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No Escape by Daphne Clair released on Jan 25, 1988 is available now for purchase.
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First published July 1, 1987
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About the author
Daphne Clair
122 books64 followersDahpne Clair is one of many pseudonyms of Daphne de Jong, a New Zealand writer who also uses the names Laurie Bright, Claire Lorel and Clarissa Garland. She is the winner of the Katherine Mansfield Short Story Award and has been a finalist for the Romance Writers of America Rita Award more than once.
Daphne Clair de Jong decided to be a writer when she was eight years old and won her first literary prize for a school essay. Her first short story was published when she was sixteen and she's been writing and publishing ever since. Nowadays she earns her living from writing, something her well-meaning teachers and guidance counsellors warned her she would never achieve in New Zealand. Her short stories have appeared in many magazines and anthologies, and a collection of them was presented in Crossing the Bar, published by David Ling, where they garnered wide praise.
In 1976, Daphne's first full-length romantic novel was published by Mills & Boon as Return to Love. Since then she has produced a steady output of romance set in New Zealand, occasionally Australia or on imaginary Pacific islands. As Laurey Bright she also writes for Silhouette Books. Her romances often appear on American stores' romance best-seller lists and she has been a Rita contest finalist, as well as winning and being placed in several other romance writing contests. Her other writing includes non-fiction, poetry and long historical fiction, She also is an active defender of the ideology of Feminists for Life, and she has written articles about it.
Since then she has won other literary prizes both in her native New Zealand and other countries. These include the prestigious Katherine Mansfield Short Story Award, with Dying Light, a story about Alzheimer's Disease, which was filmed by Robyn Murphy Productions and shown at film festivals in several countries. (Starring Sara McLeod, Sam's wife in Lord of the Rings).
Daphne is often asked to tutor courses in creative writing, and with Robyn Donald she teachs romance writing weekend courses in her home in the "winterless north" of in New Zealand. Daphne lives with her Netherlands-born husband in a farmlet, grazing livestock, growing their own fruit and vegetables and making their large home available to other writers as a centre for writers' workshops and retreats. Their five children, one of them an orphan from Hong Kong, have left home but drift back at irregular intervals. She enjoys cooking special meals but her cake-making is limited to three never-fail recipes. Her children maintain they have no memory of her baking for them except on birthdays, when she would produce, on request, cakes shaped into trains, clowns, fairytale houses and, once, even a windmill, in deference to their Dutch heritage from their father.
Daphne frequently makes and breaks resolutions to indulge in some hearty outdoor activity, and loves to sniff strong black coffee but never drinks it. After a day at her desk she will happily watch re-runs of favourite TV shows. Usually she goes to bed early with a book which may be anything from a paperback romance or suspense novel to history, sociology or literary theory.
Daphne Clair de Jong decided to be a writer when she was eight years old and won her first literary prize for a school essay. Her first short story was published when she was sixteen and she's been writing and publishing ever since. Nowadays she earns her living from writing, something her well-meaning teachers and guidance counsellors warned her she would never achieve in New Zealand. Her short stories have appeared in many magazines and anthologies, and a collection of them was presented in Crossing the Bar, published by David Ling, where they garnered wide praise.
In 1976, Daphne's first full-length romantic novel was published by Mills & Boon as Return to Love. Since then she has produced a steady output of romance set in New Zealand, occasionally Australia or on imaginary Pacific islands. As Laurey Bright she also writes for Silhouette Books. Her romances often appear on American stores' romance best-seller lists and she has been a Rita contest finalist, as well as winning and being placed in several other romance writing contests. Her other writing includes non-fiction, poetry and long historical fiction, She also is an active defender of the ideology of Feminists for Life, and she has written articles about it.
Since then she has won other literary prizes both in her native New Zealand and other countries. These include the prestigious Katherine Mansfield Short Story Award, with Dying Light, a story about Alzheimer's Disease, which was filmed by Robyn Murphy Productions and shown at film festivals in several countries. (Starring Sara McLeod, Sam's wife in Lord of the Rings).
