I really enjoyed this book. Very empowering for women!

This is a great story which really pulls your emotions in all directions.
The only reason it doesn't get 5 stars is because some of the characters are just too perfect when required.
A one sitting read.

Although I have heard of Amanda Prowse this is the first book of hers that I have read and I have thoroughly enjoyed it.

Nina has led a very closeted and privileged life, and then one day it all ends in the death of her husband. She has to move, explain to two children why their life is not the same anymore and find some money for them to live on.

Whilst this is a sad tale there was enough of a glimpse of fabulous human relationships that helped Nina to keep going. I loved her sister Tiggy who really begins to come through for her and maybe has always been there for her? The meeting at the school and the "friends" from her old life were all portrayed brilliantly.

I found the circumstances that Nina finds herself in to be quite thought provoking. The children's voices in the story were true to life and poignant. The whole book is written in a easy reading style, like someone is retelling it to you in person. I couldn't wait to get back to it to find out what was going to happen next.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Netgalley for a copy of the book for review.

Overall, the book was a good read. I did get frustrated over how clueless Nina seemed. I believe that has she been stronger and not as clueless, I would have enjoyed the book that much more. It does make you step back and think about what your values are.

I really wanted to like this book; the synopsis promised more than I received.

Nina is a wife and mother who suffers a great loss. In the course of the novel she goes from poor to rich to poor.

Yes, there is s great financial lesson here but that’s not what I read fiction for.

Another great novel from Amanda Prowse.
Great characters that you can't help but get involved with.

Thank you to Netgalley for an early read. I will continue to look out for this author again in the future.

Gilded Cages Are for the Birds

After writing a negative review for The Idea of You, I decided to throw caution and read another one from Amanda Prowse. The Art of Hiding was a pleasant surprise.

Imagine being holed up in a gilded cage by a husband who wants nothing more than to over-provide for his loving wife and children? Your life is an envied and idyllic one. You want for nothing and everyone wants what you have.

Until the day when your husband is the victim of a tragic accident and you realize that he was, financially speaking, in way over his head. You are in shock and in the blink of an eye left with nothing with two young boys to take care of.

Talk about starting from scratch.

Enter Nina McCarrick, thirties, no prior job or work experience to speak of. Nina comes from poverty but she fell for Finn McCarrick at an age where she would have just been starting her life. Instead of questioning the merit of a husband who didn’t want a working wife and the long term implications of being dependent, Nina was all too happy to hand over her identity to a man who wanted to sequester her away in a castle built by his own two hands. Don’t judge her too harshly though because Nina’s backstory is a tough one.

The story really begins with Nina’s awakening and her return to her impoverished roots and subsequent climb back out while providing her boys with sorely needed and so far lacking, life lessons. Prowse paints a realistic depiction of a woman who loses all monetary footing but holds onto that shred of critical hope that lights her way forward. Told with honesty and a healthy dose of reality, we feel for Nina’s struggles as well as those of her children but can clearly see the ways in which her life becomes better than it ever was before once she learns to stand on her own two feet.

The Art of Hiding is a fairy tale in reverse.

BRB Rating: Read It

Ms. Prowse has an art for story telling that draws you in to become one with the characters. I couldn't put this book down until the very end. I had to be there with Nina as she struggled and overcame each of the obstacles that surfaced with her husbands death. A must read.

The main character, Nina defines what it means to be a mother fighting for her family with every being in her body. I loved this book from the moment I started reading it and didn't want it to end! Nina battled through issues that occur on a daily basis for most families but never lost sight of the love and protection she had for her children. The author, Amanda Prowse has a real passion and art for storytelling and she never seems to fail to deliver to her audience. Another wonderful read from a wonderful author

The Art of Hiding by Amanda Prowse

Genre: Women's Fiction

The Premise:

Nina is a wealthy stay-at-home mom raising two boys. When her husband dies she learns that her husband has been hiding their money trouble from her and that they are in fact bankrupt. Nina must deal with her grief and anger while learning to be independent and take care of the boys.

How far I got:

Just under 5 chapters - 27%

Strengths:

The writing was great. You could feel the devastation and heartbreak that Nina and the boys experience with the loss of her husband and their dad.

Why I stopped reading:

I could not stand Nina. Nina was a ball of self-doubt and lack of confidence. While this is okay, I prefer that the women I read about to grow and deal with the situation at hand. I kept waiting for Nina to do this and the two times she did I got excited. And then her lack of confidence kicked in again and it was more self-doubt, self-pity, and fear.

I wasn't so fond of Connor either. Connor is Nina's oldest son. He definitely had the teenager attitude going for him. But I think what bugged me about him was Nina's interactions with him. Nina had this whole "why does my teenager hate me?" thing going on and I wanted to yell "Because he's a teenager! He's supposed to hate you. He's trying to find out who he is as a person."

The (not so subtle) commentary on class. Nina grew up poor so was happy to give Finn (her husband) full and complete control of the finances (her name wasn't even on the deed to the house). When flashing back to her childhood, it shows her family as being rude (aka blunt) and messy while as an upper-class adult she's polite (aka doesn't speak her mind for fear of being offensive) and clean. Nina feels like she doesn't fit in in either society but doesn't seem to make any effort to do so, just feels left out.

