The Portuguese Escape by Ann Bridge (1958)

The Portuguese Escape
by Ann Bridge
Publisher: The Macmillan Company
Copyright: 1958
Book Club Edition

In her sixteenth book, Ann Bridge takes us to Portugal: not only to the well-known world of Estoril and the Embassies, but behind the scenes, into the life lived on country estates by the Portuguese themselves.

When Julia Probyn came to sun-lit Portugal to cover a royal wedding for her paper, the last thing she expected was to find herself involved in the escape of an important Hungarian priest, ruthless Communists who pursued him, and the affairs of a young Hungarian countess just released from behind the Iron Curtain.

The lovely countess, Hetta Paloczy, a convent school girl for two-thirds of her life and a cook to a rustic priest in Hungary for the rest, is suddenly plunged into an international society where social tact is just as important as the right clothes. Hetta had lived with poverty, hardship and danger for her daily bread and here, she vividly relates her horrifying experiences in Soviet-dominated Hungary. Her adjustment to her new life in Portugal is complicated by the two men who are irresistible drawn to her. One is a well brought-up American in the high Bostonian sense of the phrase; the other is outwardly much the conventional Englishman, but one secretly adores recklessness.

Reader's who enjoyed the engaging Julia in The Lighthearted Quest will be glad to meet her again here, playing her accustomed role of outsmarting the professionals at their own game. And readers will be equally delighted with the spontaneous Hetta -- indeed, with the full keyboard of characters Miss Bridge vividly portrays in her engrossing novel.

Though equally gay and lively, The Portuguese Escape also penetrates deeply into the life of another country and gives a revealing account of the impact of western life and behavior on a highly intelligent observer from "the other side."

Condition: Used. Hardcover. Dust cover shows discoloration, edge wear and light tear. Pages are tanned from age. The previous owner's name is blacked out on the front endpaper with the date of purchase. There's an envelope pasted to the front endpaper as a way for the prevous owner to keep track of her borrowed books. The spine is darkened and discolored by age.

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