A poignant telling about an ordinary woman caught up in an extraordinary life where she loses her true self. This is a well paced drama about family, friendships and taking control of one's life and discovering what really matters.

As with all Amanda's books this was heartfelt and the characters felt real . Nina's life is turned upside down as she discovers irs not what she thought it was. The choice her and her boys have is sink or swim. Nina initially is perceived as a weak anxious person but when faced with starting over with nothing she shows her true strength of character.

This is good,really good. Superficially,a story of a family's distress after the death of the husband and father, it is an important social commentary as well as a reassuring tale of how human beings overcome adversity. The analysis of what matters in family life and how the strength of one person can hold a bereft family together is absorbing. The depiction of the older teenage son is particularly well crafted. I found I wanted to finish the book? I wanted the social analysis to triumph and it did. I strongly recommend this book.

I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, Amanda Prowse, and Lake Union Publishing in exchange for a honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

This is an excellent novel outlining the hardships faced by many family members at the loss of the major breadwinner. Our US seniors living on Social Security find their income halved at the death of a spouse. Nina and her boys find themselves without a dime just days after the death of their bread winner, with no advance notice that this sort of hardship was in the offing. And they handle it, with poise and gratitude for what they can bring away from this experience. This is a book I thoroughly enjoyed, and one I can heartily recommend.

I haven't read anything by Amanda Prowse for a while, and I'd forgotten how good she is.
She really draws you into the story and I felt every emotion that Nina was experiencing.
Yes I cried through sadness, but there were also tears when something good finally happened.
I normally read crime books so this was a lot different from my usual reads, but I really enjoyed it.
I was invested in the story throughout and was desperate to know how things would turn out in the end for Nina and her boys.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a great book to get wrapped up in.
Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read the advance copy.

Another powerful book by Amanda Prowse. When Nina's husband is killed in a car accident, her life begins to fall apart and she wonders if she ever truly knew her husband. Having two children to take care of, Nina goes back to work, something her husband had discouraged. A beautiful story of love, loss, and finding yourself after tragedy strikes. Definitely recommend this one.

This was a realistic and thought provoking novel. The main character loses almost everything in her perfect life, causing anguish and despair. The novel takes you through her journey as she struggles to cope with how her life has been turned upside down. It is a fascinating read, causing the reader to connect to the characters and to consider the true priorities in life. I found myself wanting to read on, even late at night, in order to find out what would happen and whether she would make it. Highly recommend.

The Art of Hiding is a very black and white novel in which the main character, Nina, must redefine herself after the death of her husband and the sudden realization that she and her two boys have nowhere to live and no money.

Much of the first half of the novel is extremely melodramatic with Nina being emotionally beaten by all of the extremely mean people in her life. Everyone is a stereotype and/or caricature with weasely laughs or mean smirks or no sympathy and charity for a woman who has lost everything. Why a woman, who had made it such a point to not socialize when invitations were extended and to continually emit an air of anti-social behavior, would turn to these same people when she had difficulties is mystifying. And this is the same woman who behaves badly toward her older sister, Tiggy, really the only attractive character in this novel, and Tiggy is the only one who comes to Nina’s rescue.

The Art of Hiding tested limits of credibility for me. It isn’t logical or smart for a person who had grown up impoverished to turn her fate over to someone else. More accurately, this person would also be squirreling something away because the environment of not knowing what each day would bring never completely leaves a person. But then, Nina doesn’t strike me as the sharpest tool in the shed, but rather someone who has been living in a fantasy world and has never, ever had to stand on her own feet. This just sounds like a character who would have existed pre-1960’s.

I really had no sympathy for Nina. For the majority of the novel she doesn’t show any initiative or backbone. She doesn’t prepare her sons for actions that she knows are about occur. She seems to work entirely by a set of emotions without any logic or reasoning.

The writing is functional. Quite a bit of the dialogue is formal and not really believable.

The level of angst and melodrama and whining in The Art of Hiding is wearying and this continues for much of the novel. I know that there are some readers who love the melodrama so if you like self-absorbed, self-pitying characters and lots of angst, this one is for you. You might even cheer when Nina’s luck incredibly changes.

I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another fantastic book from Amanda about hope and survival and true inner strength. I loved the relationship between the sisters. Beautiful

I wasn't sure about reading this as typically women's fiction isn't a genre I read very often, but as I'd been auto-approved I thought I'd give it a go and I'm very glad I did. Prowse is an excellent writer and her skill stopped this from descending into a depressing and maudlin experience and instead showed Nina and her family discovering how strong they truly are and also how much they really love one another. I thought the way they journeyed through their grief and anger at Finn and arrived at love, acceptance and finally understanding was surprisingly uplifting. All in all highly recommended.

*ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher in return for an honest review*

What a great subject for a book. The unpredictability of what can happen on the spin of a coin and life as you know it gone. Great story and I would thoroughly recommend it to other readers. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the chance to review it.

