This powerful historical novel centers around a true WWII story, which makes it all the more intense and captivating, as it reveals the military team of inventors and magicians recruited to help troops behind enemy lines to cleverly evade the Nazi's. Fenna, our heroine, comes from a hardscrabble childhood in Michigan with both survival skills and traumatic secrets. As WWII unfolds abroad, Fenna serves as the onstage assistant to an escape artist. But it turns out that clever Fenna is really the one to have designed all the escapes and illusions. She has also grown disillusioned with lack of recognition to be looking elsewhere for something to do.

One night, a British man in the audience asks to speak with Fenna after the show. Turns out he’s Major Hutton from M19, and wants her help creating gadgets, devices and plans to help stranded soldiers elude and escape the German military. Thus Fenna gets recruited to a role that the real Hutton did, which inspired the role of Q in James Bond.

Fenna’s resourceful, courageous, and willing to take danger head on as she volunteers to go behind enemy lines in the German occupied Netherlands to rescue her best friend Arie from childhood. At times harrowing, inspiring and heart-warming, Fenna embodies the bravery of soldiers fighting the Nazi’s during WWII.

I find myself continually thinking and reflecting about this book in the week since I’ve read it, and I’m adding to my reading list other books by Kristina McMorris.

I’m recommending this book to all my friends – and its provocative plot would make great fodder for book group discussions.

Thanks to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

(This review will be live at the link below on Sept. 15)
The Ways We Hide features the protagonist Ida Vos, a woman we first meet as a magician, having designed and created illusions for the stage in the early 1940s. This alone is interesting but as we get to know her we learn that she carries with her a sense of loneliness and independence due to bringing raised in an orphanage after her alcoholic father dies. Prior to his death she experienced a trauma that only the young boy, Arie, who suffered it with her understands. She ends up living with his family. As she grows up Arie is her stability and the two of them practice magic tricks together.

Without giving away too much, I'll tell you that they are separated and then during the war their paths cross again in London. He is in intelligence, and she's been recruited to help develop tools that can be hidden to help Allied Forces, maps, knives, and all sorts of things a soldier behind enemy lines might need.

Ida ends up pushing herself into a mission that she thinks will help save Arie in Nazi occupied Holland. Nothing ends up as she imagined. Ida is confronted with the horrors of war and she and Arie must save a young girl who lives with a Nazi officer but who has Jewish roots that may soon be discovered. How Ida manages to overcome the trauma from her childhood that still haunts her, danger from being discovered by the Nazis, her natural distrust of strangers that she now must depend upon (the Dutch resistance during WWII was incredible and deserves attention), grief that continues to find her, together make for a thrilling tale that once I got halfway through the book kept me intrigued as though I watched it unfold on a screen.

The author does a superb job with descriptions and characterizations. Her notes at the end are not to be missed as so much is explained and examined. An incredible amount of research was put into this novel and it shines because of that effort. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and recommend it to all who enjoy historical fiction.

I received an advance complimentary copy of the novel from the publisher through NetGalley without obligation of any review.

Reviewed by Cindy Thomson, www.cindyswriting.com

Ways we hide was a very interesting story. Fenna was a inventor, performer of illusions, escape artist and so much more. WWII found her working for British intelligence. Fenna designed tools of the trade to help downed Pilot's escape when downed or captured. Great history along with some romance. Enjoyed story.

Good story. Great title in light of the magic aspect. I was engaged in the beginning of the story and found myself bored in the middle.

Ways We Hide by Kristina McMorris. The back cover fits this book to a tee. She performing tricks to get herself and others out of tough situations. I remember hearing about the escapades of Houdini when I was young. I even remember watching a movie about him. Kristina McMorris brings things in history together in a beautiful way. The section in the back of the book about how the story came to be answered many of my questions.

A woman magician is recruited to help in the war effort, creating ways to hide people to get them to safety. She is very good at her job.

I am a big fan of Kristina McMorris’ books, and I have to say, this is her best work yet. It has magic, intrigue, history and romance woven into an intricate, compelling and engaging plot. A young girl named Fenna with Dutch ancestry is growing up in a simple home in the Copper Country of Michigan. She is fascinated with magic tricks and Houdini, and masters many illusions. One day, a tragedy shapes her life both through what she is forced to directly experience and through the beginnings of an enduring friendship that will last a lifetime. When she has to face a personal loss at a young age, her friend ultimately is there for her. But scarred by tragedy and immersed in fear, she takes a career opportunity to use her magic to embed objects that will help the Allied cause, leaving her friend and hopefully all the associated memories behind. As the years pass, she settles into her life in England, until she encounters her friend again. When she learns he may be in trouble, she does the only thing she feels she can do, and the plot really takes off from there, This was a lengthy book, but it never dragged for me. I liked the short chapters and stayed up late into the nigh5 to find out what happened. It was realistic, yet hopeful. Fans of WW II historical fiction will welcome this powerful story.

