Escape Routes for Beginners

by Kira Cochrane

Trapped on the tiny prison island where her father works as a correctional officer, 13-year-old Rita Mae Jones longs to escape. Rita Mae cannot understand why her alarmingly mismatched parents chose to come to this claustrophobic, brooding place ten years before. Even less can she understand why her emotionally repressed, socially ambitious mother and her fond but ineffectual father came to be married in the first place. But there are many things Rita Mae doesn't understand about her family. A prison riot is the catalyst which kickstarts a series of shocking revelations as the Jones family's disturbing secrets come tumbling into the open - with bizarre, alarming and wholly unexpected results.

Genres: Fiction

Paperback

First published April 1, 2005

Reviews

[Amanda]

Average book. No suspense or thriller, no twist in the end. Normal story about 3 peoples life

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

The serious nature of this novel is completely betrayed by the unnecessarily garish cover. Cheap chick lit, it is not.
It’s a serious story about 3 generations of Mexican migrants to California, between 1916 and the 1950s, desperate to become ‘accepted’ by the white community. Clara foolishly marries Larry, thinking his rich family a pillar of respectable society. They disown him, effectively and he ends up working at Alcatraz, as an ineffective correctional officer.
Pathologically racist and obsessed with others’ perception of her, Clara secretly bleaches her daughter’s hair weekly and saddles her with the name, Rita Mae. Grandmother Granmaria sends Rita Mae all the Hollywood gossip mags to her delight and her mother’s disgust.
The island prison setting is claustrophobic and where Rita Mae inevitably feels stifled and rebellious. Such a closed setting and community inevitably destroys Clara. Not happy; there ARE no escapes for beginners or otherwise, but gripping and worth reading despite poor GoodReads ratings and pretty clumsy chronology.

[KunoichiReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book almost had me throwing it across the room halfway through. First it was because I lost patience with what seemed like random pointless stories. I felt like I was wasting my time when I couldn't figure out how any of it fit together. But the book was short, so I figured I might as well see it through. It got intense. Some parts made me yell and cry. I didn't get the sweet happy ending I wanted for Rita but I got something. She got something and we have to take what we can get I guess. That's the reality for most of us, isn't it?

[Helena · Rating 3 out of 5]

First, it took a long time to get into the story because the narration switched between the main story and the back story in a very annyoing way. It would jump back in time just when I wanted to know more about how this particular story continued, not in a cliff-hanger kind of way, because it didn't go back to the same place again.
Once I was into the story it was still a little bit hard to connect with some of the characters, I felt the mother was painted way too harsh, she didn't feel like a real person to me. I liked the main character and I could feel sympathy for her grandmother.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The back story at the start of the novel is rather laborious and breaks up the pace but once that has been put aside the it gathered pace with excellent twists and turns. Characterisation good but construction of early part of the book lets it down.

[Mew · Rating 3 out of 5]

dramatic and funny but alarming

[Sara]

05 long list-orange prize

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was odd. Especially the part about her grandmother's job as an "actress" which I kept on re-reading because I had a hard time understanding it. Though I think it's pretty good.

[Steph Hall · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolute total waste of time, pointless ending, kept persevering hoping it would improve and it so didn't. What a waste of time!

[Catherine · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a depressing book! None of the characters have any redeeming features. It was so real slog to finish and I don't know why I wasted my time on it.

[Lynne Norman · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intelligent exploration of paralysis and what it is to be a victim of circumstance.

[Charlotte Rigby · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did really enjoy this book, was a bit strange.

[Lina · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book will teach you one thing - there are no escape routes.