Sam and Magdalena's Great Escape

By: Rebecca Markus

Narrated by: Pamela Raymer-Lea

Length: 1 hr and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

From the author of The Needleworker's Baby and The Crazy One comes a short tale of friendship and letting go.

The year is 2070 and Gen X retirees Magdalena and Sam are resigned to live out their days at Shady Grove Retirement Home. But when Sam can’t take another boring day inside the sterile institution, he convinces Maggie to break out. How far will the two nonagenarians get driving along the California coast in a stolen van?

Sam and Magdalena's Great Escape is a novelette - longer than a short story, shorter than a novella.

©2021 Rebecca Markus (P)2022 Rebecca Markus

A bittersweet story about a beautiful friendship

This was a beautiful story to listen to. There are few things that are inescapable in life, and death is one of those. For those who live long enough to not be able to live alone, they get to face life in a nursing home which, for many, is a bleak existence. For those older adults who live in a nursing home, having a good friend to share experiences with is a wonderful thing.

I loved how this book presented the friendship that Sam and Magdalena had throughout their life for two reasons. The first was that it really illustrated how important friends are in our lives, and the second was that it portrayed a non-sexual friendship between a man and a woman, showing not only its possibility and likelihood but also the judgement it brings on.

While I enjoyed the time Sam and Mags got to spend outside the nursing home in their great escape, I was more touched by the efforts of the staff to keep them apart when they returned, as if they were young children again and not capable of making their own decisions. I felt anger on behalf of Sam and Mags that the staff felt they had any right to dictate who two adults could socialize with, all because "management has determined you are a bad influence on each other." The similarity to how children are treated was stark, as was the condescension the nurses used when interacting with them. Then I felt angry at the fact that despite the book being set 50 years in the future, it was a very realistic portrayal of nursing homes and the treatment of residents today.

Finally, I had to laugh out loud at the comment from Mags - "It was Bon Jovi!" and the nurse's response - "I don't know who that is." If that doesn't illustrate the idea of "time marches on" I don't know what does.

Overall, this is a book that illustrates a beautiful friendship, and Pamela Raymer-Lee's performance fulfilled it perfectly. This is a story that I will listen to multiple times - and at just over an hour, doesn't take a large time commitment to do so - to experience their friendship again and again.

ALL AGED CARE WORKERS SHOULD READ THIS!

ALL AGED CARE WORKERS SHOULD READ THIS! So many forget that these are people that have lived productive and fulfilling lives that they are not over yet.
This is a beautiful story with beautiful characters. I smiled, laughed and cried. The aged care institution Sam and Magdalena are existing in is a true indication of what it is REALLY like. The staff and management are really like this including the repercussion's from their adventure. I so admired Magdalena's positive soul and Sam's dedication. Congratulations to the writer for bring this story to us. The narration is brilliant and really descriptive. This is a clean feel good story that I recommend for teenagers thru adults.