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Escape Routes for Beginners by Kira Cochrane (view source)
Revision as of 08:26, 17 September 2020
, 08:26, 17 September 2020no edit summary
{{infoboxinfobox1
|title=Escape Routes for Beginners
|author=Kira Cochrane
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Yes
|pages=368
|publisher=Pocket Books
|date=June 2005
|isbn=0743478428
|amazonukcover=<amazonuk>0743478428</amazonuk>|amazonusaznuk=0743478428|aznus=<amazonus>0743478428</amazonus>
}}
Rita Mae Jones lives with her parents, Clara and Larry, on Las Focas, a tiny island off the coast of California, where her father works in the prison. Rita is thirteen years old and she longs to escape. It's 1959.
It's a tale that weaves its way back and forth over the years, putting me in mind of Kate Atkinson's [[Behind the Scenes at the Museum]], although this book is not as accomplished, by any means. It's a story about what people will do when they're faced with poverty, violence, discrimination and despair. It's about what they will do to escape and why, so often, they simply take their problems with them. I couldn't believe that Clara would bleach the hair of her new-born daughter to the extent that the scalp was burnt simply to hide the black hair which would give away their Mexican origins.
At a time when America was welcoming immigrants, that generosity didn't extend to Mexicans and any who did manage to settle faced outrageous discrimination. Land was for sale - but not to Mexicans. At times it went beyond discrimination and became violence. There are some scenes in the book where the violence is graphically described. It's in context, but nevertheless the scenes are very disturbing and even a few days after finishing the book some of it still sits uncomfortably in my mind. On the other hand and despite the fact that parts of the book are actually set in a brothel there are not many graphic descriptions of sexuality other than a rape. You'll have realised by now that the lives of Toribio's descendants was were not always pleasant.
The writing is good and very readable. Sentence structures are not overly complicated and it's easy to grasp the meaning on a first reading. I read the book in two sittings without problems, spurred on, perhaps by the fact that that the characterisation is good. I felt involved with all the characters, although the women came across as more fully-formed than the men, and I really wanted to know what happened to them. I wanted closure for Maria and Clara and an escape for Rita Mae. The ending is neat, almost inevitable and rather shocking.
The book is the product of meticulous research as well as local knowledge. Cochrane was at university in California for a time as part of her American literature course at Sussex University. I don't usually warm to books set other than in a country where the writer is a native but this didn't jar at all. I'm glad it didn't end up in the charity bag!
You might also enjoy [[No Matter What by Wendy Kremer]]. {{amazontext|amazon=0743478428}} {{waterstonestextamazonUStext|waterstonesamazon=47926220743478428}}
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