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Title: Almost a Great Escape

Author: Tyler Trafford

Narrator: Mike Vendetti

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-29-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: History, Military

Publisher's Summary:

Following his mother's death, in 2004, Tyler Trafford discovers an album of old letters and creased photographs that reveal a mother he never knew, a man he's never heard of, and a love affair doomed by class and circumstance. The letters are from Jens Mller, a Norwegian pilot who trained in Canada during the early days of World War II, one of only three prisoners who would make it home after The Great Escape.

In Almost a Great Escape, Trafford takes us on a journey of emotional discovery and dramatic disclosure as he reconstructs his mother's life, from her youth as a wealthy Montreal debutante to her final days as a broken but unbent casualty of a loveless marriage. His search for answers takes him across Canada and then across the ocean to Norway, hoping to learn more about the mystery of this secret relationship.

Written with a fluidity fueled by heart-wrenching honesty, Trafford's unconventional memoir confirms that while you can survive your past, you can never escape from it.

Editorial Reviews:

Love letters stashed among papers he reads after his mothers passing send Canadian journalist Tyler Trafford on a global journey of discovery that takes him, most importantly, deep into his own heart.

Mike Vendettis baritone hits the appropriately somber tone as a son learns of his Canadian debutante mothers secret engagement to a Norwegian fighter pilot, one of the few to return home after the famous "Great Escape" from a Nazi POW camp. While his mother, victim to her own mothers demons, was never able to become the writer she hoped or escape a loveless marriage, Trafford learns that what he experienced as rejection was instead his mothers best effort to provide him freedom and happiness.

Critic Reviews:

"The audio version of this touching memoir illustrates the point that hearing a story is a more personal and immediate experience than simply reading one. Narrator Mike Vendetti achieves this intimacy with his nuanced delivery of Trafford's extraordinary story of star-crossed lovers...Vendetti's blending of brisk narration with softer introspective passages gives all the personalities distinctive voices while also delivering the emotional depth of this son's moving tribute to his beloved mother." (AudioFile)

Winner of 2013 AudioFile Earphones Award

Members Reviews:

A mesmerizing account of consequences

Tyler Trafford was a reporter in Calgary Alberta Canada. Following his mother's death in 2004 he inherited a Campbell soup cardboard box from his Mother. It was crammed with letters, a journal and photographs that revealed a history of his mother he never imagined. His mother was a beautiful girl from a rich family in Montreal whose Mother was controlling. She met a young pilot from Norway who was training at a nearby base. His name was Jens Muller, the love letters were from him. He went down over German and was a P.O. W. he was with a group that escaped. A movie was made about the escape called "The Great Escape" Muller was one of the few that made it out. I will not spoil the story but Trafford wrote the book about how he puts his mother's life as a young woman together. It does show how decision made can effect our life forever. Mike Vendetti does a good job reading the story.

You'll not learn much about the Great Escape, but.

I'm afraid that it may take a poet to do this book justice.