One winter morning in Germany in early 1945, Detta passes a group of exhausted British prisoners of war who are being force-marched westwards. One man catches her eye and she cannot forget him. The following day she receives an urgent message to contact the local priest: he needs her help.
Miranda is a photography student in Berlin in 1989 as the Wall falls. Trapped in an abusive relationship, her one hope for escape is an old postcard of the village her grandmother, Detta, was born in. As Miranda flees through the rubble of the Berlin wall and into the East, she begins to suspect she’s being followed by the Stasi.
Two very different timelines; two women who share a history and a dark secret. Can they save each other now the time has come to reveal it?
Many thanks to Simon and Schuster UK for my copy of The Escape via NetGalley and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The Escape is the first book I have read by Clare Harvey and its title certain lives up to the themes of the story. Dual strands run alongside each other following two characters, all of whom will eventually become intertwined and interlinked. The common thread apart from the connections we see emerging between these two characters is that both of them are trying to escape from something. They may be separated by time, place and circumstance but it soon becomes evident that both women are going through monumental changes in the most turbulent of times and it's the decisions and sacrifices they make which will impact on the rest of their lives either for the better or worse.
Clare Harvey clearly had undertaken extensive research before she began writing The Escape for it is rich in detail and very atmospheric. I could feel the tension, anger, danger and menace oozing from the pages be it in the chapters set during the last days of World War Two and the fall of the Reich or in late 1980's West Berlin as the tensions simmer and run high as the wall is about to come crashing down ending years of separation and discord.
Two timelines run alongside each other and although it became clear to me fairly early on what the connections and secrets were it didn't majorly detract from my overall enjoyment of the story. I don't think there was any huge reveal that the reader wouldn't have seen coming, the clues were there in plain sight for all to piece together. Yes there was a sense of uncovering the past to rectify and solve things in the present but it was more to do with helping Miranda in Berlin to see through her clouded judgement about the situation she found herself in. In attempting to bring closure to the past for her grandmother she was also helping herself and trying to bring about unity and forgiveness where there had been separation and anger for quite some time.
The Escape is very character driven and I felt things happened at a slow pace for almost half of the novel. That events were very much stretched out despite the threats looming just around the corner in particular for Detta in 1945 in Nazi Germany. The sense of urgency and getting on with things needed to occur earlier in my opinion. Saying this, the slow pace does allow you to get to know the characters and their inner workings and to see how they feel about the historical changes they are witnessing and are part of. How their lives will be irreparable changed and the decisions they will have to make on the spur of the moment. With regard to Miranda she did begin to search for answers and an element of mystery was there but more especially for her not for the reader as I knew myself what had happened it was more about Miranda uncovering her own family history and how she came to be shaped to the person she was today.
I found Detta's story to be of more interest to me rather than that of Miranda's. It may sound strange to say but I think preferred Detta's story because it was set so far back in the past. We were reading of Detta trying to flee her village after the Germans left and the Russians rolled into town it was just simply fascinating. It was a part of World War Two that I hadn't read much about in historical fiction. Usually books just end with the war being won and soldiers arriving home so it was very interesting to read of the people in German towns and villages and how they were forced to cope with even more change as the people who had held power over them during the war were eradicated and the Russians stepped up. Whereas with Miranda it seems like only yesterday the fall of the Berlin wall occurred even though it was thirty years ago now but it is so fresh in people's minds that I find myself more taken with going deeper back into the past and to Detta's story.
Detta's life, as with many during the war years, was a struggle and there is little left in her village now. The boarding house she helps her mother to run sees very few visitors except for German officials and soldiers. But as the war draws to a close even more carnage, destruction, loss and devastation will ensue. The sound of the Russians grows ever closer as they march through Germany. With gunfire and aeroplanes to be heard inching ever closer to the village Detta knows decisions need to be made but as she dithers over what to do matters are taken out of her hands. Will love rule over sense?
Detta was loyal, steadfast, courageous and a young girl who could see the bigger picture and deep down she knew what the future held. She was given a chance to grab happiness and yes the way love occurred so quickly here was bit implausible but you just go with it because you are so caught up in the tension and the fact that things have to be decided quickly. There will be no second chances it is now or never. Decisions have to be made and even though the consequences will be far reaching for many years to come, Detta was wise and was aware of what could happen if she choose the wrong path. Detta knew she was playing a very dangerous game with secrets and betrayal at its very centre. One wrong manoeuvre, one step out of place and all could be thrown up in the air with the most horrific and devastating of consequences. I felt her indecision and how she was racked with guilt but she had to be brave and follow her heart and shed the load and life she knew. But was she brave enough to take this momentous step or will divided loyalties play a major role in the path that is destined for her and if she does make the decision to flee and to follow her heart would she be able to live with the consequences of her actions?
In West Berlin in 1989, Miranda, a photography student, is with her partner Quill as history is in the making. The fall of the Berlin Wall seems imminent as she photographs epic changes following on from numerous years of separation and unease. Yet there is plenty of worry and suspicion being experienced by Miranda which only grows as things take on a more sinister and menacing tone. She finds herself in a predicament and in danger and at a loss as to what to do. Amidst such change and sensing she is being followed, all alone she rings her grandmother for solace and advice. A chance meeting as organised by her grandmother sets Miranda on a road of discovery of connecting the past to the present, of seeking the answers in order to find closure, peace and comfort for several characters.
Honestly, I didn't like Miranda as much as Detta. I found Miranda when we first met her to be weak and easily led by others. She knew the situation she was in yet she remained there and this only led to getting herself into deeper trouble and escape becomes a necessity rather than one channel of many options. Miranda soon becomes aware that she is but one small cog in a much bigger wheel and I was glad when she finally got her act together and set off to do something right, to seek reconciliation and reunification. Only then could she move forward in her personal life. She comes to understand that when people are under pressure or in danger they do things they would never do under normal circumstances and this is most definitely true of people during war time. What she discovers helps to bring some sense of normality, peace and acceptance back into her life but will she put these qualities to good use or will time run out before she can do anything about it?
The Escape was an interesting and different read from a lot of the World War Two historical fiction I have previously read. It highlights the importance of not letting opportunities or moments slip through our fingers for we never know where these will take us. Detta was an inspirational character who faced many challenges through the circumstances and times she found herself living in. Miranda was in a similar situation although separated by many years from Detta yet her aspect of the overall story line did not hold my attention as much and if the book had solely focused on Detta I would have been just as happy with that. For my first book by Clare Harvey I am impressed, it was a good read but a little bit more mystery would have elevated this book even further than the heights it reached.
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