something to hide
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free thesaurus definition of to hide or to hide something from the macmillan english dictionary - a free english dictionary online with thesaurus and with pronunciation from macmillan education .
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copyright © deborah moggach 2015. something to hide is published on 2nd july at £12. 99. deborah moggach will be talking to peter florence at the hay festival on may 30 .
deborah moggach is the author from the best exotic marigold hotel which has been turned into a top grossing film staring judi dench. the book something to hide is a warm, witty and wise novel about the unexpected twists that later life can bring. it turns out that no matter where you are in the world, everybody has something to hide .
everybody has something to hide, but while some secrets are mildly embarrassing, others are shocking and possibly perilous. deborah moggach uses this facet of the human condition as the premise for her novel about four women striving to keep secrets safely hidden .
everybody has something to hide by deborah moggach what' s in a name? deborah moggach' s' everybody has something to hide' makes an intriguing read, and the tension mounts throughout the book as the coming to light of what is hidden gradually plays out in the lives of the characters. this is the first deborah moggach i have read and it definitely encouraged me to read more of her novels. her letter to the reader on the first page gave enlightening stories of some of her life experiences that fed int
i' m not a particulary fast reader but i sped through deborah moggach' s latest novel something to hide * in two days, which is pretty spectacular for me. i wasn' t even trying to finish it which i think probably shows the ease in which moggach' s writing manages to capture my attention. obviously as the name of the book suggests the characters are all involved in a series of secrets which all connect to each other in various ways. some more closely than others. there' s petra the sixty something year
some great characters from diverse backgrounds, all of them with something to hide. each individual personality takes us to a different part of the world, from london, to texas, japan to africa, each with its own unique feel. from surrogacy to the vile trade of elephant poaching, murder to betrayal, they' re all thrown into the mix, but the author manages to link all these lives together really well. deborah moggach weaves her magic here with some wonderful portrayals, bringing her subjects very
an engaging contemporary novel with clever plot linkage and sympathetic, believable characters. . it demonstrates with humour and pathos the contrasting lives of 4 representative fictional characters living and communicating with' something to hide' across three continents, and lightly yet informatively it touches on a number of serious issues. an excellent novel for a book group to read and discuss .
something to hide
is an episode of bergerac starring john nettles, terence alexander, and thérèse liotard. jim has quit the force to live and work with danielle at the vineyard. they attend a fashion show in aix staged by her cousin alain, after which one of alain' s best customers, etienne, is... see full summary »
some great characters from diverse backgrounds, all of them with something to hide. each individual personality takes us to a different part of the world, from london, to texas, japan to africa, each with its own unique feel. from surrogacy to the vile trade of elephant poaching, murder to betrayal, they' re all thrown into the mix, but the author manages to link all these lives together really well. deborah moggach weaves her magic here with some wonderful portrayals, bringing her subjects very much to life. * i received my copy from a first reads giveaway so thank you to goodreads *
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the plot was contrived and most of the characters unbelievable but nonetheless this book is a real page - turner. bev was realistic up to a point (one only need check facebook to see how routine it is to embellish the story of one' s life !) but i found petra' s endless search for a loving relationship improbable. most sixty something' s of my acquaintance are too exhausted or too disillusioned! and she' s doing something high - powered with books, although that seems to fall by the wayside very quickly !
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2 stars i was excited to read something to hide. on the surface, it sounds intriguing. four women are keeping secrets from their husbands. what happens when these secrets come out? however, i was disappointed. i am not going to bother with a plot summary, as the book is uneven and focuses significantly more on one character’s story, petra, than the other three. by the end, it seems as if the other women’s stories are all but forgotten. the author could have completely eliminated the other three w
from urltoken: in something to hide by deborah moggach, each of the six main characters, spread across the world, has a secret. their lives are intricately and cleverly linked by moggach’s plotting. moggach writes in the perspective of four of the six main characters: petra in london. poor petra had been through a difficult divorce. so when she finds love, in an unexpected person, the reader empathises with her, even knowing that he’s married to someone else. petra’s character is interest
“kooky and diverse, each woman’s secret unfolds in scintillating bits that lead to a scandalous finish. ” (kirkus reviews) “clever plot machinations keep the pages turning and the reader guessing right up until the very end. ” (booklist) “readers familiar with the author will wonder when this book will hit the big screen. the sweeping landscapes of west africa, the secrets of women whose experiences are bound together, and the suspense of their stories are consuming. ” (library journal) “pulling the reader along on a fast - paced transcontinental journey, something to hide is engaging, poignant and prompts snorts of laughter. ” (daily telegraph (london), * * * *) “a poignant story of the secrets and deceptions that lie at the heart of every relationship. ” (tatler (uk) ) “classic moggach: readable, memorable…. something to hide takes us on an unashamedly colorful journey across continents, with clothes, food, landscape brought joyously to life. ” (the times (london) )
marvelous book! (which i won through a gr giveaway .) (and really, i need to stop giving 4 and 5 stars to so many books. problem is, i dnf those i don' t like, which would prob. get ratings of 1 or 2 .) now to this book... the story of four women and how they interconnect, with one of the four sort of the mc. each woman has a story, or something to hide, but 60ish petra is the story' s central focus. she' s alone and lonely and finds herself in an affair with the husband of her best friend. this is no
bev has one of the world’s happiest marriages, you see, and likes to share this with the large circle of friends and acquaintances to whom she sends her excruciatingly smug blogs. as if we’re interested. she’s out in west africa with her adorable husband jeremy, who works for some big pharmaceutical company. he’s a litigation lawyer and i suspect he does something murky, like fighting cases brought by poor people who’ve been used as guinea pigs for new drugs. in fact i seem to remember something about some slimming pill, a couple of years ago. there’s a touch of the con man about jeremy, though i do have to admit he’s fun .
jim has quit the force to live and work with danielle at the vineyard. they attend a fashion show in aix staged by her cousin alain, after which one of alain' s best customers, etienne, is shot dead and alain is framed. his girlfriend denise, who saw what happened, disappears. her brother gerard was once alain' s manager but was sacked for corruption and alain' s original backer, leon, infatuated by denise, wants all his money back. most of alain' s associates seem to have something to hide. whilst alain was clearly not the murderer was etienne the intended victim? jim finds out .
deborah moggach can be very witty and sly, both characteristics one notices in her writing of something to hide. this is about petra, an englishwoman in her 60' s who falls in love with her best friend' s husband. it' s also about lorelei, a mid - western american mother who gets involved in a scam while her husband is away on a tour of duty and how she proposes to recoup her money. both women' s stories intertwine in africa - - the part of the novel that just doesn' t ring true and the part i didn' t like
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i can’t rattle around this house forever. i know i should sell up and move somewhere smaller but the idea fills me with panic. where would i go? maybe i should get a dog and move to the country. something’s got to happen. i’m pondering this when suddenly, startlingly, the silence is broken. it’s the phone ringing .
the plot was contrived and most of the characters unbelievable but nonetheless this book is a real page - turner. bev was realistic up to a point (one only need check facebook to see how routine it is to embellish the story of one' s life !) but i found petra' s endless search for a loving relationship improbable. most sixty something' s of my acquaintance are too exhausted or too disillusioned! and she' s doing something high - powered with books, although that seems to fall by the wayside very quickly! the book is very visual, the sunsets, sights and smells of africa vividly drawn and i was amazed to discover that the author had only ever spent a week there. as for lorrie, i do hope she put her children on a diet !
deborah moggach can be very witty and sly, both characteristics one notices in her writing of something to hide. this is about petra, an englishwoman in her 60' s who falls in love with her best friend' s husband. it' s also about lorelei, a mid - western american mother who gets involved in a scam while her husband is away on a tour of duty and how she proposes to recoup her money. both women' s stories intertwine in africa - - the part of the novel that just doesn' t ring true and the part i didn' t like at all. deborah moggach writes better stuff than this .
two middle - aged women move to hollywood, california after their sons are convicted of a notorious murder and open a dance school for children eager to tap their way to stardom .
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2 stars i was excited to read something to hide. on the surface, it sounds intriguing. four women are keeping secrets from their husbands. what happens when these secrets come out? however, i was disappointed. i am not going to bother with a plot summary, as the book is uneven and focuses significantly more on one character’s story, petra, than the other three. by the end, it seems as if the other women’s stories are all but forgotten. the author could have completely eliminated the other three women’s stories, and the focus could have been solely petra. i also had some issues with lorrie’s portrayal; her characterization was that of an obese, ignorant american (who at times used british expressions). i gave the book 2 stars instead of 1 because i found petra’s story to be compelling enough to finish the book. i would not recommend .
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we’ve met in the lobby of his hotel, which is just off the bayswater road. i’m going to take him to uniqlo, a shop he’s never heard of, to help him buy clothes .
i’m thinking of bev as i unlock the door of the basement flat. it’s our last evening together; tomorrow jeremy flies back to africa. he wants to have a look at the place, for old times’ sake, and is curious to see what i’ve done to it .
this wasn' t my favourite book of hers but i could appreciate the idea of the different characters' stories and how they interwove eventually. set in three continents, the novel deals with secrets and how challenging they can make your lives. i liked the fact that the main character, petra was sixty something !
nobody in the world knows our secret... that i' ve ruined bev' s life, and she' s ruined mine .
petra' s romantic life has always been a car - crash, and even in her sixties she' s still capable of getting it disastrously wrong. but then she falls in love with jeremy, an old chum, visiting from abroad. the fatal catch? jeremy is her best friend' s husband. but just as petra is beginning to relax into her happy ever after, she finds herself catapulted to west africa, and to bev, her best friend who she’s been betraying so spectacularly. meanwhile, on opposite sides of the world, two other women are also struggling with the weight of betrayal: texan lorrie is about to embark on the biggest deception of her life, and in china li - jing is trying to understand exactly what it is her husband does on his west african business trips… it turns out that no matter wherever you are in the world, everyone has something to hide. can bev – can anyone – be trusted ?
‘ nobody in the world knows our secret... that i’ve ruined bev' s life, and she' s ruined mine. ’ petra’s romantic life has always been a car - crash, and even in her sixties she’s still capable of getting it disastrously wrong. but then she falls in love with jeremy, an old chum, visiting from abroad. the fatal catch? jeremy is her best friend’s husband. but just as petra is beginning to relax into her happy ever after, she finds herself catapulted to west africa, and to bev, her best friend who she’s been betraying so spectacularly. meanwhile, on opposite sides of the world, two other women are also struggling with the weight of betrayal: texan lorrie is about embark on the biggest deception of her life, and in china li - jing is trying to understand exactly what it is her husband does on his west african business trips... it turns out that no matter where you are in the world, everyone has something to hide. can bev – can anyone – be trusted ?
i have nothing to add. what did we talk about, all this week? our running jokes have puttered to a halt, their batteries expired .
he looks at me. the light is fading and i can’t see his face. “i mean, i don’t want to go back to africa. ”
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jeremy turns around and stands helplessly, with no armchair to sit in. he clears his throat. “i don’t want to go back, ” he says .
a mother travels to new york to see her daughter who is awaiting trial for murder. the mother is totally convinced of her daughter' s innocence and does all she can to help her. as the trial... see full summary »
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there’s an etiquette to happiness. shut up. it’s like haemorrhoids – you wouldn’t talk about them, would you? those upon whom the gods smile bear a certain responsibility not to make the rest of us feel even more wretched, our hearts shrivelled to walnuts .
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i tell him about my latest disaster and we agree that men called barry are not to be trusted .
deborah moggach has such an ability to be able to weave separate storylines in and out of each other and still maintain a coherent story. i was a little confused in the beginning at the prologue wondering why it was there when it seemed to have nothing to do with the storylines when lo and behold, a couple of characters popped up way in the last part of the book as minor characters. she is so good at that. this time the main locations the story takes us to are london, england; beijing, china; whi
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it’s been five years since i’ve seen jeremy. he’s put on weight but he’s still an attractive man, weathered by laughter and sunshine and fizzing with energy. big nose, big mouth, big appetites; i remember how he used to knock back the booze and he’s already sniffing dinner with relish. his hair is now almost white, masses of it, but it suits him. so, ridiculously, does his shirt. it’s printed with flamingoes, the sort of thing you’d wear on the beach. he looks like a dodgy arms dealer but there’s always been something dodgy about jeremy. he’s one of those restless, flamboyant men who gets easily bored and who likes to entertain himself by shocking people. why are lesbians always so fat and ugly? some people would find him offensive but i don’t care. he makes me laugh and i’ve had precious little of that recently. how can he bear to be married to someone as boring as bev ?
it' s day three of note to self' s privacy paradox challenge. there are the things you know you share online: selfies, emails, facebook posts. but there is so. much. more. marketers are mining the words you use, your tone and sentence length, to profile you. to assess your personality .
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a huge fan of the author, read so much of his work, i found this too miserable to read .
a really enjoyable read, couldn' t put it down. i know i will want to read it again .
petra is a single sixtysomething living in pimlico, london. her children and grandchildren live in far flung corners of the world and she has taken up online dating to assuage her loneliness. things look up when her old friend jeremy reappears in her life and they begin a passionate affair, meeting every time he is in london on business. it is everything petra has dreamed of with only one small wrinkle to spoil her happiness. jeremy is her best friend bev’s husband. things get even more difficult when bev calls from her african home and begs petra to come and help her. so begins a complex dance as petra attempts to be the best friend bev so obviously needs while constantly fearing that her affair with jeremy will be exposed. thrown together, old jealousies and spats arise and petra discovers that bev has her own secrets to hide. petra’s african experiences are vivid and eye - opening. away from the slick cities full of arab and chinese businessmen, petra finds that africa is still poor and corruption is rife at every level of society. moggach sends petra on the voyage of a lifetime, where she makes astonishing discoveries about bev, jeremy, and herself .
over in texas, lorrie dreams of moving her family to a better neighbourhood but with her husband in the military and two growing children, money is tight. when she accidentally destroys their chance to escape their run down home she embarks on an extraordinary project to put things right. at the same time, in china, li jing wonders why her stern businessman husband spends so much time in africa and how she will get over the shame of her infertility. things go from bad to worse when tests reveal that her husband is equally to blame for their lack of a child and li jing wonders if he will recover from the loss of face. he is impassive and tells her he has plans to sort everything out .
started a bit slow and disjointed but the author soon showed her purpose. i was sorry for the book to end .
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i can’t think of anything to say either. my eye’s sore; i feel a stye coming on. thank goodness he won’t be here to see it. “wasn’t there a fireplace here? ” he’s in the living room, gazing at the wall .
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deborah moggach has such an ability to be able to weave separate storylines in and out of each other and still maintain a coherent story. i was a little confused in the beginning at the prologue wondering why it was there when it seemed to have nothing to do with the storylines when lo and behold, a couple of characters popped up way in the last part of the book as minor characters. she is so good at that. this time the main locations the story takes us to are london, england; beijing, china; white springs, texas; and assenonga, west africa. now if that is not enough to already pique your interest, i do not know what can. moggach, the magic story weaver, takes us on a journey to have all of the paths of these characters from these locations cross several times, sometimes unknowingly, and sometimes quite vividly. love, money and ageing do strange things to people and those they love and nowhere is that more apparent than this delightful novel .
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and to make things worse, just when i’m feeling at my lowest, my old friend bev sends one of her round - robins .
now i accept that i’m not the easiest person to live with. i’ve also made some disastrous choices. i married young – in those days people did. i used to take loads of drugs and in the early years my boyfriends tended to be sweet and spineless stoners. the turning - point came when i was 21 and had a boyfriend called brendan. he used to wear a badge saying wrong place. wrong time. be there. i remember seeing him struggling to open a can of lager. as i gazed at his thin shoulders i felt a rush of desire so intense it took away my breath. then i realised that this was purely maternal. what i really wanted was a baby .
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during the past few months i’ve been meeting men on the internet, something i’ve been doing off and on for years. after several dismal failures i met somebody i rather liked. his name was barry and i warmed to him when he asked me about my life – virtually unheard - of, in these situations. plus he hated golf. and he had a full head of hair. these might seem minor attributes but from them – doggedly, stupidly, like a naive, ageing teenager – i started spinning the man of my dreams. i even imagined our future together, isn’t that pathetic? he lived in billingshurst – direct trains to victoria – and i live in pimlico, a few streets from the station. we could live partly in london and partly in what i imagined was his picturesque dwelling deep in the sussex countryside where we could spend our days gardening and then, with a sigh, sink into our armchairs with a glass of whisky. then, one day, he stopped replying to my emails, and within a week his profile was back on the website .
i was looking forward to read this, but very disappointed. thought there would be far more interesting connections between the women. still a page turner
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“paths not taken, all that. how weird it would be to start again, at the beginning, and have a whole new life. ”
comment: a slight tan to the page edges. uk expedited shipping available on this item for 4. 99. fast shipping. excellent customer feedback .
meanwhile, on opposite sides of the world, two other women are also struggling with the weight of betrayal: lorrie, a texan, is about to embark on the biggest deception of her life, and in china, li jing is trying to understand exactly what it is her husband does on his business trips .
