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Have you ever felt like starting again,

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witting your 9-5, skipping town and

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escaping to the desert island of

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your dreams? Well, that's exactly what

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Jane, Phil and their three kids

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did when they traded their English

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home for a tropical island they

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bought online at a bargain price.

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But soon they all discovered that

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Paradise has its secrets because the

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locals claim the islands belong to

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them and they say it's been

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sold illegally. From Wondery, this is

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the price of Paradise, the real-life

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story of an island dream that

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turns into a living nightmare, one

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which leads to kidnapping, corruption

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and murder. You're about to

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hear a clip from the first episode. Hey,

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if you like what you hear, make sure

0:43

to search and follow The Price of Paradise

0:46

wherever you listen to podcasts. Or you can

0:48

binge the entire season ad-free by

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subscribing to Wondery Plus in the Wondery

0:52

app or on Apple Podcasts. Midnight

1:04

in Paradise. Endless

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stars and hot humid nights. A

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remote island off the coast of Nicaragua,

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an island that's been home to an English

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family from Hampshire for the past seven months.

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And for Jane Gaskin, this

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island has become her dream, her

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destiny. There's no

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going back, she says. Even

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if it all goes wrong and they end up

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penniless. But now,

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as Jane looks at her three children

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and her partner Phil, it's

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clear that something has gone

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terribly, terribly wrong. The

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Gaskin family is huddled together in a small

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fishing boat, in the middle of the night,

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dressed in soggy pyjamas, shivering

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and looming over them,

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three masked men. Just

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an hour ago, Jane was putting the kids

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to bed. their teeth before

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they all crawled under their mosquito nets

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to sleep. When an armed

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gang threw open the door and

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marched them off their island and onto this

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boat. What is it they

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want? Jane and Phil don't

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know. She squeezes her

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daughter's hand as one of their kidnappers

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raises his gun. You need to

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get us a million dollars or

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someone will get hurt. Jane

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locked eyes with Phil. A

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million? They don't have that kind

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of cash. It feels

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hopeless. And that's when

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she spots what her husband is up to. Phil

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is turning a TV box as much over

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and over in his hand. Staring

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at Jane with a look she recognizes.

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Ready. You'll whisper. What?

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Jane asks. As one

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of the kidnappers runs round and Phil

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grabs the jerrycans from the corner and rips

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off her hands. Phil

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curls his arm forward and then feels

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showered down over the captain. And

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he reaches into his hands. I'm

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right. Phil

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should knock him for all of my... Jane

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grabs the kit and they look hungrable.

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Phil can see his hands on fire.

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But he keeps pouring their fuel into the water.

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He's trying to help the men. And

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as the fire rages he

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drops the can and throws his

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head forward. His

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burning arm extinguished in the shower. Phil

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crumbles on to the shore and catches up

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with Jane and the children as they all

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race into the darkness. Nobody

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dares look back. But they're

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not free. Not deaf. As

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the family runs through sick man geese,

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taking gun and firing, one

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foot of the through all their

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minds. How did

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their island's paradise turn

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into this nightmare? From

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Wandery, I'm Alice Levine, host

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of British Scandal, and this is

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The Price of Paradise. Have

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you ever wanted to start again?

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Quit your job, leave town, build

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a brand new life somewhere new? You could

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hand in your notice to the boss you

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have always hated, bid goodbye to friends you've

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outgrown and the obligations of extended family could

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be a thing of the past. You

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could sprint into the sunset in search

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of your own slice of paradise, whatever

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that may be. I have to

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say, I've been tempted to hit the reset button, not

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because of the friends and family bit. Obviously,

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love you all, call you soon, sorry I

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haven't replied to your text. But particularly on

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a grey winter's morning, on

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the London Underground, nestled in a

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stranger's armpit, sweating profusely in

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my outside layers. Yeah, I

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think about my choices, sure. Well

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this series is about two women who

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decided to do just that. Start

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again, leave their old

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lives behind and risk everything to

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follow their dreams. They just happen

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to have bigger dreams than me. This

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is an informal disclaimer to let me off

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the hook. There will be moments in this

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story where you want to pull off your

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headphones and stamp on them and

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maybe cry out on the bus or in the car. No!

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And there might even be some

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swearing, both in the programme and

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possibly in your car. because

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a lot of things that happen involving both

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of these women are pretty

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extreme. The

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first woman is ex-bunny girl

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Jane Gaskin. I think

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to understand Jane and all the wild things

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that happen to her, sometimes because of her,

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you need to understand where she's at when this

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all starts. And

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that's in January 2000, the beginning

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of the new millennium. Jane

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has just survived the millennium bug, good for her, and

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she's just made the mother of all

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resolutions to leave

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absolutely everything she knows in England behind.