The Art of Hiding. Amanda Prowse

Published: Lake Union
Date: 22nd August 2017
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 290
Genre: Mainstream Fiction
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Rating:
            

Nina McCarrick has it all: a loving husband, two beautiful boys, a well-appointed home and more time than she knows what to do with. Life is perfect. 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.

In The Art of Hiding, Amanda Prowse tells a story of a woman who seems to have lost almost everything. Nina has come from a poor background but has been caught up in the love and promise of nice things and a worry free life from her husband Finn.  When her husband dies in an accident she has two sons, a fifteen year old and ten year old, and she is about to find out all the things that Finn has been hiding from her. 

Nina and her boys have lived in a large house, the boys have gone to an elite school and Nina has never worked since marrying Finn. She has been safely ensconced in her large house taking care of all the needs of her boys and husband. Now according to her sister that is not really healthy and as the days unfold, Nina's sister Tiggy just might be right.  Where are those rich women when Nina's world falls down around her. Well like rats leaving a sinking ship - they are gone.

When Nina returns with her two boys to her home town, it is really, really tough. Declan the ten year old is in shock, Connor her fifteen year old is by turn sullen with flashes of caring at odd times. Nina needs a job, but... how many jobs is she qualified for? Well very few or none actually.

The neighbourhood is a far cry from what they have been used to, but step by step they all make their way. Nina has guts and aided by her sister Tiggy she slowly finds her way forward. She begins to examine her life and choices, who was she... who is she now? It is difficult, her boys are struggling as you would expect, they are all grieving.  But there are unexpected offers of support and the people they meet are quite different to those they once knew. 

This is a very realistic story of grief, shock and loss. Of being thrown in the deep end with the choice of sinking or swimming. It is about family and what it means to have true friends and the place of money in happiness. 

I really liked the book and found myself returning to it any moment I had. 

Another Love. Amanda Prowse

Another Love
Amanda Prowse
Published: Head of Zeus
Date: February 11th 2016
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 368
Genre: Fiction
Source: Thanks to Publisher via NetGalley
Rating:
                      

Romilly had worked hard for her stunning, modern house in one of Bristol's most fashionable suburbs. She adored her gorgeous, gap-toothed daughter and her kind and handsome husband. Sure, life was sometimes exhausting - but nothing that a large glass of wine at the end of the day couldn't fix.

But then, as deep-buried insecurities surfaced, everything started to unravel. A glass of wine became a bottle; one bottle became two. Once, Romilly's family were everything to her. Now, after years of hiding the drinking, she must finally admit that she has found another love...

Romilly - wife of David, eventually mother of Celeste has it all, yet there is an insecurity to her. She is beautiful and intelligent, and an etymologist. In spite of having what seems like everything, she finds Another Love.  In this story Amanda Prowse explores the depths of where a woman can descend when her life becomes ruled by the need to reach for alcohol. Whenever something triggers her anxiety or insecurity Romilly reaches for the bottle.

For some time she manages to keep her family life and work ticking over, however there comes a time when her friends and husband call her on her drinking. Yet Romilly is not ready to face the problem, as far as she is concerned she is not an alcoholic. The woman who moves into the next door house is no help and often leads Romilly off on a drinking binge.

This is not an easy book to read. Prowse does not spare us in the details of the aftermath of a drinking binge. Those details are raw and saddening. She shows us what can be lost when the ravages of alcoholism are rampant. Anyone who has seen a family member go beyond them into the ravages of drugs or alcohol, will know the anguish, anger and powerlessness that family members feel as they see their loved one claimed by the addiction.

The story is told mostly in the third person but from the point of view of Rom. Interspaced with this are short first person accounts by Celeste her daughter. From her viewpoint we see what it is like for the child of an alcoholic parent.  Heartache for both her and Rom, the mother/daughter relationship damaged. Will it every be restored in any way?

There is loss and much heartache. There is moving on. There is hope and the possibility of redemption. With support and grit, Romilly takes steps to claim her life back for herself. Paying the cost along the way. A moving and powerful story.

A Little Love Amanda Prowse

A Little Love
Amanda Prowse
Published: Lamplight
Date: 2014.
Format: Audiobook
Length: 9hrs 42min
Narrator: Julia Franklin
Genre: Women's Fiction
Source: Own book
Rating:
                            

Pru Plum is the owner of a famous Mayfair bakery. She wears Chanel and her hair is expensively cut. Few would believe that she turned sixty-six last year. But Pru is not the confident, successful businesswoman she appears. She has done shameful things to get to where she is today. And she will do anything to protect the secrets of her past - especially now she has finally fallen in love...

A Little Love by Amanda Prowse has been a delight to listen to and I think I just may have found a new author to enjoy!

• It is extremely well narrated by Julia Franklin, her voices vary, and she had the right accents, phrasing and speed to make it absorbing to listen to. She really brings the story alive.
• Prue and Millie - cousins -  are two tough birds originally from the East End, they have been through the mill of life and have on the whole a very loyal relationship with each other.
• Prue is a kind and compassionate woman, she is also a little wily and can lead Millie where she needs to go. Prue is also vulnerable and open to the new, even if it invites hurt.
• There are interesting side characters, one or two not so likeable ones, but they are balanced by some that are wonderful.
• The plot moves a long at a good pace and there are twists and turns that make the reader wonder what is going to happen next.
• Their bakery sounds really, really.... delicious! Wish there was a Plum Patisserie near me!

Readers who enjoyed The Seafront Tearooms by Vanessa Greene would I think be very happy with this book too. I am off to seek more by Amanda Prowse. Christmas For One I see takes up the story of Meg, a character in this book, so that might be next. However it doesn't have the same narratory so will give it a little time in between.