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Escape While I Can
When the family fortune suddenly dissolved, the Brandons wrapped the threads of their former prestige about them and went into solitary confinement. Middle-aged, outwardly courteous but inwardly bitter and hateful, the three of them lived in a state of suspended animosity, pretending to ignore the fear that hung over them.
This was the family that greeted Elizabeth when, in her youth and naivete, she married Thayer Brandon. She tried sincerely to fit into the curiously distraught household, but fear is contagious, and the time came when Elizabeth feared for her own life and fled. She returned eight years later when murder became an accomplished fact instead of a whispered fancy, and the words insanity, revenge, motive were flung around a courtroom.
Melba Marlett spent two years perfecting this first-rate mystery novel. She has always told a good story, but here she reaches a new high in suspense and characterization.
This was the family that greeted Elizabeth when, in her youth and naivete, she married Thayer Brandon. She tried sincerely to fit into the curiously distraught household, but fear is contagious, and the time came when Elizabeth feared for her own life and fled. She returned eight years later when murder became an accomplished fact instead of a whispered fancy, and the words insanity, revenge, motive were flung around a courtroom.
Melba Marlett spent two years perfecting this first-rate mystery novel. She has always told a good story, but here she reaches a new high in suspense and characterization.
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First published January 1, 1944
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 20, 2022
“At nineteen one senses no undercurrents.”
Elizabeth and her mother were rather surprised when they were invited to the Brandon family home for dinner. After all, they were rather poor, renting a room at a low-cost hotel, while Brandon’s, by contrast, were considered an upper-class family of great wealth. They were also one of the best-known families in the state of Michigan.
The night of the dinner arrived, and it turned out to be a delightful affair, and, interestingly to Elizabeth, who was only nineteen years old, Thayer Brandon, the eldest son, was very attentive to her all evening. She’d learned that he was considerably older than she, and that he was a widower, his late wife passed away a number of years before.
After dinner, Elizabeth and her mother rode back to their hotel, all abuzz as they chatted about the magical, glittering evening they’d just enjoyed.
And it was only 48 hours later that Elizabeth’s mother suddenly died, (she’d been afflicted with a severe asthma condition and had a brutal attack).
Very soon afterward, Thayer approached Elizabeth, knowing that she had very little money, he offered to arrange for her mother to be buried in the Brandon’s private cemetery, and he also invited her to come stay at the Brandon mansion.
“You’re very kind,” Elizabeth said with appreciation, “But you barely know me.”
Thayer responded softly, “I fell in love with you the first time I saw you walking on the beach two weeks ago.”
“Did you?” Elizabeth asked, taken completely aback.
A short time later, Elizabeth accepted Thayer’s offer to have her mother buried at the Brandon Cemetery. After all, she really had no choice, her father had passed away years before, and now with her mom gone, she had no other family. She and her mother had sold the small family home sometime before, and up to the time of her death, the two women had been living off the proceeds of that sale.
Thayer then invited Elizabeth to leave the hotel and stay with the Brandon’s, (he, his two sisters and another single woman), at their home which was called Brandon Oakes, until she was able to make more permanent arrangements, he told her at the time.
The next days pass in a blur, with the funeral, the packing of her mother’s belongings, the burial, and, just to add more sadness to an already difficult time, they learned that a little girl, the only daughter of a couple renting a nearby cottage, had been missing and was feared drown in Lake Michigan.
It was only a short time later that Thayer Brandon proposes marriage to Elizabeth. She accepts his proposal, mainly because he’s been so charming so far and on top of it, she feels quite alone in the world.
But it was that decision that really sends her life into a tailspin.
The New York Herald Tribune had hailed this book as, “A novel of mystery and romance in the Gothic tradition. Full of suspense.”
Well, I must say that that reviewer was right. I enjoyed this book and was at a loss as to what the outcome would be of any one of the mysteries that popped up as the story progressed.