Daphne is often asked to tutor courses in creative writing, and with Robyn Donald she teachs romance writing weekend courses in her home in the "winterless north" of in New Zealand. Daphne lives with her Netherlands-born husband in a farmlet, grazing livestock, growing their own fruit and vegetables and making their large home available to other writers as a centre for writers' workshops and retreats. Their five children, one of them an orphan from Hong Kong, have left home but drift back at irregular intervals. She enjoys cooking special meals but her cake-making is limited to three never-fail recipes. Her children maintain they have no memory of her baking for them except on birthdays, when she would produce, on request, cakes shaped into trains, clowns, fairytale houses and, once, even a windmill, in deference to their Dutch heritage from their father.
Daphne frequently makes and breaks resolutions to indulge in some hearty outdoor activity, and loves to sniff strong black coffee but never drinks it. After a day at her desk she will happily watch re-runs of favourite TV shows. Usually she goes to bed early with a book which may be anything from a paperback romance or suspense novel to history, sociology or literary theory.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 30, 2016
Re No Escape - DC has no problem exploring the seldom seen and rare in HPlandia, from infidelity to rape to child abuse, she consistently gets into those subjects that other HP authors quake at the thought of and No Escape is no exception.
In this one, the 28 yr old h is the successful owner of a lingerie shop. She has a turbulent past tho, and it is the past that she left behind that confronts her in an accidental meeting with the H and a 10 yr old little girl.
The H is her estranged husband and the 10 yr old is her daughter she abandoned when the baby was 6 months old. There is plenty of confusion and anger but the big thing that comes through is the H still loves the h, even though he thought she left him and her daughter because he couldn't afford to support her in the style that she formerly knew. The H gives her the chance to get to know her child, and the h willingly takes it.
As the h is rebuilding a connection to her child, she and the H are reconnecting as well. The h seems to have matured in the H's eyes and his feelings are as strong as ever, the H wants to give her another chance but he needs to understand what went wrong the first time and how he and the h can build a new future with that past betrayal. The h herself is terribly ashamed of her desertion but she had some compelling reasons to leave the way she did.
The H and h do rebuild their relationship and the h establishes a bond with her daughter too, it isn't until the end of the book almost that we find out the h came from an abused childhood. Her mother physically abused her and she was removed from her care. She went to relatives who were monetarily very generous, but emotionally neglected the h until she went to uni.
She met the H at 18, got preggers, got married and then had to cope with the H's disapproving and very exacting in her standard's mother while the H continued his education and was rarely home. Since the daughter was a very colicky and ill child, the h got little rest and had a hard time meeting all the demands made upon her at 18. One day it came to a crisis when the h literally wanted to beat her baby. She panicked and thought she was just like her mother, an abuser. So she packed a bag and called the H's mum to take over and left. The more time that passed, the less the h felt able to go back, but at the time she left she was seriously worried she would hurt her child and of course 30 years ago there just wasn't much knowledge about post-partum depression or many parenting classes to help with new mumhood.
The H himself had not been celibate during the period he and the h were separated, he had a woman living with him for almost two years until she left him and the daughter for someone who was available to marry. It is pretty clear that had the woman not wanted legitimate children, the H would have had another child with her. Since that did not work out, the way was clear for the H and h to resume their marriage. Which they do eventually and everyone is happy together for the HEA.
This is an HP that is really rated all over the place. I think of it as average in story progression, mainly cause DC waits too long to give the reasons the h left and while that delay creates tensions, by the time it comes out into the open, I pretty much was past the whole issue. I do give it very high marks for tackling the very thorny and difficult dilemma of a mum who abandons her child.
For the most part, DC was able to relay the h's anguish effectively and I had a lot of sympathy and understanding for her plight. It was a very compassionate look at the trouble a new, inexperienced mother with no mentor might have to face, so sympathizing with the h was fairly easy.
I also found the contrast between the gender's roles in the matter of childcare to be well done. Every one expected perfection from the h, she was just supposed to know how to run a house and care for a fussy, difficult baby and the judgement was harsh went she was perceived to fall short of the expected standards.
The H on the other hand, had all kinds of non-judgemental help when he became the primary caretaker and he also got heaps of praise for that effort too - even if it wasn't perfect. The illustration between the two situations was very thought provoking, and while not as relevant today as it was back then, there is still enough there to ponder even with modern parenting roles - tho admittedly dads are a lot more hands on today than they were then and mums can be just as career driven as the H was.
Overall it is a good story, marginally marred by the length of time it takes to get to the h's reasons for running away. It also fails to deliver on how the h will react to more babies in the future, but I think we are supposed to assume that the h is 10 years older, the H has more experience and will be there to help and both of them aren't young kids on a tight budget. I did believe they loved each other, I just wonder what the longer term issues with the daughter are going to be, especially if there are new babies that get the benefit of both parents that the daughter did not.
