This is my second book by Amanda Prowse & this story was just as gripping as the first one. An emotional rollercoaster journey of loss & grief & having to pick up the pieces & start again. I was hooked from the very beginning & I felt every desperate emotion pouring from the pages.

Another superb story

This is a story about a woman who loses her husband. Prior to this drastic event it looks like she has a perfect life with a large house and two boys who attend a private school. Although she has trouble mingling with the other mothers. After her husband's funeral it becomes apparent that things were not all they seemed and her husband was actually bankrupt. Nina then returns to the area in Southampton where she grew up. The remainder of the book is about her coping with her change in circumstances.

This story really touched me in ways I didn't think was possible. It really makes you think, in a 'oh my god that could happen to me or to someone close to me'. Just so scary to think how something like what happened in this story could really happen for real and how in seconds your whole life can change and be turned upside down.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story from start to finish, getting to know the characters and seeing how each of them changed/developed and the obstacles that each of them had to overcome. It really does go to show that money doesn't always bring you happeness and that anything is possible if you try hard enough, never give up.

Another truly thought provoking story from the wonderful talented author Amanda Prowse, who's books always stay with me for a little time afterwards.

Book blurb...
Nina McCarrick has it all: a loving husband, two beautiful boys, a well-appointed home and more time than she knows what to do with. Life is perfect. Until her husband, Finn, is killed in a car accident and everything Nina thought she could rely on unravels.
Alone, bereft and faced with a mountain of debt, Nina’s life of luxury quickly disappears and she begins to question whether she ever really knew the man she married. Forced to move out of her family home, Nina returns to the rundown Southampton council estate—and the sister—she thought she had left far behind.
But Nina can’t let herself be overwhelmed—her boys need her. To save them, and herself, she will have to do what her husband discouraged for so long: pursue a career of her own. Torn between the life she thought she knew and the reality she now faces, Nina finally must learn what it means to take control of her life.
Stirring and empowering, this novel from bestselling author Amanda Prowse once again plumbs the depths of human experience in this tale of one woman’s loss and love.

My thoughts…

The Art of Hiding is so gripping I had to read it in one day just to find out what the character would face next. I don’t want to say too much except and spoil the story for others. This is the story about a woman who has everything and nothing and it takes a series of ‘challenges’ for her to realise her full potential. And when I say challenges (in the same breath as Amanda Prowse) I’m talking jaw-dropping plot twists and OMG! moments.
The scenario in this book is so possible for any one of us. It’s a story that will make you reflect on your own life and have you counting your blessings.

‘I can’t imagine a me without you. I can’t picture the kids without their dad. I can’t imagine a world without you in it.’

Nina McCarrick is a well-to-do wife and rugby mom in rural-ish England. She came from a poor background and married Finn, who owned his own construction company and they did very well for themselves. They have two sons, Connor and Declan, who have gone to a posh prep school their whole lives.

Everything changes in an instant and Nina finds out her firm foundation for life was built on sand and now she has to start all over with her sons.

So what is worse? Being poor your whole life and being accustomed to it? Or being poor, then being rich and then losing it all to start over again?

This was a story that really made me think "what if." It was written well, definitely held my interest all the way through, and had many memorable characters.

I received this book from Lake Union Publishing through Net Galley in exchange for my unbiased review.

From the description I expected a psychological thriller, but it was really just women's fiction. It held my interest but wasn't anything spectacular. Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

Nina doesn’t know what to believe anymore when the safe, luxurious life she’s been living is swept out from under her. She’s tragically widowed when her husband, Finn, dies in a car crash leaving her with a mountain of debt she knew nothing about and struggling to navigate a new version of life with their two sons. She’s forced to return to the poor area of Southampton, England where she grew up and accept her sister’s help. It’s a painful situation for them all, heartbreaking and uplifting in turn as we follow Nina’s and her family as she rediscovers the girl she used to be and inches towards becoming the woman she never knew she could be.

The Art of Hiding
By Amanda Prowse

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy for free from Netgalley and Penguin in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Nina lives a charmed life. Her husband owns an extremely successful construction company, she has two sons she adores and spends her days as a housewife and mom. Gone are the difficult days of her childhood. She was so young when her mother died that she only remembers a few things about her. Her dad tried his best, but work was scarce so Nina and her older sister Tiggy were raised by their grandmother. She wasn’t the kindest woman. Undoubtedly she was trying, but there was never enough space or food during those years.

Life changed the moment Nina fell for Finn. He swept her off her feet and promised to give her the world. He followed through on that promise. When they moved into their home, The Tynings, they filled it with high end furniture, lovingly picked out together. Nina no longer worried about money; Finn took care of paying all of the bills and making sure their family had everything they needed and wanted.

