The novel The Almost Great Escape is a nonfiction novel written by Tyler Trafford. Alice Trafford (Tyler’s mother) and Jens Muller (a man that Tyler never knew about), are the main people in the novel that are focussed on. The book starts out with Tyler Trafford recalling his memories of him and his mother when he was a child and up until her death which happens at the start of the book. He finds out that he has been left a collection of pictures, albums, and stories that his mother left him which reveal to Tyler the kind of woman that his mother actually was. He investigates more into the story of his mother’s life and discovers a man that was pretty influential in Alice’s life. This man was Jens Muller, a Norwegian fighter pilot that fought in World War Two and met Alice when he was training in Canada and staying at Alice’s family’s ski resort. The novel focusses on the journey that Tyler takes in order to finally discover his mother’s life.

I really enjoyed this book as the way it was written was unlike any book that I have ever read. Part of the book is a story that Tyler writes to the audience, informing them on what he discovers as he goes through the albums and stories that his mother leaves him. Throughout the book, Tyler writes to his mother, telling her of the new things that he never knew about her. This was a bit confusing at first to switch from one form of writing to another but once I was further into the novel, the switch become easier and I truly understood why Tyler wrote the novel in this way. This helped us get into Tyler’s head and figure out the thoughts that were going through his mind as he discovered the story.

This novel captivated my attention right from the beginning, mainly because it tied into the movie The Great Escape directed by John Sturges. The Great Escape focusses on Jen Muller along with two other men on the fight to escape a POW camp. The movie describes what Jens went through during that time but The Almost Great Escape tells the whole story of Jens life including who he met, one of which was Alice Trafford and how their lives are interconnected.

I would rate this book a 9 out of ten as it is a story that needed to be told since it revealed to us the whole story of Alice and Jens and how they influenced each other’s lives which nobody knew about until Tyler started the search for the truth. The way that the story is written helped me to understand the whole story and all of the emotions that accompany it by Tyler adding his own personal experiences and thoughts as he discovers the story for the first time along with us. Although this story was hard to get used to at first because of the change in people that Tyler is writing to throughout the book, it is a truly fascinating story and I would recommend this to anyone who likes romance novels, nonfiction novels or anyone looking for a more challenging read.

The Almost Great Escape I had problem finishing rather quickly and it truly reached my expectations.