A nice, easy and relatively undemanding novel with good central message about the importance of material things in many of our lives and the value of genuine friendship and love.

I've often wondered how many people are teetering on the brink of financial disaster in today's world, and are, in reality a few pay cheques/ business deals/stock market movements away from difficult times. This is a good reminder that it pays to live within your means and not to be too quick to judge other people. It's a little bit simplistic in the ways in which Nina manages to overcome her challenges, but it is a good story, and yes, I did shed a tear towards the end of the book!

Exploring the feelings of a devastated widow as she struggles with the trauma of losing her husband and the difficulties, emotional and otherwise of helping her children through the months following to a future without him. Great depth of feeling explored, and although dealing with tragedy there are many lighter moments of family supportiveness towards each other.

3⭐️⭐️⭐️

I didn't enjoy this book as much as the others I have read by the author but this is no reflection of the writing.

For me it was the main character, who although she had been through a horrible experience, it was difficult to feel any connection to her. She was rich, spoiled, naive, and her children too.

And there were a few random characters that didn't add anything to the story for me; Jacob, Vera, Firth.

Having said all that, I did whiz through this book in a matter of days - perhaps one for sitting by the pool.

This is my first Amanda Prowse book and it won't be my last. I could not put this book down. What a well written story about life, family, loss and struggle. The realism in this book was just wonderful. I cried, laughed and rooted so hard for Nina, Connor and Declan!! I admire Nina for her strength in pulling it together and figuring out how to deal with the reality of the awful situation she finds herself in after her husband Finn's death. She was always taken care of by Finn and he handled all of the finances so she never had to worry about money, until now. She was a stay at home mum who took care of her home, her husband and their two boys now 15 and 10. These poor boys go through such a gamut of emotions it is just gut-wrenching at times. So with no workplace skills because she hadn't worked outside the home and did not go to college, Nina suddenly finds herself having to figure out how to support her family, which she does with poise and grace. Her sister Tiggy is a breath of fresh air in this story and gives Nina a much needed reality check once Nina moves back to her old neighborhood where Tiggy has been living.
This is a wonderful story and I would definitely recommend it.

Thank you to Netgalley for the early copy of this amazing book.

This book is very trite. Nina's husband dies in a suspicious automobile accident, and she learns, to her horror and disbelief, that what she thought were great reserves of money had been lost by her husband, as his construction business failed. She learns to make a fulfilling life for herself and her sons.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher.

Thank you to both author and publisher for this ARC in return for an unbiased review.


The book starts with Nina, a woman born on a council estate in Southampton but has married into money. She has it all the house ,the car , her two children Connor and Declan attend an exclusive private school.Her husband Finn appears to be the ideal husband ensuring his family always have the best in life. The only thing Nina needs to worry about is what they are having for tea and making sure her children are happy. Living this idyllic life suddenly comes to an abrupt halt when Finn dies in an accident. Everything she held dear to her is suddenly ripped away as it she finds out the secrets her husband has been keeping from her and she is forced to move back to her childhood town.
What you see is a woman not only coping with the heartache of losing a loved one, but the betrayal of his secrets and the upheaval of her life completely. Prowse writes in such a way that your heart breaks for Nina. You root for her whilst she pieces her life back together and are filled with joy at her finding happiness once again with the help of her sister Tiggy. You realise the happiness doesn't always go hand in hand with money and that it can. be found in places you would never expect.
This book is a rollercoaster of emotions that deals with bereavement beautifully, I was not expecting this book to have such a profound effect on me that it has, she takes a situation that could happen and adds the emotion so you experience what it's like from the heart.
Prior to reading this book I had never read anything by Amanda Prowse and it certainly wont be the last.

I am a netgalley reader, meaning I got I got this for free. I felt it was a story rehashed like a dead horse. There was absolutely nothing new or unique in the re-telling of a story that read like a lifetime movie. I was not really able to dislike the story or the characters but.3 stars for not bringing anything to the new to the table in terms of this type of situation.

Amanda Prowse writes about ordinary people that you can easily relate to. The Art of Hiding is no exception. I thought this book was very emotional from the first chapter. Beautifully written.

Thank you Netgalley for my copy.

The Art of Hiding is a thought provoking, emotionally engaging novel about money and grief. Nina thinks her life is perfect--married to a successful man, two beautiful kids, and a big house on the hill. Then everything comes crashing down when her husband dies in a car wreck. Finn has been keeping some big secrets and within a couple of days Nina and her boys lose everything. With no friends to turn to, Nina returns to the poverty stricken neighborhood of her youth. Hard times cause Nina to realize she's lost a piece of herself on her way to success. Nina's journey to self discovery and self reliance that tugs on the heart strings as you mourn and celebrate with her experiences. Even when everyday things interrupted, I could not wait to pick the book back up and finish the story. My voluntary review is based upon a review copy from Netgalley.