Nina was at her son’s high school the day her world began to collapse. She receive a call from the hospital, Finn had been in an accident. She was devastated. Her sons, Conner and Declan were shocked by the news and Nina was determined to keep everything together for them. They only had a few days left until a break from the private school they attended, so both boys returned to their routine to keep things as normal as possible.

Then, to make matters worse, the shattering news that Finn had been hiding something slammed into Nina like a runaway train. The results would change the lives of Nina and her sons forever.

This is an amazing novel. The depth of Nina’s pain is profoundly sad, yet hopeful. She loved and trusted her husband, but now his memory is forever tainted with his deeds. Her life has become a struggle again and she doesn’t know how she will be able to go on. If it weren’t for her two sons she might give up.

The growth and change of the characters is one of the best storylines I have read in a long time. Prowse pulls the reader in and takes you with Nina through the good and bad. It makes the reader think about the most important things in life. You can decide if you think money can buy happiness. I also love the way family and friends play a big part in this novel. Can the love of family transcend years of estrangement and hurtful slights that have piled up over years?

The Art of Hiding is the first book I’ve read by Amanda Prowse, but I guarantee it will not be the last. I cannot express how much I loved this book. The characters, the plot, and the emotions it inspires are a rollercoaster ride in reading bliss. I cried when Connor gave his speech at the sports award night, I laughed at the sister’s demolition of an offending wall. The end of the book was realistic and satisfying. I suggest getting this book as soon as possible and carving out time to enjoy Prowse’s expert storytelling.

Nina McCarrick has a perfect and luxurious life--or so she thinks. When her husband is killed in a car accident, she is left alone, bereft and in debt. Now she wonders if she really knew her husband. Beautifully written and filled with realistic characters, this book is fast paced and felt very real and true. Nina is strong and I empathized with her and her two sons as they struggled to make a new life for themselves. It made me feel a range of emotions--love, loss, anger, heartbreak, and faith.

Amanda Prowse is very good at writing books that hit you with emotion quickly and is sustained. The Art of Hiding is no different. The story is new and yet familiar about a woman who loses everything and has to learn to rely on herself and her true friends/family around her.

It is a short and powerful book about loss, finding oneself, and overcoming your fears.

There is something so real and raw and authentic about the characters in Prowse's work. This is the second of her books I've read this year. She went on my favorite author list after completing The Idea of You earlier this spring; her spot is cemented after reading this book.

Nina loses her husband unexpectedly due to a car crash and before she can fully comprehend that he isn't coming home, she learns that not only is the stronghold of their family unit gone, they entire life system is gone and she must figure out how to survive. With two sons, she can't hide in bed as she desires - instead, Nina digs deep and finds a source of strength and aptitude to take each day and fight to provide stability and security for her sons, Conner and Declan as they each seek to find a new normal while grieving in their own individual ways.

Nina loves flowers and there is one scene where her teenage son left a mason jar of dandelions on the counter for her to cheer her up one evening. Everything leading up to that moment was so intense - I could not help crying as I read that (it even makes me teary eyed now).

I love how the book begins with Nina's insecurity and anxieties and ends with her so strong and determined and a real sense of knowing what she is capable of.

I highly recommend this book. It is on my Best of 2017 list.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for allowing me to review an eARC of this book.

I have to confess I am not normally a reader of Women's Fiction ,I like my books to be darker and twisty. oh hang on a minute I think I just described this book ! That for me is what makes Amanda Prowse such a great writer, she takes skeptics like me and makes me believe every word she writes and gets me invested in the story and the characters,so it doesn't really matter that I am out of my comfort zone reading a different genre.She makes me live the story. I felt like I was on Nina's side and was totally wrapped up in her life.I was totally captivated and no spoilers from me but you have to read this book, I can only hope you do.Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Another cracking read by this author. I've loved all her books and this one certainly doesn't disappoint. It's a tough subject matter but was written so well and tugged at the heartstrings. Great book

This was my first Amanda Prowse book and I have to say it won't be my last! I was instantly absorbed in the story of Nina and her family and how they coped with the sudden tragedy and upheaval that they faced at the sudden death of their husband/father. The characters were well written and I found this story very relatable and absorbing, I will be recommending this book to others and checking out some of her precious reads! Many thanks to netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC of this book.

This is the second book I have read by this author, and I can see why she is a very popular author. The story is basic in some ways, but what Amanda Prowse has created is a very thought provoking, empowering and emotional read. It is based around Nina and her two sons Connor and Declan, they live an affluent lifestyle, provided for by Finn, husband and father. Nothing can prepare Nina when Finn is killed in a car crash, but as if that was hard, then the aftermath that follows is even more heart-breaking. She will be taken back to her roots, but her roots are alien and unknown to her sons.

