Customer Reviews

Escape

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Who hasn't wanted to escape our "techno" world? I know I have, and this books helps me do that, even though I realized that I wasn't totally escaping because I was reading it on my Kindle. Emily realizes one day that she is so burned out with work and life in general that she needs to escape. She ends up spending time with an old friend and during this time reconnects with herself and parts of her life that were very good. I particularly enjoyed the parts about communicating with the coyote and her pups. I love that the author doesn't make everything easy at the beginning, that there is a struggle to get James on the same path as Emily. I loved every minute of this book and wanted to scream "NOOOOOOO" when it was ending. I wanted to continue to escape. Hope everyone enjoys this book as much as I did. Thank you Barbara for taking me away for a few hours with this book.

Emily can't take another day of answering the phone, sitting in her cubicle, worrying about whether she is doing the right thing by her clients or if the dream she has been chasing has crumbled in her hands. She loves her husband but suspects he may be cheating on her, likes being a lawyer, but hates the type she is practicing and adores her parents but is tired of worrying that she is a disappointment to them.

One day she decides she has had enough and drives away in her husband's car to figure out if the past is what is stopping her from loving the present and unable to work on a future. Emily reconnects with her college friend, which is yet another relationship she stopped nurturing and finds she cannot live without. But going back to a place that provided peace in the past and calm during the storm may turn out to be a nightmare if the reason she left this little slice of heaven shows up. Everyone has a secret they hold close to their heart and this one broke Emily's heart and she is not looking to repeat any mistakes when the man she is married to has fulfilled her expectations but keeping this secret from her husband is as sinful as the ones she is accusing him of.

At some point Emily is going to have to face her husband and family, which is not going to be easy. She has to tell them why she ran away but still can't decide when she will be home or how she is going to mesh the life she wants with the life she has and still be able to afford to have a baby.

The reward for Emily is the joy she receives every time she walks into The Rescue and sees all the animals that have faced much pain and misery than working too many hours and not getting enough sleep.

Life is never the problem it is living the life that does you in. I bought this book with no idea what it was about because any Barbara Delinsky is a must buy on my list and never question that it will be great. However, this particulate book comes in a time when my life is a mess and what I want more than anything is to go someplace that will stop the craziness and calm my stress. The main character is like every other woman who does not want to throw the life she has away, she wants to make it work and just cannot figure out how. Her husband has his ideas, her parents another and work is what you do to pay for the life you have. This story will hit everyone that reads it regardless of your age because at some point we all want to hit the button that gets us off the bus and lets us walk for a while.

I have been a big fan of Barbara Delinsky for years but I've been very disappointed in her last 5 or 6 books. I'm not sure what has changed. My favorites were from years ago - A Woman Betrayed, Together Alone, The Passions of Chelsea Kane, More Than Friends.

Maybe with Escape it's the fact that it's written in first person, which I NEVER tend to like. Others may not mind but I feel with first person narratives, we never get an insight into the other characters. I would have liked to be in James' mind when Emily just "escaped'' one Friday and turned off her phone and in Vicki Bell's when Emily showed up on her doorstep after years of not speaking to her. Other characters' perspectives would have really enriched the book.

The best parts of the book for me were when Emily was at The Refuge caring for the animals. Just a small part of the plot but it evoked more emotion in me than the passages between our heroine and her husband.

I would recommend readers get this from their library rather than pay full price for it.

I gave up on this book. It started out fine enough but the story stayed in the same place and seemed very boring and I started skimming the book to see if it was going anywhere and it wasn't, I read it on my kindle, and I ended up giving up on it, which I rarely do.

Only got to the part where Emily says that Jude puts himself in harm's way. That he went to Irag in the middle of the war to rescue pets. Too ridiculous. Can't keep reading without laughing.

I have to agree with some of the other readers that felt that this book was dull and not worth finishing. I have enjoyed many of Barbara Delinsky's stories but this one was just ridiculously boring and the characters not the least bit appealing, especially the arrogant and self-centered Jude. Who cares? All I can say is that I am glad that this was a library book and not a book that I purchased.

I'm not a big Barbara Delinsky fan, but I have liked some of her previous books. I found this one on the "new book shelf" at the library and it looked good. It started out alright, but then it seemed to repeat the same thing over and over; Emily wasn't happy in New York,what did she really feel for her old boyfriend, could she convince her husband to change with her? I didn't have anything else to read, so I stuck with it, but I really wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I don't know what you could discuss in a book group that hadn't already been beaten to death in the novel.

I was hesitant to purchase this book based on the sample but after I read the first review I gave in and bought it..Big Mistake...It was boring and the main character was spoiled, selfish and boring. Everything was her way, her feeling and too bad for everyone else. I had no idea the importance of the wolves in the story. I could relate to what she was feeling...burnt-out but the actions she took were just selfish and the story dragged on and on and on..Too bad you can't get a refund when you buy for your Kindle. I will think twice before I buy this author again because lately her books have been disappointing. She generally writes interesting and good books but not this one...Two thumbs down.

Thirty two years old Emily Aulenbach seems to be living a good life in New York. She loves her husband James deeply and is employed as a lawyer at a prestigious firm where she is highly regarded and her spouse will soon be a partner in his firm. Emily constantly reminds herself she is fortunate. Still as she keeps saying how lucky she is, she goes home and packs. Emily drives away not stopping until she reaches Bell Harbor, New Hampshire.

A decade ago while at college, she spends a wonderful summer there and became close friends with her Vicki Bell and her brother Jude whom she had a torrid relationship with until he cheated on her. Emily left; severing all ties with the Bell siblings. Now she tries to heal the wounds she caused Vickie. She is staying at Vicki's bed and breakfast while deciding about the rest of her life. She knows what she no longer wants to do, which is returning to the sterile, risk free and friendless life she had in NYC. However, James remains adamant about becoming a partner; a position he toiled to achieve for years. Their marriage appears doomed.

As with all of Barbara Delinsky tales, the characters are the heart and soul of the novel. Escape is no different as gutsy Emily holds the tale together with her desperate flight from Manhattan though she loves and adores James. Fans will root for the couple to find a way to stay together, but it looks doubtful as neither side has room for compromise. Although the climax is simple and realistic, this is a poignant look at lifestyles.

Harriet Klausner

I had great expectations for ESCAPE. Delinsky has been a favorite author of mine for years, writing of current women's issues in exciting, relevant books. I rank her up there with Jodi Picoult and Charlotte Vale Allen as far as consistently good reads that touch my heart.

Well, ESCAPE didn't quite make it. The idea behind it was sound. After all, I think many of us daydream about chucking all the cumbersome dross of our daily lives and riding off into the sunset to "discover" ourselves.

There were just too many "huh?" moments during the book. I know this is fiction but some sections were just too over-the-top. The character of Jude was unlikeable and no one ever called him on it. Amelia - I wanted to slap her!

I've always enjoyed "getting to know" the characters in Delinsky's books and did not feel I was given the chance this time around. This could have been a GREAT book. All the needed ingredients were there. But it wasn't. I was glad I got my copy through the local library.