Feature Book of the Week
"Royal Escape"
by Susan Froetschel
In the novel, "Royal Escape," a fictional British princess, Elena, struggles to separate her children from a system that reinforces inequality. To raise her children as independent individuals, she must fend off paparazzi, staff and in-laws.
Beautiful, witty and sharp on fashion and charity, Princess Elena was supposed to live the fairytale life. Instead, her marriage is in ruins and her in-laws resent her glowing popularity. All Elena wants is to spend time with her two sons and to be a good mother. The murder of her divorce attorney complicates her plans. The Queen, her mother-in-law, withholds settlement on a trust fund and expects Elena to give marriage one more chance. That means keeping a low profile and following all orders by the royal family and their staff. For Princess Elena and others, being a member of the Royal Family has become a royal trap – imposing lifelong limits on careers, daily activities and what one can say or do in any public setting. Elena resists any separation from her sons, the loss of privacy and choice in the name of security.
Review by Publishers Weekly
Elena, princess of Wales, the Diana-like heroine of this enjoyable mystery thriller from Froetschel (Interruptions), yearns for respect, to be free of her claustrophobic marriage and to lead a fulfilling life. Adding to her woes is an antiroyal faction intent on destroying the British monarchy, whose members include the widowed queen, Catherine II; Elena's estranged husband, Edward, prince of Wales; and their sons, 13-year-old Richard and 10-year-old Lawrence.
When several of Elena's protectors are murdered, starting
with her divorce solicitor, Elena fears she may be next and begins to plot
an escape aided by a daring American freelance journalist, Michael McLarrity.
Froetschel offers a nuanced view of Elena's relations with the royal family that
closely follows the obvious historical model. Readers looking for a less tragic fate
for the late Diana, princess of Wales, will find much to like in this beguiling what-if.
(Dec.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Reviews
Melodramatic perils of a princess planning to divorce the British Royal Family. To the dismay of Queen Catherine, who's withholding final settlement, Elena, Princess of Wales, has filed for divorce from her husband. Elena's equally fed up with Prince Edward's continuing attachment to his frumpy mistress Kay and the constricted lives of her own two sons. Richard and Larry are constantly spied on by servants and chased by photographers while being coached to adhere to the family's antiquated ways.
When Elena's divorce attorney dies, ostensibly of a heart attack, and she and Larry are almost killed by a car bomb on the grounds of a royal estate, she fears for the lives of her family. Because the bomb is used as an excuse to keep the boys from her, she must resort to coded e-mails to communicate. After her personal bodyguard succumbs to a convenient health problem and she's accused of hysteria, she realizes that she can't trust her security detail. She finally puts her trust in a reporter who turns out to be working for the U.S. government and her hospital nurse, whose brother is an IRA member. Can Elena and her boys escape the sinister plots that surround them?
Borrowing freely from the life of Princess You-Know-Who, Froetschel (Interruptions, 2004, etc.) provides more thrills than mystification. One hopes the Windsors lead a less miserable existence than their fictional counterparts.
