Book Review: These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf

The Blurb:

“One innocent child A secret that could destroy his life Imprisoned for a heinous crime when she was a just a teenager, Allison Glenn is now free. Desperate for a second chance, Allison discovers that the world has moved on without her…Shunned by those who once loved her, Allison is determined to make contact with her sister. But Brynn is trapped in her own world of regret and torment. Their legacy of secrets is focused on one little boy. And if the truth is revealed, the consequences will be unimaginable for the adoptive mother who loves him, the girl who tried to protect him and the two sisters who hold the key to all that is hidden…”

(blurb source: Waterstones.com)

What I thought:

I galloped throught this book, unwilling and unable to put it down. I read the authors debut novel, The Weight of Silence, last year and enjoyed it enough to want to get my mitts on any subsequent books published by the same author. I enjoyed this one more – much more.

The story is told from the perspective of four different women. Allison Glenn has just been released from jail for a shocking crime committed when she was a teenager, despite her being the school golden girl; great at sports, grade A student and pretty to boot. Brynn is Allison’s sister (younger by just one year) and the two sisters haven’t spoken since Allison was sent to prison, despite Allison’s relentless attempts. Between them, Allison and Brynn narrate the story of what happened to bring them to where they are today. Two other women also contribute their side of the story – Claire owns a bookshop in the same town that the sisters are from and has a husband and adopted child and Charm is training to be a nurse and caring for her dying step-father and between the four of them they dip in and out of the past to help us piece together what happened. The way that the stories are linked become apparant as the book progresses but I don’t want to give too much away as books like this are much more powerful if you don’t know what’s coming – and, trust me, there is a twist at the end of the book that I did not see coming and made me shout “No!” out loud.

Great narrative drive, plenty of cliff-hanging moments and a shocking central plot line made this book a winner for me. Highly recommended. I’d love to know what you think to the storyline too, if you do read it (please pop back on and let me know).

(Source: I received my copy of this book from Amazon Vine)