These Things Hidden


Allison Glenn tried to hide what happened that night...and failed. The consequence? Five years in prison. Now she's free. But secrets have a way of keeping you caged...When Allison is sent to prison for a heinous crime, she leaves behind her reputation as Linden Falls' golden girl forever. Her parents deny the existence of their once-perfect child. Her former friends exult in her downfall. Her sister, Brynn, faces the whispered rumours every day in the hallways of their small Iowa high school. It's Brynn - shy, quiet Brynn - who carries the burden of what really happened that night. All she wants is to forget Allison and the past that haunts her. But then Allison is released, and is more determined than ever to speak with her sister. Now their legacy of secrets is focused on one little boy. And if the truth is revealed, the consequences will be unimaginable for the adoptive mother who loves him, the girl who tried to protect him and the two sisters who hold the key to all that is hidden.

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
12/20/2010 Fiction
These Things Hidden *Starred Review*
Heather Gudenkauf, Mira, $15.95 trade paper (352p) ISBN 978-0-7783-2879-7
Gudenkauf's scintillating second suspense novel (after The Weight of Silence) opens with the release of 21-year-old Allison Glenn from prison, where she has served five years for an unspecified but particularly horrible crime. Allison is reluctant to enter a halfway house in her hometown of Linden Falls, Iowa, where "even a heroin-addicted prostitute arrested for armed robbery and murder would get more compassion than I ever will." Allison, her family's former golden girl, secures a job at a local bookstore, but her efforts to resume some sort of normal life are undermined by her well-to-do parents' indifference, her sister's hatred, and the stigma of her conviction. Meanwhile, one little boy holds the key to the tragedy that led to Allison's imprisonment. The author slowly and expertly reveals the truth in a tale so chillingly real, it could have come from the latest headlines. (Feb.)

"Heather Gudenkauf has captured heart-wrenching emotion and spilled it out on the pages of her moving novel, which will touch you and leave you bleeding for the characters in THESE THINGS HIDDEN. A remarkable story."
~Fresh Fiction

"The lives of these four women are intertwined and the truth may destroy them all. Gudenkauf slowly reveals the story using the voices of all four. The tale is well told and slowly evolves from one character to the next before it all comes crashing down. These Things Hidden is a book that you will not put down!"
Read the full review at readertoreader.com

"Oh man this book packs a serious punch that left me reeling by the end of the book. This is such a roller coaster ride of a book."
Read the full review at ziariasblogspot

"What a brilliant novel Heather Gudenkauf has written... My rating: 5 of 5 stars."
Read the full review at beadyjansbooks.blogspot

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These Things Hidden

These Things Hidden