What unfolds is a comparison of lifestyles between “the have’s” and “the have-nots”, about futures that can be planned ahead for, and those that live day by day and week by week. It shows how Nina has to not only deal with the loss of her husband, but also the loss of everything she took for granted. The way Amanda has used the character of Tiggy, Nina’s older sister, is a very insightful way to give another dimension into the life of Nina. It shows how Nina has developed as a person over the years, from a confident child and teenager, into the meek and mild little woman of the house, then charting the hardship and adversity that is to follow. The trials that she then goes through helps empower Nina as she starts to find her feet as a single mum.

I liked the way Amanda has developed the characters of the two boys, from their lavish lifestyle and upbringing at an expensive private school, with a house and all the mod cons, their social lives and all that goes with it, to then have to deal with a life of complete contrast after the death of their father.

This book is an exploration into family dynamics that has been very well told, with a couple of “lump in my throat” moments. It is very thought-provoking and as I read the story, I couldn’t help thinking of how I would have coped. But then I do not have the lifestyle to lose, like Nina. It is all very well have money, houses and cars, but does this buy you happiness ? I think this is one of the points of the story, money does not by happiness. Also never forget your roots, never forget where you come from.

I would recommend this book to readers of General Fiction, Women’s Fiction and also to book reading groups for discussion. I think there are many topics raised in this book that would make some really interesting talking points.

I would like to thank Netgalley, Lake Union Publishing and Amanda Prowse for my copy of this book. My thoughts are my own, honest and unbiased.

This book was a bit disappointing. I wanted to like it, but I had to start skimming. And I RARELY skim. I had to stop at 30%. It was frankly too depressing and I just didn’t care what happened to the characters anymore.

I felt the hopelessness, guilt and despair were overdone and focused on too much. We get it, she was blindsided. It was the focus of the story for more of the book than it should have been. by the time she put on your big girl pants and dealt with things I had already lost interest. I found her to be a weak female lead and therefore could not find myself to have any sympathy for her. Her children were not people I found myself caring about either. They didn’t have much in the way of layers. It was mediocre IMO. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but I just didn’t like it.

It's easy to become complacent when your life seems like a fairytale-marriage to a handsome, successful businessman, two beautiful children, and a mansion where your biggest concern is what flowers to buy for the grand foyer. But what happens when the glass shatters on your perfect life-when your husband dies suddenly and days later you learn he has left you destitute and homeless. That is the premise of Amanda Prowse's new novel, The Art of Hiding. While most of us will never experience the extravagant lifestyle Nina McCarrick has before her husband Finn is killed in a car crash, it is not hard to imagine the gripping terror Nina feels as she watches her possessions being carted out of her home like cattle to a slaughterhouse, and the bank slaps a "foreclosure" sign on the front door while the repossession man drives off with her luxury automobile. With barely enough money to buy food, Nina and her boys flee to the impoverished town where Nina lived before Finn swept her off her feet by promising she'd never have to worry about money again. There she struggles to rebuild her life surrounded by people who are nothing like the wealthy families she is used to. But with each challenge she overcomes, Nina blossoms like the roses that use to adorn her hallways. The book's title is a bit of irony-at first I thought it referred to Nina trying to hide from her painful past, but The Art of Hiding is really about how easy it is to take our lives for granted when we fail to look beyond the beautiful facade to see what may be hiding there.

I had never even heard of Amanda Prowse before I was given the chance to read this book. I will definitely be reading more of her books in the future. Even though I have never been remotely close to having the life the main character had in the book, I could feel her hoplessness and confusion throughout the beginning of the book. The story kept me turning the pages, wanting to find out what was going to happen next. The only complaint I have is that I would have liked the story to go a little further, and show us a little more of what happened in Nina's life.

This book exceeded my expectations. I thought it would be depressing with the subject matter, but I couldn't put it down. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose your husband & your world in one fell swoop. Nina is a strong character, & I love the development of her character, her sons, & her sister, Tiggy. I highly recommend getting this book.

Title: The Art of Hiding
Author: Amanda Prowse
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Five
Review:

"The Art Of Hiding" by Amanda Prowse

My Thoughts....

What a wonderful story this author gives to the readers that will definitely put one into its storyline. We find that Nina McCarrick had it all...a wonderful husband [Finn], two sons, beautiful home living the life of the rich and wealthy. However, what will happen to Nina and her sons after the death of her husband and all that had seemed right in her world comes tumbling down. Will Nina be able to pick herself up and move on with her life after bankruptcy hits her hard? Will Nina soon learn that possessions aren't the most important things in her life as she is forced to return to her roots in South Hampton where they will have to adapt to a newer surrounding? This is definitely a story of grief, loss, hope, and redemption, drama, recovery as one will be able to see just what is so important in ones life as Nina begins a journey of self discovery and taking back her life in order to survive and be their for her sons Connor and Declan.

I found this novel well written emotional story definitely showing just what the difference is between materialism and spiritual values and the power of love and courage that will leave you with some provoking thoughts long after the read. .

I received this book from Netgalley and chose to voluntarily review the book with an honest book review.