There was one bit that I thought was well put:
“There are a lot of people who don’t need to keep their heads clear and workable. So, they store all kinds of odds and ends in their mental attic without classifying them or discarding the mothy ones and finally their heads are so full of junk that they can’t think straight anymore, they can only feel. And one fine day an especially potent emotional spark sets off the whole rubbish pile and the whole thing goes up in smoke. Then you have a nervous breakdown, or maybe a crime, or maybe suicide.”
This applied to a number of characters in this story, not all of which made it obvious what was going on inside their heads.
An excellently written story.
Elizabeth and her mother were rather surprised when they were invited to the Brandon family home for dinner. After all, they were rather poor, renting a room at a low-cost hotel, while Brandon’s, by contrast, were considered an upper-class family of great wealth. They were also one of the best-known families in the state of Michigan.
The night of the dinner arrived, and it turned out to be a delightful affair, and, interestingly to Elizabeth, who was only nineteen years old, Thayer Brandon, the eldest son, was very attentive to her all evening. She’d learned that he was considerably older than she, and that he was a widower, his late wife passed away a number of years before.
After dinner, Elizabeth and her mother rode back to their hotel, all abuzz as they chatted about the magical, glittering evening they’d just enjoyed.
And it was only 48 hours later that Elizabeth’s mother suddenly died, (she’d been afflicted with a severe asthma condition and had a brutal attack).
Very soon afterward, Thayer approached Elizabeth, knowing that she had very little money, he offered to arrange for her mother to be buried in the Brandon’s private cemetery, and he also invited her to come stay at the Brandon mansion.
“You’re very kind,” Elizabeth said with appreciation, “But you barely know me.”
Thayer responded softly, “I fell in love with you the first time I saw you walking on the beach two weeks ago.”
“Did you?” Elizabeth asked, taken completely aback.
A short time later, Elizabeth accepted Thayer’s offer to have her mother buried at the Brandon Cemetery. After all, she really had no choice, her father had passed away years before, and now with her mom gone, she had no other family. She and her mother had sold the small family home sometime before, and up to the time of her death, the two women had been living off the proceeds of that sale.
Thayer then invited Elizabeth to leave the hotel and stay with the Brandon’s, (he, his two sisters and another single woman), at their home which was called Brandon Oakes, until she was able to make more permanent arrangements, he told her at the time.
The next days pass in a blur, with the funeral, the packing of her mother’s belongings, the burial, and, just to add more sadness to an already difficult time, they learned that a little girl, the only daughter of a couple renting a nearby cottage, had been missing and was feared drown in Lake Michigan.
It was only a short time later that Thayer Brandon proposes marriage to Elizabeth. She accepts his proposal, mainly because he’s been so charming so far and on top of it, she feels quite alone in the world.
But it was that decision that really sends her life into a tailspin.
The New York Herald Tribune had hailed this book as, “A novel of mystery and romance in the Gothic tradition. Full of suspense.”
Well, I must say that that reviewer was right. I enjoyed this book and was at a loss as to what the outcome would be of any one of the mysteries that popped up as the story progressed.
There was one bit that I thought was well put:
“There are a lot of people who don’t need to keep their heads clear and workable. So, they store all kinds of odds and ends in their mental attic without classifying them or discarding the mothy ones and finally their heads are so full of junk that they can’t think straight anymore, they can only feel. And one fine day an especially potent emotional spark sets off the whole rubbish pile and the whole thing goes up in smoke. Then you have a nervous breakdown, or maybe a crime, or maybe suicide.”
This applied to a number of characters in this story, not all of which made it obvious what was going on inside their heads.
An excellently written story.
July 12, 2019
Well crafted mystery. So glad I stumbled into this one.
February 20, 2026
Elizabeth and her mother go to northern Michigan for a month's vacation while Elizabeth waits to hear results of her applications for teaching positions. Little does she know that she won't be leaving any time soon. They receive an invitation to dinner at the Brandons, the remaining members of a once prominent and extremely wealthy family. Now the Brandons are reclusive--staying away from most neighbors and they normally don't take to strangers. But apparently Thayer, the sole male member of the family, has seen Elizabeth and taken quite a shine to her.
