Review: The Runaway Wife by Elizabeth Birkelund

Title: The Runaway Wife
Author: Elizabeth Birkelund 
Format: ARC
Publisher: Harper
Publish Date: July 12, 2016
Source: PR

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "Three beautiful French sisters entrust an American hiker with the mission of rescuing their mother high in the Alps. 

But what if she doesn’t want to be found? 

Recently fired from his high-power finance job and dumped by his fiancée, Jim Olsen has come to the Swiss Alps to clear his head. At the charming Cabane des Audannes, he meets Clio, Thalia and Helene Castellane, who are on a quest of their own: their mother, Calliope, has fled to these mountains to escape her philandering politician husband’s most recent scandal. As snow threatens to descend upon the Alps, the women have come to bring their mother home. 

But the sisters are at the point of surrender; it is time for them to return to Paris. Buoyed by wine and inspired by their beauty, Jim impetuously volunteers to assume their search, but soon realizes that he is in over his head. The Alps are filled with beauty and danger, not the least of which is Calliope’s desire to stay hidden. And all the while Jim finds himself haunted by the memory of her daughters and conflicted in his desire for them."

My Two Cents:

"The Runaway Wife" is the story of Jim, a man who is down on his luck. He travels to the Swiss Alps with his friend to simply relax and find some peace of mind. It's not to be when he gets roped in to finding the mother of three women that he meets. But maybe Calliope doesn't want to be found? This book is a good one for when you want to let go of reality for a little bit and get lost.

I don't need my fiction to be reality based but if you do, this book may not be for you. The premise is a little stretched but it works well for this one. The characters were so fascinating. I especially liked Calliope. Her life is relatively charmed in the manner in which she is able to live in but that is not enough when she feels so constrained by other parts of her life. The detail is often sparse in this book and I wish that I could have gotten to know a little bit more about what made the characters tick.

This book has a very light and airy feel, like the Swiss Alps that the book is set in. The setting was fantastic and my favorite part of the book. The author does a good job of moving her characters through this gorgeous setting while showing the readers around the place. There is also some nice bits of writing throughout the book that I really liked! Overall, I would have loved more detail but enjoyed the premise of the book!