In Review

21 November 2008 22:31 BST

Escape to London by Mary Jane Staples

Published by Corgi Books, out now, paperback, 464 pages, £6.99.

In a nutshell...

Questionable. Flighty. Fun. Thriller. Middle-aged.

What's it all about?

Escape to London tells the story of Anne, a one-dimensional wronged woman who accidentally married an evil, one-legged Nazi and then spends the rest of the book trying to get herself and her family away from him.

In her attempts to 'Escape to London' she encounters many short-lived obstacles but characteristically overcomes them with her gung-ho attitude and traditional moral stances. She manages to avoid the many pitfalls which may jeopardise her retreat from a Nazi-ridden Austria including avalanches, spies, temporary jail spells and a baddy or two making eyes at her.

Sub-plots include the chance encounter with a British journalist who is conveniently researching the biography of her ex-husband and has a chirpy Russian wife who mainly draws parallels between Bolsheviks and Nazis. Another is the delightful repartee between the child members of the family who flirt and joke as if not in mortal danger. And of course, the fleeting glances between Anne and reformed baddie Voegler which ends in a hilariously predictable rendezvous under the clock in Victoria station.

Who's it by?

Escape to London is the latest work by ubiquitous library shelf queen Mary Jane Staples who is immensely popular with the more mature woman for her seemingly never-ending series of novels about the cockney Adams family in war-torn 1950s Britain.

As an example…

"Again the chuckle. Mussolini was in a good mood.
'Always you like to have your jokes', said Pia's mother." – One character chats to Mussolini on the phone

Likelihood of becoming a Hollywood blockbuster

Very probable. I doubt whether it's a goal of Mary Jane's but the plots are simple and appealing enough to make an awesome film with a Von Trapp style family trapped in a tumultuous saga with several opportunities for romance and special effects.

So is it any good?

This is a book with a particular type of reader in mind is I imagine extremely evocative of World War II and power struggles between Austria and Germany. It is certainly a thriller and as a page-turning novel with lots of twists and turns, it excels.

However, if you are looking for something realistic and heartfelt with proper character analysis and a gritty plot then this isn't it. Anne and her companions are stock goodies and baddies engrossed in an extremely predictable denouement into the anonymity of London.

The obscenely presumptuous touches which Staples adds gives the tale an unintended humour: the British journalist uncovers a tiny slide which reveals that Hitler is planning to invade Poland and he manages to pass this to Neville Chamberlain or another character's convenient phone call with Mussolini. Even the obvious physical blemishes are blunt pointers to people's intentions so that the baddies all have one leg or are incredibly ugly.

Give it to your gran.

2/10

Kate Lalor



"Really a great story." - Canyon Disouza