Still this one should be on the HPlandia must read list, not only cause of the unusual storyline, but because this really was another groundbreaking trope for the time and not only in HPLandia, but across the whole contemporary romance genre. There will be future books in other lines with this trope in the years to come, but DC did it here first and actually made the HEA believable, something that is especially difficult with a limited page count and somewhat limited character types.
Give this one a go if you come across it and maybe give a little mental salute to what is still a controversial subject even today, which was handled with a great deal of respect and attention to detail that you don't normally find in mainstream romance, much less HPLandia.
In this one, the 28 yr old h is the successful owner of a lingerie shop. She has a turbulent past tho, and it is the past that she left behind that confronts her in an accidental meeting with the H and a 10 yr old little girl.
The H is her estranged husband and the 10 yr old is her daughter she abandoned when the baby was 6 months old. There is plenty of confusion and anger but the big thing that comes through is the H still loves the h, even though he thought she left him and her daughter because he couldn't afford to support her in the style that she formerly knew. The H gives her the chance to get to know her child, and the h willingly takes it.
As the h is rebuilding a connection to her child, she and the H are reconnecting as well. The h seems to have matured in the H's eyes and his feelings are as strong as ever, the H wants to give her another chance but he needs to understand what went wrong the first time and how he and the h can build a new future with that past betrayal. The h herself is terribly ashamed of her desertion but she had some compelling reasons to leave the way she did.
The H and h do rebuild their relationship and the h establishes a bond with her daughter too, it isn't until the end of the book almost that we find out the h came from an abused childhood. Her mother physically abused her and she was removed from her care. She went to relatives who were monetarily very generous, but emotionally neglected the h until she went to uni.
She met the H at 18, got preggers, got married and then had to cope with the H's disapproving and very exacting in her standard's mother while the H continued his education and was rarely home. Since the daughter was a very colicky and ill child, the h got little rest and had a hard time meeting all the demands made upon her at 18. One day it came to a crisis when the h literally wanted to beat her baby. She panicked and thought she was just like her mother, an abuser. So she packed a bag and called the H's mum to take over and left. The more time that passed, the less the h felt able to go back, but at the time she left she was seriously worried she would hurt her child and of course 30 years ago there just wasn't much knowledge about post-partum depression or many parenting classes to help with new mumhood.
The H himself had not been celibate during the period he and the h were separated, he had a woman living with him for almost two years until she left him and the daughter for someone who was available to marry. It is pretty clear that had the woman not wanted legitimate children, the H would have had another child with her. Since that did not work out, the way was clear for the H and h to resume their marriage. Which they do eventually and everyone is happy together for the HEA.
This is an HP that is really rated all over the place. I think of it as average in story progression, mainly cause DC waits too long to give the reasons the h left and while that delay creates tensions, by the time it comes out into the open, I pretty much was past the whole issue. I do give it very high marks for tackling the very thorny and difficult dilemma of a mum who abandons her child.
For the most part, DC was able to relay the h's anguish effectively and I had a lot of sympathy and understanding for her plight. It was a very compassionate look at the trouble a new, inexperienced mother with no mentor might have to face, so sympathizing with the h was fairly easy.
I also found the contrast between the gender's roles in the matter of childcare to be well done. Every one expected perfection from the h, she was just supposed to know how to run a house and care for a fussy, difficult baby and the judgement was harsh went she was perceived to fall short of the expected standards.
The H on the other hand, had all kinds of non-judgemental help when he became the primary caretaker and he also got heaps of praise for that effort too - even if it wasn't perfect. The illustration between the two situations was very thought provoking, and while not as relevant today as it was back then, there is still enough there to ponder even with modern parenting roles - tho admittedly dads are a lot more hands on today than they were then and mums can be just as career driven as the H was.
Overall it is a good story, marginally marred by the length of time it takes to get to the h's reasons for running away. It also fails to deliver on how the h will react to more babies in the future, but I think we are supposed to assume that the h is 10 years older, the H has more experience and will be there to help and both of them aren't young kids on a tight budget. I did believe they loved each other, I just wonder what the longer term issues with the daughter are going to be, especially if there are new babies that get the benefit of both parents that the daughter did not.
