The Escape

The Escape (The Survivors' Club #3)
by Mary Balogh

I received an ARC of this book from the Publisher, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.


This is the third of the seven stories of six men and one woman, all severely wounded in one way or another during the Napoleonic Wars before ending up convalescing together at the home of the Duke of Stanbrook.

The Escape is a story about journey's, a journey to a place, but also a journey through loss and grief and acceptance to joy. A journey where at the end a person can say of themselves "I am as I am."

This is also a story with a great deal of introspection, a story where the hero and heroine work slowly through their issues. So this isn't a fast paced or even an exciting book, it isn't a book that just invites you to settle in for a lovely stroll, it absolutely requires it. For me, as with most books, I jumped in expecting a whirlwind that would whip me off my feet and into my imagination, and that isn't the tactic this book takes. But, once I settled in to the slower pace I found the story to be lovely. The settings and the emotions were vivid. The characters had real emotional baggage and their thoughts, actions and feelings seemed to accurately portray them. The characters also held very true to their own personalities and motivations as they changed and grew. I cared about Benedict and Samantha, I cared about their relationship and their resolution, and better their changes and resolutions actually made absolute sense with the story that was told, which seems to be a fairly rare trait now.


Overall I give this book 4 stars and I will be looking into the rest of the series.