DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Discuss the different meanings behind the title of the novel. What does each of the main characters hope to escape from? How is escape both physical and psychological?
2. The Perfect Escape is narrated in alternating voices, primarily those of Sam and Margaret. What was it
like to get both women’s perspectives on events? How did having two narrators change the pacing of the read? Was there one narrator that you connected with more than the other? Why?
3. Why do you think that Diana, Sam, and Margaret are able to form such a close bond so quickly? What do each of them see in one another, or provide for one another?
4. The characters’ actions in The Perfect Escape are rarely presented in black and white—many decisions that the characters make are morally ambiguous, leaving the reader to decide what defines morality.
Discuss scenes that contain this moral ambiguity, and if you think that different actions are justifiable—for example, Sam’s decision to reunite with Harry, Margaret’s financial secrets, or Harry’s return to Elizabeth.
5. Discuss the ways that Sam and Margaret’s decisions to keep secrets from their friends and family impact
the outcome of the novel. Why did they choose to keep these major secrets about their relationships and pasts? What were the consequences of doing so?
6. Female relationships—particularly those between sisters and between friends—are at the heart of
The Perfect Escape. How did these relationships contrast with the women’s relationships with men? Why do you think that the author chose to focus on these particular connections between women?
7. How does the Catskill setting impact the storyline and atmosphere of The Perfect Escape? Take a look at the ways that small town life impacts the secrets each character keeps.
8. Compare and contrast the different ways that each of the main characters deal with their grief in the
novel. How does it drive each of them? Do you think that Sam and Margaret are able to come to terms with their grief?
9. What did you make of Margaret’s decision to rip up Conway’s card in the final pages of the novel? Why do you believe that she did this? Would you have made the same choice?
10. What do you imagine happens to Margaret and Sam after the novel’s end?
E P A C S E T C E F R E P E H T
Playlist
C U R AT E D BY L E A H KO N E N
1. YOU DON’T OWN ME Lesley Gore
6. LIKE A PRAYER Madonna
2. I’M COMING OUT Diana Ross
7. BAD GUY Billie Eilish
3. FEELING GOOD Nina Simone
8. TEACH ME TONIGHT Dinah Washington
4. EXTRAORDINARY MACHINE Fiona Apple 5. TOXIC Britney Spears
S A F D L O D E C I P S 2 tsp Maple syrup
D E N HIO
In an Old Fashioned glass, muddle the maple syrup, chile
2 slices Fresno chile
and bitters.
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Add the tequila and fill with ice.
2 oz Partida añejo tequila Garnish: orange twist Garnish: Fresno chile slice
Stir, and garnish with an orange twist and another slice of Fresno chile.
RECIPE FROM CÉLINE BOSSART, LIQUOR.COM LIQUOR.COM/RECIPES/SPICED-OLD-FASHIONED/