Escape: Book summary and reviews of Escape by Barbara Delinsky

Escape Summary

In her luminous new novel, Barbara Delinsky explores every woman's desire to abandon the endless obligations of work and marriage - and the idea that the most passionate romance can be found with the person you know best.

Emily Aulenbach is thirty, a lawyer married to a lawyer, working in Manhattan. An idealist, she had once dreamed of representing victims of corporate abuse, but she spends her days in a cubicle talking on the phone with vic­tims of tainted bottled water - and she is on the bottler's side.

And it isn't only work. It's her sister, her friends, even her husband, Tim, with whom she doesn't connect the way she used to. She doesn't connect to much in her life, period, with the exception of three things - her computer, her BlackBerry, and her watch.

Acting on impulse, Emily leaves work early one day, goes home, packs her bag, and takes off. Groping toward the future, uncharacteristically following her gut rather than her mind, she heads north toward a New Hampshire town tucked between mountains. She knows this town. During her college years, she spent a watershed summer here. Painful as it is to return, she knows that if she is to right her life, she has to start here.

Escape Reviews

"Delinsky nails it in her trademark latest, a captivating and moving story about a woman who's had enough of her life and wants a fresh start...[She] keeps the story moving with some nice twists on a familiar plot, rich characterizations, and real-feeling dilemmas that will keep readers hooked." - Publishers Weekly

"Our literary editor recommends Escape, by Barbara Delinsky." - Good Housekeeping

"This thought-provoking book will be popular summer reading." - Library Journal

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Escape Reader Reviews

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Rated of 5 by Cloggie Downunder
original and unpredictable
Escape is the 41st stand-alone novel by popular author, Barbara Delinsky. One Friday morning, New York lawyer Emily Aulenbach takes stock of her life and realises it has strayed so far from her dream that she needs to escape. She takes off her watch, turns off her Blackberry, leaves behind her laptop and, without telling anyone or having any firm plans, heads north. After a few days, she finds herself in Bell Valley, New Hampshire, a place where her life changed radically one summer, ten years ago, and a place where she hopes to, once again, find herself. In Bell Valley, she renews a neglected friendship with Vicki Bell, submits to the healing powers of the Animal Refuge and reconnects with the mystical coyote of that long-ago summer. But an old lover, Vicki’s brother Jude, has also returned to Bell Valley; Emily is wedded to James, but the problems she ran away from include her fulfilling job, her demanding family and friends and her dysfunctional marriage, so is Jude’s presence a help or a hindrance? In this novel, Delinsky gives the reader characters with depth, spirit and integrity and a plot that is original and unpredictable, with an exciting climax. Delinsky touches on a range of topical subjects: the pressure of modern-day life; damage claims against large corporations; animal refuges; trust funds; intimidation and stalking; infertility and life balance. I had not read any Delinsky novels for quite some time, so I had forgotten what a pleasure these are to read. I really enjoyed this one.

Rated of 5 by Jemma McKee
Predictable plot
The back story of her relationship with her college roommate is just dumped into the beginning of story. The heroine is predictable ... over worked lawyer with not enough time for a life. her husband is one-dimensional... she may love him ... but not much. When she chucks it all to find herself in a stereotypical small town ... of course an old boyfriend appears. he is more a 60's guy than is believable.
Barbara D mailed this in... I did not finish book

Barbara Delinsky Author Biography

Barbara Delinsky was born and raised in suburban Boston. "My mother's death, when I was eight, was the defining event of a childhood that was otherwise ordinary. I took piano lessons and flute lessons. I took ballroom dancing lessons. I went to summer camp through my fifteenth year, then spent my sixteenth summer learning to drive." After graduating from Newton High School, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology at Tufts University and a Master of Arts degree in Sociology at Boston College. "I wish I could say that I had a career in mind, but women were barely thinking about careers back then. The motivation behind my M.A. was to get a better job with better pay. My husband was just starting law...

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