Charles Latterly is on Christmas holiday off the coast of Sicily. He's staying at a
hostel on an island named for its active volcano, Stromboli. There he meets six
other people also from England. Charles recently lost his wife and is trying to put
the pieces of his life back together. Four of these people seem to know each other,
but Charles isn't sure they like each other given their conversation. But he finds
fourteen-year-old Candace Finbar quite intriguing. She's not afraid to speak her
mind about anything and often says aloud what others are thinking.
Charles overhears a conversation between Walker and Isla
Bailey about selling her old home where she grew up
and moving to the city. It appears Isla is very much
against it. Mr. Bailey is a very rude and disagreeable
man and makes everyone around him uncomfortable. He and
Percival Quinn, a famous author in their little group,
are at odds with each other constantly.
When the Stromboli volcano erupts, everyone is scrambling
for cover. They all assemble in the cellar, but Walker
Bailey is missing. Charles and Candace's Uncle Roger find
Bailey in a shed with a beam across his body, but that's
not what killed him. It appears he met foul play. On
their way back to the cellar, more lava erupts and
Charles, Roger and the hostel owner Stefano are all hit
by debris. Only Charles makes it back to the cellar. The
five remaining guests try to make their way down the
mountain through the lava bombs that are falling all
around them. Can they make it to safety? Is one of them
Walker's killer?
Anne Perry packs a punch with this novella, A CHRISTMAS
ESCAPE. It's fast-paced and well written to share as much
information as Ms. Perry does in only about eighty
pages. Charles is searching for answers about life and feels he has always been a
failure. Candace is certainly a contrast; she has a
passion for life and has a good handle on what it's all
about, even at age fourteen. A CHRISTMAS ESCAPE explores
the idea that people can't know what's inside of us,
what makes us who we are or react as we do, unless we
open up to them. It's a story about getting a chance to
do better in life before we die, a story about hope at
Christmastime for everyone. This is Ms. Perry's
thirteenth holiday novel and a very heady read.
For countless readers, Christmastime means a delicious new
holiday mystery from New York Times bestselling
author Anne Perry. A Christmas Escape, her thirteenth
noel to the season, transports us to the Mediterranean
island of Stromboli for an unconventional Yuletide
adventure—and an unforgettable volcanic encounter.
Lonely Charles Latterly arrives at his small
hotel hoping that the island’s blue skies and gentle breezes
will brighten his spirits. Unfortunately, there’s no holiday
cheer to be found among his fellow guests, who include a
pompous novelist, a stuffy colonel, a dangerously
ill-matched married couple, and an ailing old man. The one
charming exception is orphaned teenager Candace Finbar, who
takes Charles under her wing and introduces him to the
island’s beauty. But the tranquility of the holiday is
swiftly disrupted by a violent quarrel, an unpleasant
gentleman’s shocking claims of being stalked, and the
ominous stirrings of the local volcano. Then events take an
even darker turn: A body is found, and Charles quickly
realizes that the killer must be among the group of
guests.
Captivating in its depiction of
untamed nature in all its awesome power, and of the human
heart in the throes of transformation, A Christmas
Escape gifts readers with Anne Perry’s talent for making
the season brighter—and more thrilling.
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