Still this one should be on the HPlandia must read list, not only cause of the unusual storyline, but because this really was another groundbreaking trope for the time and not only in HPLandia, but across the whole contemporary romance genre. There will be future books in other lines with this trope in the years to come, but DC did it here first and actually made the HEA believable, something that is especially difficult with a limited page count and somewhat limited character types.
Give this one a go if you come across it and maybe give a little mental salute to what is still a controversial subject even today, which was handled with a great deal of respect and attention to detail that you don't normally find in mainstream romance, much less HPLandia.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 25, 2012
This involves a 28-year-old heroine who 10 years prior left her husband and infant daughter and disappeared. She runs into her estranged husband accidentally, and then slowly gets involved in their lives again.
Stories involving children -- especially older children who tend to play a large role in the story -- are normally not my favorites. I'm only interested in the romance, not the reconciliation of the child and parent. But I liked this one pretty well. Mostly I think I liked that the hero was so incredibly forgiving and so obviously in love with the heroine, treating her with kid gloves and making a repeated effort to coax her back.
I never understand romance novels where someone leaves, and the author chooses to make it 10 years when it could just have easily have been 1 or 2 years and still have been mostly the same plot, without harming their lives quite so drastically. Wouldn't it be better for a mother to get reacquainted with her 3 or 4 year old daughter rather than a 10/11 year old? I'm not sure the length of time here added much except to get the daughter out of the house more frequently, and in fact it detracts because the heroine seems pretty cold-hearted -- if it had been only a couple of years you could speculate that at some point maybe on her own she would have made her way back, but at 10 years you're pretty sure this heroine has abandoned her baby forever. And then in the end you're stuck with a HEA where the daughter has a potentially traumatizing gap in her life and any future siblings have this huge age gap -- I prefer more perfect HEAs in HPs, but this is a minor gripe.
The explanation for the heroine leaving makes sense (), but didn't leave me all that comfortable with the idea of the heroine having more children in the future. But at the same time, she was 18 years old with that first baby, and if she had help from her husband and a nanny or something, things probably would be different with a second baby.
Anyway, I did like this story pretty well despite my gripes, a good read.
Stories involving children -- especially older children who tend to play a large role in the story -- are normally not my favorites. I'm only interested in the romance, not the reconciliation of the child and parent. But I liked this one pretty well. Mostly I think I liked that the hero was so incredibly forgiving and so obviously in love with the heroine, treating her with kid gloves and making a repeated effort to coax her back.
I never understand romance novels where someone leaves, and the author chooses to make it 10 years when it could just have easily have been 1 or 2 years and still have been mostly the same plot, without harming their lives quite so drastically. Wouldn't it be better for a mother to get reacquainted with her 3 or 4 year old daughter rather than a 10/11 year old? I'm not sure the length of time here added much except to get the daughter out of the house more frequently, and in fact it detracts because the heroine seems pretty cold-hearted -- if it had been only a couple of years you could speculate that at some point maybe on her own she would have made her way back, but at 10 years you're pretty sure this heroine has abandoned her baby forever. And then in the end you're stuck with a HEA where the daughter has a potentially traumatizing gap in her life and any future siblings have this huge age gap -- I prefer more perfect HEAs in HPs, but this is a minor gripe.
The explanation for the heroine leaving makes sense (), but didn't leave me all that comfortable with the idea of the heroine having more children in the future. But at the same time, she was 18 years old with that first baby, and if she had help from her husband and a nanny or something, things probably would be different with a second baby.
Anyway, I did like this story pretty well despite my gripes, a good read.
May 23, 2019
What sort of woman can walk out on a baby?"
Karen Lacey flinched inwardly at Drew Bridger's angry question. For years she had tortured herself wondering the same thing.
When eighteen-year-old Karen fled from her husband, Drew, and their six-month-old daughter, she never expected to see either of them again. But a chance encounter ten years later brought both Drew and Holly back into her life.
Karen hardly dared to hope for a second chance as a wife and mother. If she became close to Drew and Holly again, she couldn't avoid the questions she dreaded. (less)
Karen Lacey flinched inwardly at Drew Bridger's angry question. For years she had tortured herself wondering the same thing.
When eighteen-year-old Karen fled from her husband, Drew, and their six-month-old daughter, she never expected to see either of them again. But a chance encounter ten years later brought both Drew and Holly back into her life.