Not long after the dinner, Elizabeth's mother, who has always had a weak heart, dies and the Brandons immediately take Elizabeth in--helping with funeral arrangements and giving the young woman a place to stay. And giving Thayer the chance to woo her. She is sure that she'll hear good news from her applications any day, but when no offers come she decides to marry Thayer. Thayer's pleasure in his new bride is short-lived and soon Elizabeth realizes that she has made a mistake. She finds the household difficult to understand. Effie, the eldest Brandon, seems to fear something (insisting that all doors be locked); Anne is often heard weeping and railing against Effie's strictures; Maggie, an adopted sibling, is treated poorly. Her husband is moody and they quarrel often. And his family is really quite odd--there have been strange deaths in the past, their dogs are now accused of attacking sheep, and now a little girl belonging to a vacationing family has disappeared from their beach. There is secrecy and fear hanging over the house. Elizabeth takes her last one hundred dollars and leaves her husband and the Brandons behind.
Eight years of successful teaching later, Effie writes to let Elizabeth know that Thayer has died of pneumonia and that she needs to come back so his affairs can be settled. As soon as she returns, the atmosphere makes its impression again and Elizabeth realizes there is still something to be feared on the Brandon property. Two people are attacked and there is a murder before Lieutenant Stark (who had investigated the missing child) can discover the truth behind all of the incidents in the Brandons' past.
So, one of the strongest parts of this story is Elizabeth. I really liked the fact that despite her naive plunge into matrimony, she was aware enough to realize that things were not right in the Brandon family and that things were not going to get better with her husband. So often in these stories we have the heroine staying in the uncomfortable or even threatening circumstances, thinking that it's all going to work out.
The mystery is fair. There really wasn't much choice for culprit, so the real mystery is what really happened to the little girl. I was glad to find out that it wasn't as nasty as what we were led to believe even though I still didn't like what use the killer made of her death. But if you like a bit of midwestern melodrama, a smidgen of suspense, and stories about troubled families, then this is definitely the mystery for you. I found it to be a decent read by an author that I hadn't sampled before.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
Not long after the dinner, Elizabeth's mother, who has always had a weak heart, dies and the Brandons immediately take Elizabeth in--helping with funeral arrangements and giving the young woman a place to stay. And giving Thayer the chance to woo her. She is sure that she'll hear good news from her applications any day, but when no offers come she decides to marry Thayer. Thayer's pleasure in his new bride is short-lived and soon Elizabeth realizes that she has made a mistake. She finds the household difficult to understand. Effie, the eldest Brandon, seems to fear something (insisting that all doors be locked); Anne is often heard weeping and railing against Effie's strictures; Maggie, an adopted sibling, is treated poorly. Her husband is moody and they quarrel often. And his family is really quite odd--there have been strange deaths in the past, their dogs are now accused of attacking sheep, and now a little girl belonging to a vacationing family has disappeared from their beach. There is secrecy and fear hanging over the house. Elizabeth takes her last one hundred dollars and leaves her husband and the Brandons behind.
Eight years of successful teaching later, Effie writes to let Elizabeth know that Thayer has died of pneumonia and that she needs to come back so his affairs can be settled. As soon as she returns, the atmosphere makes its impression again and Elizabeth realizes there is still something to be feared on the Brandon property. Two people are attacked and there is a murder before Lieutenant Stark (who had investigated the missing child) can discover the truth behind all of the incidents in the Brandons' past.
So, one of the strongest parts of this story is Elizabeth. I really liked the fact that despite her naive plunge into matrimony, she was aware enough to realize that things were not right in the Brandon family and that things were not going to get better with her husband. So often in these stories we have the heroine staying in the uncomfortable or even threatening circumstances, thinking that it's all going to work out.
The mystery is fair. There really wasn't much choice for culprit, so the real mystery is what really happened to the little girl. I was glad to find out that it wasn't as nasty as what we were led to believe even though I still didn't like what use the killer made of her death. But if you like a bit of midwestern melodrama, a smidgen of suspense, and stories about troubled families, then this is definitely the mystery for you. I found it to be a decent read by an author that I hadn't sampled before.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews