It's my turn on the BlogTour The Hidden by Alison Knight.
About the AuthorAlison Knight has been a legal executive, a registered childminder, a professional fund-raiser and a teacher. She has travelled the world – from spending a year as an exchange student in the US in the 1970s and trekking the Great Wall of China to celebrate her fortieth year and lots of other interesting places in between.
In her mid-forties Alison went to university part-time and gained a first-class degree in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University and an MA in the same subject from Oxford Brookes University, both while still working full-time. Her first book was published a year after she completed her master’s degree.
Alison currently has a trio of novels published by Darkstroke. The first, Mine, is a domestic drama set in 1960s London based on real events in her family. She is the only person who can tell this particular story. Exploring themes of class, ambition and sexual politics, Mine shows how ordinary people can make choices that lead them into extraordinary situations.
The Legacy, a drama set in London in 1969, was inspired by a scene in Mine, and explores how an unexpected legacy can be both a blessing and a curse. The Legacy looks at themes of greed and expectations, and the lengths people will go to when they are desperate.
The Hidden, available from September 2021, is a romantic suspense that picks up the story of one of the characters in The Legacy. Set in Montana in 1973, two wounded, damaged people are forced together, each guarding their secrets. Can they learn to trust each other? And will their nightmares ever end?
Alison teaches creative and life-writing, runs workshops and retreats with Imagine Creative Writing Workshops (www.imaginecreativewriting.co.uk) as well as working as a freelance editor. She is a member of the Society of Authors and the Romantic Novelists’ Association. She lives in Somerset, within sight of Glastonbury Tor.
Follow @Alison_Knight59 on Twitter, on Facebook, on Goodreads, Visit alisonroseknight.com,
Secrets, nightmares, and a big black dog… Montana, 1973. Faye has found sanctuary in a simple cabin in the wilds of the Crazy Mountains in Montana with a dog called Bear. She’s a long way from her old life in England. But she knows that one day her peaceful life could be invaded by her enemies, and she keeps her guard up at all times.
Jeff returns home from Vietnam, a wounded, damaged hero, just weeks after his father’s sudden death. He finds hostile, secretive Faye living in his cabin and refusing to leave. The reading of his father’s will adds another layer of mystery to this woman’s presence.
The tension between them grows as Jeff tries to overcome his nightmares and expose Faye’s scars and secrets. The more he learns about her, the more enigmatic she seems. When her enemies come calling, she needs Jeff to protect her. Can they learn to trust each other? And will Faye ever be safe?
Review
Faye thinks she has finally found a place where no one will come looking for her. A safe haven and a man who is willing to keep her secrets. Until one day a stranger stumbles into her life. Her alarm bells go off and she is ready to protect herself - no matter what.
Jeff is confronted with a stranger who has made herself a little too comfortable in the middle of the life and family he left behind. He wants her gone - if only life were that easy, right?
I found Jeff a hard character to swallow at times. His sexist ways veered into misogyny at times and he was often dismissive and demeaning, which was romanticised, ergo the troubled rugged alpha male with a soft core waiting to be uncovered.
Aside from that it is a story of learning to trust, to love and to open yourself up to new beginnings. Both Faye and Jeff approach this in their individual ways, of course this also means the clash and butt heads along the way.
Much like the previous two books the author focuses on the complexity of family dynamics and relationships. Betrayal, lack of trust, and assembling some sense of safety within their inner and outer lives. It's a story about support, trust and love.
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