Karen hardly dared to hope for a second chance as a wife and mother. If she became close to Drew and Holly again, she couldn't avoid the questions she dreaded. (less)
January 4, 2018
I haven’t read this. I would probably like to read this if I could black pen all mention of him having a permanent live in relationship. I hate reunion romance where one or both have moved on. One reason I look suspiciously at long term separations.
October 25, 2021
The H and h are married. Ten years ago the h suddenly walked out on their marriage and their baby daughter, without saying goodbye and without telling him why. All those years he couldn’t find her. The book starts when the H and h coincidentally meet again.
Reading this book reminded me of the song: “What a man, what a man, what a mighty good man.” He’s a nice dad to their daughter whom he raises as a single dad. And considering the way she suddenly left him and their child 10 years before, he is also a nice husband.
It’s clear that he is in love and in lust and he is determined to get her back. Very good.
Reading this book reminded me of the song: “What a man, what a man, what a mighty good man.” He’s a nice dad to their daughter whom he raises as a single dad. And considering the way she suddenly left him and their child 10 years before, he is also a nice husband.
It’s clear that he is in love and in lust and he is determined to get her back. Very good.
May 31, 2023
Don't let the cover info fool you into thinking this is about a flighty young woman who played runaway wife and mother, because she didn't want to be tied down and needed to be free. That's not the case. Karen's reason for leaving was one that she believed was valid, she actually was afraid for her baby and really believed little Holly would be better off without her as a mother. The decision broke her heart, as did leaving her husband, Drew, who she never stopped loving.
None of this would have happened if Karen hadn't been so damned young; most 18-year-olds can't easily cope with all the responsibilities of marriage and being a parent. It wasn't easy for Alex either, who was only 22, and he had to give up a lot as well. His mother (hers was out of the picture, and a major factor in Karen's decision) helped out a lot, but she should have insisted, despite Karen's pregnancy, that they wait until they were a few years older to get married, finish their education, while she took care of her granddaughter for a time. It wouldn't have been a hardship, and they could still have slept together, since they already had a baby, so it'd be silly to tell them to wait until marriage! had that happened, everything would have turned out different.
Of course, had that happened, there wouldn't have been any story.
What makes me give it only two stars was the long separation of ten years before they see each other again, with Holly almost 11 years old. Too much time had gone by, too many years were missed, and there's no way you can believe all will be well and Holly will adjust fine. (Wait a few years, until she's a teenager, she'll probably give mom HELL!!!)
There should have been only a five-year separation, with a 6-year-old little girl, that would have made more sense. Also, during that decade, while Holly had no serious relationships, only a few men friends she dated on rare occasions but nothing romantic, Alex had slept with several women, and lived with one of them for over a year. Had the separation been shorter, it could have been written where he hadn't slept with anyone, either and been believable.
Another book that was okay but could easily have been better.
None of this would have happened if Karen hadn't been so damned young; most 18-year-olds can't easily cope with all the responsibilities of marriage and being a parent. It wasn't easy for Alex either, who was only 22, and he had to give up a lot as well. His mother (hers was out of the picture, and a major factor in Karen's decision) helped out a lot, but she should have insisted, despite Karen's pregnancy, that they wait until they were a few years older to get married, finish their education, while she took care of her granddaughter for a time. It wouldn't have been a hardship, and they could still have slept together, since they already had a baby, so it'd be silly to tell them to wait until marriage! had that happened, everything would have turned out different.
Of course, had that happened, there wouldn't have been any story.
What makes me give it only two stars was the long separation of ten years before they see each other again, with Holly almost 11 years old. Too much time had gone by, too many years were missed, and there's no way you can believe all will be well and Holly will adjust fine. (Wait a few years, until she's a teenager, she'll probably give mom HELL!!!)
There should have been only a five-year separation, with a 6-year-old little girl, that would have made more sense. Also, during that decade, while Holly had no serious relationships, only a few men friends she dated on rare occasions but nothing romantic, Alex had slept with several women, and lived with one of them for over a year. Had the separation been shorter, it could have been written where he hadn't slept with anyone, either and been believable.
Another book that was okay but could easily have been better.
January 8, 2023
liked the story but have to say that after the hero was in a live in relationship he had kinda moved on and with h issues with little kids it doesnt feel as if her next pregnancy is going to be any easier
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 1, 2016
Star Rating: ★★½☆☆
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