What other reviews say:

Some say that this book is disappointing. Others say that the last few chapters (and also Nina's sister) are what makes this book good (or tolerable). There are also several that say it's a fantastic, heart-felt, heart-warming and emotional read.

Decide for yourself:

Click Here to buy The Art of Hiding from Amazon.

3/3.5*

I've had this book sitting waiting for me for a while................

Honestly it kind of was not one that I requested to review. Funny story. I had an email from NetGalley featuring this book. I thought the cover was pretty, so I clicked on the link to go to NetGalley to read more about it to see if it might just be what I would like, or not. Well, when the link opened up for my NetGalley account guess what???? It was sitting in my shelf saying I was auto-approved and ready to read it. Say what? I didn't request it? Well then, ummm, ok....now I have this book waiting to be reviewed and I wasn't even sure if I would want to. I don't know about you but honestly, I hate having books sit on my NetGalley shelf. I request, I read, I submit review. Done. But nope, now I had one sitting there waiting for me. After it jumped to the "books older than 3 months" category, I knew I couldn't take it any longer. It was time, like it or not I was diving in.

As we drove to visit family for Thanksgiving, I turned on my device and searched for the copy, opened it and began. I wasn't quite sold right away. This isn't a rosy, Happily Ever After story where good conquers evil people. I love Happily Ever After. Yes, I read plenty of suspense, emotionally tugging stories too but I just wasn't feeling it for this one. Well, again without really knowing what I was reading except a mom going to have to pick up the pieces in her life, I kept turning pages. Don't get me wrong in the tone of my writing voice, I actually was pleasantly surprised that I was enjoying the writing style. In a way I could relate to some of the insecurities of Nina in her life. Not that I live in a mansion and send my boys to prep school that costs a fortune or such. But just the normal personal insecurities that I think anybody has (of course they're all dependent on the individual), so I liked Nina.

Then the sorrow hit. It hit hard. Nina's husband, Finn, is killed in an accident. Ok, it was an emotional weekend last weekend and reading this with all the emotions and memories I'd been thinking about just about had me turning off the book because I just couldn't deal with reading about that loss right then. My cousin was killed a year ago in an air medic flight crash and it was a couple days past the year anniversary. Add to that, about a year and a half ago was another event that almost had my world crashing down. So to say this was very personal and hitting close to home is very true. But I just am not the type of person to agree (well I didn't really request the book but you know) to something and not follow through. So I kept going. Ugh, it was tough. Tough because of the memories and the loss and pure sadness that Nina and her two boys were experiencing. But at the same time, I did like the writing. It was raw and full of healing as the story progressed.

I'm going to be honest here...I was skimming and skipping sections here and there. Trying to be fair in my review mindset but my emotions were on a different level. There's loss of love, home, everything around you of monetary value, even friendships and acquaintances. But the thing that kept me going was I needed to know how Nina survived. Did she survive? How did her boys survive? Did she heal? Or was she stuck and angry about all the circumstances that were her life now? So I did, I finished it. I actually really liked the ending. I think if I was in a little bit different mindset I might have enjoyed this more and rated it higher. If you're looking for a book with plenty of struggles and problems and straightforwardness then this is for you.

So my conclusion...I will not click on links in emails if I am not 100% sure I will want a book. I will go straight to NetGalley and search the book. Hee Hee!!!

Content: I prefer clean reads, no sex, no swearing, and happily ever after. Although there was no sex in the book, there was quite a bit more swear words and the Lord's name spoken in vain than I prefer. The 'F' & 'D' words were the chosen ones.

I received a review copy from the publisher, Lake Union Publishing, via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions in the review are my own.

Happy Reading!!!

What do you do when your perfect live quickly unravels and you run out of options? Nina McCarrick seems to have it all; a loving husband, two boys, a beautiful home and more time than she knows what to do with. Her life is perfect. That is until her husband is killed in a car accident and her life completely changes. Nina learns the life she is used to is a sham. She and her children are forced to move out of their house with basically nothing. Nina hasn't worked during her marriage and is struggling to find a job to support them all.

This is a story of a woman who has to pick herself up and reinvent herself. She stays strong for her children and works through all the lies and deceit to try to rebuild a life for all of them.

The Art of Hiding is actually the first book that I've read by Amanda Prowse although I've noticed her work before but just hadn't taken the time to read any. This is a beautifully written book with characters that are realistic, and it deals with true life experiences. Nina is such a strong character and I found myself really feeling for her and her two sons struggling to make a new life together.

A truly beautiful story about finding strength and courage during the darkest moments.

Amanda has such a knack for writing true to life scenarios and truly walking you through some of the toughest hardships 'normal' people face every day. The Art of Hiding is yet another perfect example of that.

Nina is happy living her life. With a successful husband, two well-adjusted kids at the top private school in the area and a future that promises her anything and everything her heart desires. But then her husband, the keeper of the keys and the security guard of her life that she never even realised existed, is cruelly taken from her in a car accident. The pain that would befall her is not only unexpected but will test her nerve in more ways than one.

