The quintessential American rite of passage, the road trip, reveals itself in Jennifer Brown‘s Perfect Escape as a metaphor for the deep, complex, and fundamental relationship between siblings.
One long mile after another behind the wheel of her blue-and-rust Oldsmobile Hunka takes 17 year old Kendra on both a physical journey (Missouri to California) but more importantly across the metaphysical terrain of her concept of herself as defined by and in contrast to her brother, her former best friend, her “persona” at school, her place in the family dynamic, and in her own vision of who she thought she was.
While Kendra is fleeing from the consequences of a costly, stupid mistake, she’s also convinced herself that taking often-institutionalized older brother Grayson along will somehow “cure” him of his OCD, the reality of the trip turns out to be a discovery of a truth that she can never escape: namely, that by trusting herself, she’ll get exactly where she needs to be.
- Posted by Cori