing Ben and Samantha to really get to know each other. Quite early on, they acknowledge that neither of them is in the right place to be able to pursue their mutual attraction, yet once Samantha has found her new home, and is on her way to becoming part of a family and community she had never known existed, she finds herself less and less able to envision a future of which Ben is not part. But she also knows she has to let him go to find himself, even though she may never see him again.
While sometimes, the whole “I love you but we can’t be together” thing can wear thin, in this story it makes some sense. It’s true that there doesn’t actually seem to be anything keeping Ben and Samantha apart, in fact both characters need space and time to come to terms with their respective situations, and both of them are wise enough to be able to see that. Ben, in particular, still has to finally accept that the life he’d forseen for himself is impossible and to find a new purpose in life before he feels able to share it with anyone.
The audio download also includes the short story The Suitor, which features the character of Philippa Dean, who appeared in the previous full-length novel in this series, The Arrangement
Rosalyn Landor narrates both stories, and once more brings her considerable acting and narrating talents to bear. Every character in The Escape is clearly differentiated, and I was most impressed with the Welsh accent she employs for numerous characters in the second half of the story. Her portrayal of Samantha’s gruff, warm-hearted grandfather is very good, as is her depiction of Lady Matilda, the tinny, nasal tone she assigns her perfectly encapsulating that lady’s small-minded rigidity of character.
At the beginning of the book, we are in the company of all the members of the Survivor’s Club – six men and one woman – and each of the men is easily identifiable through the effective use of a variety of timbre and technique, from Flavian’s stutter to the resonance in the duke’s gently authoritarian voice. Ms Landor’s interpretation of Ben is particularly good, a lightness of tone conveying his relative youth (he’s just short of thirty); and she uses numerous subtleties of inflexion to capture by turns his natural authority, his insecurities and his mischievous sense of humour. Samantha is similarly well portrayed, and Ms Landor does an especially good job of emphasising her frustrations and longings. This narrator always seems able to get right under the characters’ skins, bringing their emotions into vivid colour in a way which serves to enhance the listener’s empathy and enjoyment of the stories she narrates.
Caz
Narration: A
Book Content: B+
Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in
Violence: None
Genre: Historical Romance
Publisher: Recorded Books
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