As she struggles to piece together her life and stay strong for her two young sons, Nina quickly learns just how little she knew about the secrets her husband was keeping. As she blissfully went about her days filling the freezer with gourmet standard food and arranging flowers in the numerous vases in her house, her husband was secretly fighting a battle she would know nothing about until the day he was no longer there to keep the wolves from the door.

This is not a story about love, loss or even death. It's a story about finding strength when you truly feel at the very edge of the cliff. If about resilience and a mothers determination to carry on for her kids despite a pain that would cripple you otherwise. As a reader, you connect with Nina and sympathise with her grief, but for me, this book was less about how much she loved her husband Finn and more about the journey to find the 'Nina without Finn'. Who was she now he was gone? How could she raise her boys without his guidance?

As always, Amanda Prowse's books are about taking a look at the lives of normal people and asking you to truly ask the hard questions. If we were to lose our partners today, how would we cope?

Nina is a truly well-rounded character. You are drawn into her pain from the first page. But the character that truly gripped my heart was her son Connor. Seeing grief and struggle through a teenagers eyes. Seeing how they worked together to get through the most difficult year of their lives.

The subject is one that most will shy away from truly thinking about. Grief and death are subjects we all too often shirk away from, opting to 'talk about it later'. But to Amanda's credit, the issues brought up in this book truly made me sit back and think... how would I cope? What would I do?

Once again Amanda has pulled a perfectly groomed and expertly trained rabbit from her plush velvet hat. Just when I think this talented lady can't possibly meet my previous expectations, she exceeds them. A truly lovely book that, once again, has left me on tenterhooks waiting for the next.

I didn't love this nearly as much as many of this authors previous works, she seems to have changed formulas - I preferred the older style of down to earth believable women I could relate to, This is pretty formulaic and I just didn't engage with the characters enough to feel the emotions depicted. Not her best novel but readable and lots going on.

Received from the Lake Union Publishing via Netgalley.  This is the first book of Prowse's that I've read, but it seems that there she has written others, such as My Husband's Wife.

Anyway, in The Art of Hiding, Nina is watching her son Connor playing rugby for the prestigious Rugby Team at his expensive, private school. Both she and her two sons are waiting for her husband Finn to turn up to the game, but as usual it seems he is running late. Whilst his job pays for the big house and for both boys to go to their expensive school, Nina is disappointed that once again, Finn has not turned up to something he committed to do with his family.   Nina finds out that Finn hasn't turned up because he has been killed in a car crash, driving too fast in the opposite direction he should have been going in to get to the match. It is then that everything begins to unravel.

The nice upper-middle class lifestyle that Nina has settled into was all a lie (one that she told herself, and that Finn fed her). The big house, with the pool, the nice food, the private school for both the boys - is no more. Finn has mortgaged the house to the hilt, but died with the business being £8 million in debt and bankrupt. The "yummy mummies" from the school soon desert her when they find she has no money, and are not willing to even put them up in the garage, never mind loan them any money.  The bailiffs are at the door (in perhaps the only  slightly unbelievable plot point, but used for a reason).

So left with 2 children, no house, no friends, virtually no money and no work experience, Nina is left with the only option of returning to the run down estate in her home town where a relative has her old house available to rent. There she returns with Connor and Declan, who are culture shocked about the people on the estate and in their new school. It is for Nina to try and get a job, only to find that she is fit for little - but it is a chance encounter that allows her to start getting income and some self confidence back. She also reconnects with her sister Tiggy, who tells her some home truths about how she treated both herself and those around her during the social isolation and perfect life wanted by Finn (Including the fact that it is only Tiggy and none of her other "posh" friends who have stuck around when Nina needed help).

There are a mix of emotions that have to be dealt with, including grief, disappointment, shock, having to deal with the feelings of her sons who are going through similar feelings, and having to not give up, even when she wants to, because of two boys.

The secondary characters are relatively well developed - Connor as the teenager is suitably bratty at his change in circumstances and Declan (being younger) is a little more adaptable. Tiggy isn't always around, but shows Nina that she *used* to be able to do this stuff until she married Finn and she left herself give in. The tertiary characters, such as Vera from the launderette across the road, are barely sketched but that's ok.

Overall this book shows that you can be happy, no matter the circumstances if you are true to yourself, and that money isn't always everything. It was well written and not my usual fare, though I may well read another book by this author in the future.

my first book from this author and I really enjoyed it will definitely look for more from her.

The Art of Hiding is a rags to riches to rags story. The premise sets up a story of survival and the courage of a strong woman moving forward through tragic loss. At the end, the word that comes to mind sadly is cliche. A story that should have been about courage and survival turns into one about shallow characters and stereotypes. Not the book for me.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2017/11/the-art-of-hiding.html

Reviewed for NetGalley

Amanda prowse is a wonderful and extremely e talented author....another inexplicably wonderful novel and one that really dig tug on my heartstrings it was beautiful.

I received a free copy to read and review.
Oh my lord, that was an intense and thrilling ride. Full of twists and turns. Kept me on the edge of my seat, I couldn’t put it down.
This author has been put on my reading list.