The Hidden

Description

A story of love and betrayal, shame and survival. Dora Simon and Joe O’Cleary live in separate countries, accepting of their twilight years. But their monochrome worlds are abruptly upended by the arrival of Barbara Hummel, who is determined to identify the mysterious woman whose photograph she has found among her mother’s possessions. Forced to confront a time they thought buried in the past, Dora and Joe’s lives unravel – and entwine. For, trapped on the Channel Islands under the German occupation in the Second World War, Dora, a Jewish refugee, had concealed her identity; while Joe, a Catholic priest, kept quite another secret... “Beautiful, shocking and utterly absorbing.” SARAH DAY, author of Mussolini’s Island ‘Recent novels such as The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society have taken the occupation as their subject, but none so potently as Mary Chamberlain’s The Hidden… As Chamberlain’s narrative moves between past and present…the realities of life under a ruthless occupying power are slowly, skilfully revealed.’ Sunday Times ‘A heart-breaking yet hope-filled tale.’ Woman's Own Magazine 'A powerful story, well told.' Choice Magazine ‘This is a heartbreaking yet hopeful tale of loss, and of a journey to heal old wounds.’ Woman