👀Plotline👀
Inspired by true events and set during the period of 1923-1943, this novel is the story of Fenna Vos an inventor and a woman who makes her living as an escape artist. Her past and present collides when she encounters someone from her past when she starts working at MI9.

💜The things that I loved in this novel💜
- An extremely strong main female character and at the same time jaded.
- Fenna's introduction to magic which sets her up as an inventor and escape artist later on in her life.
-Fenna's friendship with Arie.
-Fenna's inventions during the war period.
-The author's note at the end.

😔The things I didn't like😔
Having mentioned the above things, I have mixed feelings about this novel. The progression of the story is very slow and I had hard time concentrating. It gets repetitive in some places which hampers the book. I really loved to read about the innovative ways that were used to help the war but they were very less after 50% of the story.

Fenna Vos has a very traumatic childhood. Her mother died in childbirth, and she is raised by her dad, a copper miner. She is also involved in the Italian Hall disaster, which resulted in numerous deaths including children. During the disaster, Fenna meets Arie Jansen and so develops a life-long friendship with him and his family.

During Fenna’s childhood, we see the development of her love of magic and how her and Arie communicate secret messages. It becomes her coping mechanism to get through the difficult times. We also watch as the relationship between Arie and Fenna develop into more. However, as they both get older, the relationship falls apart.

Fenna pursues a career as a magician/illusionist but like her relationship with Arie is not playing out the way she expected. After one of her shows, Fenna is approached by British Intelligence to use her illusionist and magical talents to help design gadgets to help the Allied forces win WWII and she decides to join the team. The story outlines lots of the different types of gadgets and tricks that were actually utilized by the Allies during WWII.

During Fenna’s work in this role, she is sent on a special mission to Holland. There she finds her path crossing once again with Aria, and lots of those old emotions are resurfaced. During this mission, Fenna will need to use her illusionist powers and other tricks to outwit the Germans and save someone’s life.

This novel, though about WWII, uncovers another facet of the attempts by the Allies to win the war. What is does have in common with other novels about WWII is the lengths individuals went in order to save lives and protect the ones they love.

What I loved:
1. Fenna - her background, her attitude, her brains, her resiliency
2. Historical fiction - always teaching me something new
3. Multiple plot lines that all come together in the end....not usually a fan of "surprise" or two many things going on but this worked for me!
4. Loved the Dutch connection/Holland portions.

What I wanted less of:
1. A tad too long for me - could have been shorter and still achieved the same effect.
2. Was aggravated in the middle because of too many stories!

Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Landmark, and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

“It was a mistake to go backward. Moving forward is the way I’ve survived, eluding traps of all kinds, charging toward the unknown.”

Ways We Hide is one of those historical fiction novels that will leave you thinking about it days after finishing. There’s a lot packed into this book. It’s honestly three or four books in one. It’s a sweeping WWII saga with poignant scenes that will bring you to tears with fascinating historical details woven throughout. It’s the story of a strong woman shaped by surviving multiple tragedies who tries to reconcile her past with the future. It’s tragic yet hopeful and definitely worth reading.

In the first part of the book, we meet Fenna, who struggles during her magic act when her partner goes off script, After one particularly tense performance and exchange afterward, she’s approached by a British Military Officer from the War Office associated with MI9. He offers her a unique opportunity with the military to design gadgets to help soldiers fighting against the Nazis. (Think “Q” from James Bond.) She decides to accept this new assignment and embarks for London.

The next part of the story, we’re whisked away to 1928 and Fenna’s childhood in Michigan. She endures several tragic events as a miner’s daughter including the loss of her mother early in life and surviving a stampede. The one bright spot in her childhood is meeting her friend Arie. He shares with her a Houdini magic book, which she spends hours reading and learning tricks from. As her life progresses from one tragedy to another, she winds up living with Arie and his family. But, when her past comes back to haunt her, she reluctantly runs away to perform on the stage.

We’re brought back to present day 1943 where Fenna is in London trying to find ways to aid in the war effort. Once again, she must face her past when a secret mission leads her deep into Nazi occupied territory. She’s forced to confront past feelings and relationships and this is where the suspense really increases. It’s a heartrending story that will have you in tears by the end.

This book is phenomenal as far as storytelling. The characters are flawed yet lovable. The reason this is a four star read and not a five star for me is pacing. There were a few times in the middle I felt the story dragged a bit. Because there were so many stories in one, it felt almost like I was reading two different books. The author does manage to weave all the stories together beautifully, but there were some aspects that lost my interest until the story picked back up again. The last quarter of the book was unputdownable.

