The One That Got Away by Caroline Roberts Book Review

Let’s talk about a story by Caroline Roberts called The One That Got Away. In view of my Fred and Rose West investigations, I felt that I should add some balance by reading another victim story from someone not related to them, this one is the only one I know of so was the obvious place to start. The story documents the brutal attack by notorious British serial killers Fred and Rose West and the life journey of Caroline Roberts after the event. The book takes you through a rollercoaster of emotions and gives insight into a victim’s experience, challenges, and struggles to move forward.

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Synopsis

When Caroline Roberts accepted a job at 25 Cromwell Street, the infamous address of Fred and Rose West, she was only 16. Realising that there was something very malevolent about the couple, she left their employment soon after, glad to be rid of them. The story should have ended there. A month later she was abducted by the Wests and suffered violent sexual abuse at their hands before being told that she would be killed and buried. Through a combination of sheer luck and quick thinking, despite the trauma of what had happened, Caroline managed to escape to freedom.

About The Author

Caroline Roberts met Fred and Rose West aged 16 and lived at the now infamous 25 Cromwell Street with them. She is known as ‘The one that got away’ from the West’s lair.

My Review

The book starts off with Caroline Roberts talking about her life before the Wests’ attack. She takes us through a difficult childhood where she suffered abuse and chaos within her family. Her experiences from a young age have clearly shaped her life choices, and this becomes evident in the book. The first few chapters build a good background on who she is and help the reader connect with her character.

The narrative then goes into the crux of the story – the sexual attack that Caroline Roberts endured by the Wests. It was a horrific event that certainly impacted Caroline in a profound way. Even though the event is challenging to read because of the graphic details, the story doesn’t exploit the event’s graphic nature. The author shows great sensitivity in describing her ordeal.

However, to my surprise, most of the book is not about the attack and the victim’s journey of healing and recovery but about her life after the event. A good portion of the book showcases her poor choices, which may make readers have mixed feelings about her character.

Caroline Roberts was written as an honest, flawed human being who didn’t always know the right option. The book provides very little insight into the aftermath of the Wests’ attack on her and was more of a general life overview. I found myself shocked that, after finding the Wests’ to be of evil character she still and willingly got back in their car with them. Additionally, after such a savage attack she still hitchhiked through the night despite knowing more of the dangers than any other person. 

The book is not particularly well written, which is forgivable in that she isn’t an author by trade. Caroline Roberts does seem to come out the other side (eventually) as a much stronger person which is great to see but she did appear to have a strange way of thinking and kept putting herself in dangerous situations, perhaps a common occurrence for those after child abuse but after being terrified, fighting for her life and managing to escape you would imagine such a traumatic event would have given such a stark warning that big changes would come immediately, though we know from psychology that this isn’t the case.

Caroline Robert’s story is an example of survival and endurance. The storytelling at certain times is a bit average, but the candidness and authenticity of the book do help show her resilience.

In conclusion, The One That Got Away book review of Caroline Roberts was an interesting read. The story gave readers a lot of thought-provoking moments with its raw language and descriptive characteristics. The book mostly focused on Caroline’s life journey and her own struggles instead of what we would have expected about the Wests case. The storytelling is not perfect, but the honest account of Caroline’s surviving through adversity makes up for some of that.

Rated