✱✱ Book Review ✱✱ The Art of Hiding by Amanda Prowse

Ever read a book that sounds like one thing, but turns out to be something else? That was the case with my most recent read, The Art of Hiding by Amanda Prowse.

Momma Says: 2 out of 5 stars ⭐⭐

The Art of Hiding is well-written in third person POV with the story being told from the perspective of the main character, Nina. It fits well into the Women's Fiction genre and it isn't steamy, but the subject matter is a bit dark for younger readers. 

What would you do if you learned that the life you lived was a lie?

Nina McCarrick lives the perfect life, 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 quickly loses her life of luxury 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.

Bestselling author Amanda Prowse once again plumbs the depths of human experience in this stirring and empowering tale of one woman’s loss and love.

The Art of Hiding started out interesting enough. The author has a good writing style and the story flows well in the beginning. Nina's loss is truly heartbreaking and then she's blindsided by circumstances that were kept hidden from her. When I read the blurb, I did have a slightly different idea of what this story would be about and that assumption was my own fault. That, in itself, wouldn't have bothered me. What did bother me was the way the story started to lag about a quarter of the way through. We're told, repeatedly, that Nina grew up poor, so I didn't quite get her naiveté when it came to money matters. We don't really get much about Finn, other than a few memories and the fact that he kept problems hidden from Nina. From what is told, I got the impression of someone who was a little controlling and wanted to keep the "little wife" at home. Once the pace of the story slowed down, it started to lose me and most of the book was pretty depressing. While I can understand and sympathize with Nina's circumstances, she drones on and on about the same things and starts to come across as whiny. That, combined with the slow pace, left me feeling a little ambivalent about how this one played out. 

**Review copy courtesy of NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing

The Art of Hiding is available on Amazon and is listed in Kindle Unlimited. 

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