There are two brief love scenes with not a lot of detail. These occur at the end of Chapters 24 and 70 and are easily skippable if you prefer not to read those. There’s also some infrequent mild language. All in all though an epic read with complicated characters, interesting historical detail, and suspenseful situations that will leave you anxiously turning the pages. I received an advanced complimentary copy from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own and freely given.

I received a complimentary ARC of this excellent historical novel from Netgalley, author Kristina McMorris, and publisher Sourcebooks-Landmark. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read Ways We Hide of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. Kristina McMorris has a formidable backlog of extraordinary stories, any one of which should receive at least ten stars, and The Way We Hide fits right in there with Sold on a Monday and The Pieces We Keep.

Personable, centered characters, backgrounds you can 'see', a plot line you can't see coming - this book has everything you could ask for in a novel. I am pleased to recommend Kristina McMorris to friends and family. She will bring you into her story, a willing participant, in that world she conveys so well.

This novel is a love story about family and those you make your family. It’s is about forging your own path despite the difficulties, which for Fenna becomes WWII. I loved learning about Harry Houdini who she admired. Fenna’s life isn’t easy but it comes full circle in the end.

Ways We Hide, by Kristina McMorris, is a WWII- era historical fiction novel that will keep you turning the pages well into the night. As with her earlier book, Sold on a Monday, McMorris demonstrates her knowledge of the material in an informative and entertaining way. Though I try not to judge a book by its cover, I loved this cover! I had high expectations for this novel and I was not disappointed. Thank you, NetGalley, and the publisher, for providing me with an ARC ebook of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Ways We Hide is a beautiful epic saga of one woman's childhood and early adulthood in which she overcomes significant traumas to understand herself. Lovely writing and a carefully crafted plot made this lengthy book worth the read. Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark, Netgalley, and the author for early access to this novel.

I thought that Ways We Hide was incredibly enjoyable. I love WWII historical fiction and this was a really engaging story from beginning to end. Fenna's background and how she became an illusionist was fascinating and it was interesting to see the ways that she was able to utilize her skills when she was put into increasingly difficult situation as the book progressed. I liked that Fenna was a strong independent character who was very determined to do things on her own terms. It was also interesting to learn of the different ways that militaries used magic and illusion elements to help protect their soldiers and help the war effort.

Since I loved her previous book, I was excited to read this one as well and I’m glad I did. This was a heavy subject in a completely different way but it was informative and detailed. It didn’t engage me the way Sold on a Monday did, thus the lower star rating, but I think a lot of people will really enjoy this one.
Fen a Vos is orphaned and grows up in an orphanage and learns to be tough and stand on her own until she meets Arie, and they become childhood sweethearts but they get separated and don’t see each other again until they are adults.
As an adult Fenna is working as a magician/illusionist and after a show one night she is recruited by British Military Intelligence to design escape and evasion gadgets for airmen, POWs and others fighting the Nazis. She uses her abilities with illusion and misdirection to help the Allies win the war.

The author clearly has done a lot of research and she shares a bunch of her sources at the end which was interesting as well.
Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

The Ways We Hide was a clever, and different story of intrigue during World War II. Ms. McMorris has done a wonderful job of presenting the story of Fenna, who winds up participating in the war effort in an unusual and interesting way, that I was unfamiliar with until I read this book. I recommend this book to readers that are interested in Historical Fiction, particularly during this time period. It's definitely well written and different than anything else you've read. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to preview this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first story that I have read by this new to me author, and it definitely will not be the last. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, because the author pulls you into the story and makes you feel like you were right there with the characters. I love reading stories like that, so I definitely will be looking into reading more of this author’s works. I would recommend this to anybody who enjoys reading about true facts mixed with fiction and history.



I received a complimentary copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

The Ways We Hide by Kristina McMorris ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A big thank you to @netgalley and @bookmarked for the ARC! This one came out this week!

What an absolute story! When I tell you I was immediately pulled in, I was. Told in different time periods, the story moved through Fenna’s life, but it wasn’t linear.

Fenna’s time as an escapist’s assistance and behind-the-scenes mastermind had me mesmerized. I love old circus vibes and beginning the book with this pulled me in. The next portion of Fenna’s childhood built on the world before and provided more context. These were by far my favorite parts of the book.

Fenna’s experience helping the war effort and going on a daring adventure of her own was well done, but the pace slowed here. I found myself not as engaged, but as soon as I found myself feeling that way, the story threw in something exciting. In that way, my level of engagement was like a roller coaster. I wish the connection to her escapist experience was a bit more tied to this portion as it seemed to be just an explanation but no real substance.

Overall, this was a well done historical fiction novel. It accomplished much and developed memorable characters.