These Things Hidden – January 18, 2011 Author: Visit Amazon's Heather Gudenkauf Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0778328791 | Format: EPUB
These Things Hidden – January 18, 2011 Description
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Gudenkauf's scintillating second suspense novel (after The Weight of Silence) opens with the release of 21-year-old Allison Glenn from prison, where she has served five years for an unspecified but particularly horrible crime. Allison is reluctant to enter a halfway house in her hometown of Linden Falls, Iowa, where "even a heroin-addicted prostitute arrested for armed robbery and murder would get more compassion than I ever will." Allison, her family's former golden girl, secures a job at a local bookstore, but her efforts to resume some sort of normal life are undermined by her well-to-do parents' indifference, her sister's hatred, and the stigma of her conviction. Meanwhile, one little boy holds the key to the tragedy that led to Allison's imprisonment. The author slowly and expertly reveals the truth in a tale so chillingly real, it could have come from the latest headlines. (Feb.)
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From Booklist
Four women�s lives come together at one point of convergence: Joshua, a five-year-old boy. For two of the women, the connection is clear: Claire, Joshua�s adoptive mother, went through hell to have a child, and Charm, who gave Joshua up after wrestling with her inability to care for him. The other two are more mysterious: Allison, once the golden girl of her small town, now a free woman after serving five years for a heinous murder, and her sister, Brynn, a fragile college student trying to move on from her sister�s mistakes. Each woman observes the progression of Joshua�s life while facing her own demons and making various decisions about motherhood and love. Gudenkauf�s peripheral parental characters suffer from 2-D development: Allison and Brynn�s parents are cold for no real reason, and Charm�s mother is stereotypically trashy. Still, the core story will draw readers of domestic fiction. Those who like the exploration of motherhood from multiple perspectives might also enjoy O�Farrell�s The Hand That First Held Mine (2009). --Courtney Jones
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- Paperback: 337 pages
- Publisher: Mira; Original edition (January 18, 2011)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0778328791
- ISBN-13: 978-0778328797
- Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
In These Things Hidden, much like she did in The Weight of Silence, Heather Gudenkauf uses the relationships--and intimacy--of a family and a small town to weave a literary tale that feels so real you'd sear it has to at least be 'based on' a true story. Like, Gudenkauf's debut, however, These Things Hidden is completely fictional and completely amazing.
After five years in prison, Allison Glenn is being released. And going home to Linden Falls. Former perfect girl, Allison, now only college aged, isn't going home to her parents, though. Both her parents and her former friends want nothing to do with her anymore.
None of that helps her transition, but the only one Allison is actually concerned with contacting is her sister, Brynn. Brynn, the one who stayed behind while Allison went to jail and went through high school with all the gossip and the town's whispers. And she's the only one, besides Allison, who really knows what happened that night, the night whose events sent Allison to jail.
A secret being kept between two sisters is tearing them apart, but if it gets out it threatens to tear much more apart--including the life of a young child and his adoptive parents.
For almost half of the story I thought that These Things Hidden was going to lack the mystery that The Weight of Silence had that was such a fundamental part of my enjoyment of the story. When things did really begin to develop, however, I was very pleasantly surprised and loved what it added to the tale.
The way that Heather Gudenkauf focuses on familial relationships and then works those families together through their relationships/friendships in the town is really brilliantly done.
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