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“stop being so touchy. ” he settles himself comfortably. “now, tell me about the others. i want to hear stories from the wilder shores of love. ”
this book drew my attention in part because of moggach' s previous novel, the exotic marigold hotel. i was anticipating the same sense of humour. while there was some of that lightheartedness, it possessed more intrigue and pathos. i feel that some of the characters could have been developed and focused upon more regularly. the portrayals of lorrie and li - jing are not as satisfying - they left me wanting to know more about their circumstances and predicaments. i guess i felt a bit short - changed when it came to their situations. i felt as though they were left on the periphery by moggach forced to fend for themselves so to speak. the jury is out on this one for me .
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“classic moggach: readable, memorable... an unashamedly colorful journey across continents, with clothes, food, landscapes brought joyously to life. ” — the times (london )
he clinks my glass. “christ it’s good to be back, blossoms and greenery and yallery. i can’t tell you how much i miss the spring. ” he gives me a broad smile. “and it’s more than good to see you, darling petra. you and your house, the mother ship. never sell this place, will you? promise? ”
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skilfully, moggach draws these disparate strands together, showing that even the most unlikely people can be connected in unexpected ways. in spite of their differences in age, lifestyle and geography, these women share a common characteristic; they are willing to betray their nearest and dearest in order to keep their secrets from being discovered. the women are all fully rounded characters who are easy to care for, particularly petra whose warmth and humour, with some dark flourishes, is appealing. this is an absorbing read, with surprises and moments of tension that make it a genuine page - turner .
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deborah moggach’s latest novel takes the form of intertwined separate narratives, one of which is told in the first person by petra, a divorcee in her late fifties or early sixties, while the others are third person accounts of events affecting lorrie, the self - consciously overweight american wife of a soldier currently serving in iraq, and li - jing, the wife of a successful businessman from beijing who is struggling to come to terms with her inability to conceive. as the novel opens it is difficult to imagine how these separate storylines, unwinding on different continents, might coalesce. moggach does, however, unravel the disparate plotlines very deftly, and their nexus proves to be on a fourth continent, in a fictional state in west africa. the story touches on a wide range of emotions – bitterness, resentfulness, jealousy, love and fear of loneliness – though is never bogged down in undue sentiment. none of the characters are particularly likeable though she sparks our interest in all of their plights. i am not wholly convinced of the plausibility of the story line, but i was able to suspend my disbelief while reading the book. this was not the best of her books that i have read, but was still very enjoyable despite that .
i have to admit that i’m becoming fond of jeremy. our week of goofing off has gathered its own momentum – it’s become a long conversation, broken each night when we go our separate ways and picked up again the next day. it’s time stolen out of our normal lives, a lost weekend without the alcoholism, though with plenty of wine and lotsa laughs. we see nobody else, none of my friends; we just noodle around london in the sunshine. emails have filled up my in - box but i can’t be bothered to answer them. i’ve cancelled the couple of things i had to do, what the hell .
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i really enjoyed this book and read it very quickly, as i was so keen to find out what happened. i did however guess the storyline at each and every turn, which was slightly disappointing, but the characters were well written, not particularly likeable but very believable; i could relate to them and the story did move at a cracking pace. this could have been a 4 or possibly even a 5 star rated book for me except for the fact that the interwoven story of the american lorrie was far too hastily (and sloppily ?) wrapped up. i thought that the author got so carried away with petra and bev that she seemed to have almost forgotten lorrie and then half heartedly added some crumbs to try and tie it up at the end. unfortunately lorrie' s ending was just too unbelievable. passports? registration of birth and father / husband? stitches and only one week until hubby returns! maybe there will be another book coming about lorrie? there certainly should and could be, as her situation was just as interesting and her story far too good to simply be a gap filler .
so he pours out more champagne and i entertain him with my romantic disasters. from the safety of the marital bed, couples like to hear about the hurly - burly of the chaise longue. not that there’s been much hurly - burly but i beef it up to get that booming laugh. i tell him about the internet man who took out his false teeth before he ate; about the sensitive, tactile pensioner who asked if i liked to play – presumably some sort of sport, until he told me. i tell jeremy about the cadbury’s area manager who showed me photos of his dead wife and the man who talked me through the wiring on his vauxhall astra .
