Book Review - The Island Escape by Kerry Fisher

Amazon UK

Title: The Island Escape

Author: Kerry Fisher

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Avon

Publication Date: 21st May 2015

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Can one woman’s marriage survive her best friend’s divorce? Fans of Veronica Henry and Erica James, this is the next book to add to your reading list.

It’s time to get back to where it all began…

Octavia Sheldon thought she’d have a different life. One where she travelled the world with an exotic husband and free-spirited children in tow. But things didn’t turn out quite like that.

Married to safe, reliable Jonathan, her life now consists of packed lunches, school runs and more loads of dirty washing than she ever thought possible. She’s not unhappy. It’s just that she can barely recognise herself any longer.

So as Octavia watches her best friend’s marriage break up, it starts her thinking. What if life could be different? What if she could escape and get back to the person she used to be? Escape back to the island where she spent her summers? And what if the man she used to love was there waiting for her…?

Since I loved Kerry's first book, the second I saw the cover reveal for this one, I have been eager to get my hands on a copy. And I wasn't disappointed, The Island Escape is a fantastic story, although from the cover I was expecting a light hearted holiday read, this was slightly more serious, and the "Island Escape" bit doesn't really figure until the last third of the book. 

There are two alternating view points, best friends Roberta and Octavia. Roberta's marriage is on the verge of a break down, she can't take Scott's controlling behaviour much longer. Roberta's life is changing, and with it, her relationship with best friend Octavia is also changing. 

Octavia, was once a free spirit, but an accidental pregnancy led to her getting married to Jonathan the father. Jonathan is the safe reliable man, who likes things a certain way. They have 3 lovely children, Charlie, Poppy and Immi and a rumbling along nicely, until Jonathan suffers a professional setback. 

Between Roberta's marriage break up, and Jonathan being about a lot more, Octavia is left examining her own marriage a lot more closely and finds she can't stop thinking about the year she worked in Corsica, and the charming young man she met there. 

I found I was laughing out loud at this book, as early as the first sentence "I was wearing the wrong bra for sitting in a police cell." which is humorous and intriguing  at the same time. I was instantly wondering a) Why she was in a police cell, and b) why on earth was her choice of bra relevant. All was revealed very fast and that I feel set the tone for the book.

The Island Escape is about friendship, marriage, motherhood and reinventing yourself. There is so much more to this story as the two friends go on a journey of self-discovery. The voice of this book is refreshing and since Roberta and Octavia are from two completely different backgrounds, and have in theory completely different marriages, it is amazing the amount of similarities between both of their situations. 

I thoroughly enjoyed The Island Escape, and found I was rooting for both characters, and for their happiness.