Almost a Great Escape
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Narrated by:
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Mike Vendetti
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By:
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Tyler Trafford
About this listen
Following his mother's death, in 2004, Tyler Trafford discovers an album of old letters and creased photographs that reveal a mother he never knew, a man he's never heard of, and a love affair doomed by class and circumstance. The letters are from Jens Mller, a Norwegian pilot who trained in Canada during the early days of World War II, one of only three prisoners who would make it home after The Great Escape.
In Almost a Great Escape, Trafford takes us on a journey of emotional discovery and dramatic disclosure as he reconstructs his mother's life, from her youth as a wealthy Montreal debutante to her final days as a broken but unbent casualty of a loveless marriage. His search for answers takes him across Canada and then across the ocean to Norway, hoping to learn more about the mystery of this secret relationship.
Written with a fluidity fueled by heart-wrenching honesty, Trafford's unconventional memoir confirms that while you can survive your past, you can never escape from it.
©2013 Tyler Trafford (P)2013 Audible, Inc.Editorial reviews
Love letters stashed among papers he reads after his mother’s passing send Canadian journalist Tyler Trafford on a global journey of discovery that takes him, most importantly, deep into his own heart.
Mike Vendetti’s baritone hits the appropriately somber tone as a son learns of his Canadian debutante mother’s secret engagement to a Norwegian fighter pilot, one of the few to return home after the famous "Great Escape" from a Nazi POW camp. While his mother, victim to her own mother’s demons, was never able to become the writer she hoped or escape a loveless marriage, Trafford learns that what he experienced as rejection was instead his mother’s best effort to provide him freedom and happiness.
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What listeners say about Almost a Great Escape
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- Jean
- 04-04-13
A mesmerizing account of consequences
Tyler Trafford was a reporter in Calgary Alberta Canada. Following his mother's death in 2004 he inherited a Campbell soup cardboard box from his Mother. It was crammed with letters, a journal and photographs that revealed a history of his mother he never imagined. His mother was a beautiful girl from a rich family in Montreal whose Mother was controlling. She met a young pilot from Norway who was training at a nearby base. His name was Jens Muller, the love letters were from him. He went down over German and was a P.O. W. he was with a group that escaped. A movie was made about the escape called "The Great Escape" Muller was one of the few that made it out. I will not spoil the story but Trafford wrote the book about how he puts his mother's life as a young woman together. It does show how decision made can effect our life forever. Mike Vendetti does a good job reading the story.
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9 people found this helpful
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- David
- 09-29-15
You'll not learn much about the Great Escape, but.
I'm afraid that it may take a poet to do this book justice. I remember checking at points to see if this was a novel. I had wondered how he could know some of these things as they seemed so intimate. I got to understand by the time I finished the book. This book doesn't actually tell you all that much about the Great Escape. However, you get to know a couple of men and a few women in an interesting way. I grew to love and admire them all through the course of the book. I found I was quite moved, but I can't see to get out a decent coherent description of all I read. It feels much too intimate and delicate to try and convey the story in any summary I might try and make. The writing seemed ordinary, even simple, yet I was profoundly impacted by the book. This is a surprising find. Perhaps my Canadian heritage and my love of the Great Escape helped warm me to the book. What I can say is that I gobbled up the book with surprising speed.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Greg
- 07-15-13
disappointed
This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?
I am more of a military history buff. If thats what you into this book might not be for you.
What was most disappointing about Tyler Trafford’s story?
The beginning is a little abstract for a miltary history buff
What aspect of Mike Vendetti’s performance would you have changed?
the plot
What character would you cut from Almost a Great Escape?
not applicable
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