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out in the street, somebody rattles a stick against the railings. there’s a rumble of thunder. i look at jeremy as he stands at the window, blocking the light. he seems to be inspecting the putty around the sashes .
let’s just say that i was like a drone missile in my ability to seek out mr wrong. and them with me. but with my advancing years even these have petered out. men want young women. that’s the brutal truth. they want to cheat death, don’t we all? they want a reflection of their younger selves, not a wrinkled face that mirrors back their own mortality. that rush of renewal must be intoxicating, the b - - - - - - s .
picked this up in the hotel on holiday, swapped for a book i' d already read, great holiday read. not the best story but you don' t have to think too much, passed a bit of time on ...
i chose this book because' tulip fever' by the same author was so excellent. this book, however, was disappointing. the writing itself is good - characters, descriptions - but the story rambled. basically, it winds around the lives of two women, one in england and one in america, or that' s what it' s meant to do. in fact, it' s mainly about petra, the woman in england, and the other story seems to have been added as a filler. yes, it does sort of come together at the end, but feels contrived rather than satisfying. i guessed what had happened in africa - not too difficult to figure it out. it did feel padded out and about three - quarters of the way through, found myself skimming through it. the story about the woman in america could have been a separate book but would have needed more of a sub - plot to add interest and bulk. good writing, insufficient plot .
i have enjoyed many of deborah moggach' s books in the past and this was no exception. this begins with two apparently unrelated storylines: petra, divorced and lonely meets up with the husband of an old best friend and lorrie, who gets in a financial sticky situation. from the very beginning it was very readable. at first the two plot lines were quite equitable but as the time went on petra' s became more dominant and i did wonder quite how lorrie' s would fit in. however by the end it was clearer. i do wonder though why the second storyline was not used to make a totally separate novel? but, all in all, a very enjoyable book and up to the usual standard. thanks to net galley for the advance copy .
i enjoy deborah’s writing style, so had little doubt that this would be a good read. somehow she manages to tie up the most far flung destinations and mix up the most unlikely walks of life…successfully. i started off reading about a market in africa and because this is a preview on my kindle, came back to what i thought was a completely different book at one point! ! the hazards of not having a real front cover and bookmark (old school, i know). each scenario and personality is painted beautiful
i really enjoyed this book and read it very quickly, as i was so keen to find out what happened. i did however guess the storyline at each and every turn, which was slightly disappointing, but the characters were well written, not particularly likeable but very believable; i could relate to them and the story did move at a cracking pace. this could have been a 4 or possibly even a 5 star rated book for me except for the fact that the interwoven story of the american lorrie was far too hastily (a
petra’s romantic life has always been a car crash, and even in her sixties she’s still getting it disastrously wrong. and then she falls in love with jeremy, an old friend visiting from abroad. there’s just one catch: jeremy is married to her best friend, bev .
we step into the street. it’s another glorious day, the hottest april in years. along the pavement, 4x4s with tinted windows are parked, their engines running. their occupants sit in hyde park, sheikhs’ wives burqa’d up to the eyeballs, eating picnics with their children .
it is many years since i last read a deborah moggach book and i had quite forgotten just how good her reads are. her characters are real, they jump out of the page at you and you very quickly become entwined in their lives, and this book is no exception. our main character here is petra, a woman probably in her early sixties, divorced and living alone. the one thing she dreads is spending the rest of her years alone. she wants to be loved. but, when she does find that love she is going to end up
i chose this book because' tulip fever' by the same author was so excellent. this book, however, was disappointing. the writing itself is good - characters, descriptions - but the story rambled. basically, it winds around the lives of two women, one in england and one in america, or that' s what it' s meant to do. in fact, it' s mainly about petra, the woman in england, and the other story seems to have been added as a filler. yes, it does sort of come together at the end, but feels contrived rathe
eborah moggach weaves together the stories of six different characters from across the globe, each guarding a secret. there’s sixtysomething petra, living alone in london and longing to find a more satisfying relationship than anything her recent internet dates have offered; her best friend, bev, and bev’s husband, jeremy, who live in west africa and appear sickeningly happily married; lorrie, a young wife and mother in texas who needs to make some serious cash while her husband’s on a tour of duty, and li - jing and her husband, lei, in china, desperate for the baby they can’t conceive. the tangled lives of the first three lie at the heart of the novel, with the likable petra as the central ballast, though i was eager to find out more about lorrie. despite some rather crazy plot twists towards the end, it’s a gentle, easy - reading tale of happenstance and second chances .
the lighting is pitiless. i catch sight of myself in the mirror, tall and gaunt. my face is blanched. nobody says this about ageing, how the glow bleaches out until one gradually becomes colourless, like an etching of one’s own self - portrait. the tiny lines, of course, add to this effect. how has bev aged? i haven’t seen her for years but in the countless photos she posts on facebook she looks exactly the same. she and i are such a contrast – she small and curvy, me tall and skinny. somebody once compared us to a chihuahua and a lurcher .
i had such a great trip with the four threads. china, usa, africa and england... very well written and the characters were so realistic. i haven' t been to china, but even those sections felt real. must look for some of her other books. . very contemporary themes, too
i enjoy deborah’s writing style, so had little doubt that this would be a good read. somehow she manages to tie up the most far flung destinations and mix up the most unlikely walks of life…successfully. i started off reading about a market in africa and because this is a preview on my kindle, came back to what i thought was a completely different book at one point! ! the hazards of not having a real front cover and bookmark (old school, i know). each scenario and personality is painted beautifully whether it is the oppressed japanese wife, the american military family, the best friends separated by a continent but united by their love of the same man. in the mix is surrogacy, elephant poaching, naturally grown slimming aids, murder and deceit. an unlikely combination? not a bit of it – the story gathers pace as each strand is linked together and the reader is led to find empathy with each of the women portrayed. good summer read .
i really enjoyed this book. interestingly the first person narrator, petra, is quite an unpleasant character, full of jealously and bitterness and occasionally, self - delusion. perhaps what makes her slightly more empathetic is the comparison to her hideous friend bev, with all her' sweetie pies' and her casual racism, and her lover, the morally flexible jeremy, involved in murky expat business dealings. i suppose my criticism of the novel is that the parallel story of lorrie and her surrogate pregnancy is underdeveloped and wrapped up too soon. are we meant to think her husband and children really didn' t have any idea about her pregnancy and that everything turned out hunky dory ?
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this was one strange story of women with big secrets, one downright criminal. as they play out, petra' s secret becomes an absolute nightmare and the focus of the book. i' m not sure why the other women' s stories fell to the side, but i think the author missed the boat by not developing their characters. it bothered me, too, that the book was in need of some editing concerning the lorrie (american) character. the british author doesn' t speak
american
and texans don' t
have a nap .
however, it kept me entertained as i had to know how everybody ended up, so in that way, it was a good read .
better known in the uk than here in the states, and later marketed in the u. s. as
shattered
, i don' t recall coming across this one over the years (kind of surprising, considering the cast). an understated peter finch portrays harry field, a government employee who lives along the isle of wight. the film begins with him coming home during the holidays to his frustrated wife, played by shelley winters (the antithesis of understated). she' s cooked a turkey for her (vegan) husband, and performs a christmas number, in an effort to have a nice, romantic evening and save their struggling marriage. field, bored with his job... uninterested in…
something to hide ( in the u.s. also reissued as shattered ) , is a 1972 british thriller film , written and directed by alastair reid , based on a 1963 novel by nicholas monsarrat . the film stars peter finch , shelley winters , colin blakely , linda hayden and graham crowden . finch plays a man harassed by his shrewish wife ( winters ) who , after picking up a pregnant teenage hitchhiker ( hayden ) is driven to murder and madness . the film was not released commercially in the united states until 1976 . 
something to hide (in the u.s. also reissued as shattered), is a 1972 british thriller film, written and directed by alastair reid, based on a 1963 novel by nicholas monsarrat. the film stars peter finch, shelley winters, colin blakely, linda hayden and graham crowden. finch plays a man harassed by his shrewish wife (winters) who, after picking up a pregnant teenage hitchhiker (hayden) is driven to murder and madness. the film was not released commercially in the united states until 1976.
something to hide (in the u.s. also reissued as shattered), is a 1972 british thriller film, written and directed by alastair reid, based on a 1963 novel by nicholas monsarrat. the film stars peter finch, shelley winters, colin blakely, linda hayden and graham crowden. finch plays a man harassed by his shrewish wife (winters) who, after picking up a pregnant teenage hitchhiker (hayden) is driven to murder and madness. the film was not released commercially in the united states until 1976.