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A Hidden Life
A Hidden Life Geras, Adele
384 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
4 people are currently reading
134 people want to read
About the author
Adèle Geras
190 books137 followersAdèle Geras FRSL (born 15 March 1944) is an English writer for young children, teens and adults. Her husband was the Marxist academic Norman Geras and their daughter Sophie Hannah is also a novelist and poet.
Geras was born in Jerusalem, British Mandatory Palestine. Her father was in the Colonial Service and she had a varied childhood, living in countries such as Nigeria, Cyprus, Tanzania, Gambia and British North Borneo in a short span of time. She attended Roedean School in Brighton and then graduated from St Hilda's College, Oxford with a degree in Modern Languages. She was known for her stage and vocal talents, but decided instead to become a full-time writer.
Geras's first book was Tea at Mrs Manderby's, which was published in 1976. Her first full-length novel was The Girls in the Velvet Frame. She has written more than 95 books for children, young adults, and adults. Her best-known books are Troy (shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize and Highly Commended for the Carnegie Medal) Ithaka, Happy Ever After (previously published as the Egerton Hall Trilogy), Silent Snow, Secret Snow, and A Thousand Yards of Sea.
Her novels for adults include: Facing the Light, Hester's Story, Made in Heaven, and A Hidden Life.
Geras won two prizes in the United States, one the Sydney Taylor Book Award for the My Grandmother's Stories and the National Jewish Book Award for Golden Windows. She has also won prizes for her poetry and was a joint winner of the Smith Doorstop Poetry Pamphlet Award, offered by the publisher of that name.
(from Wikipedia)
Geras was born in Jerusalem, British Mandatory Palestine. Her father was in the Colonial Service and she had a varied childhood, living in countries such as Nigeria, Cyprus, Tanzania, Gambia and British North Borneo in a short span of time. She attended Roedean School in Brighton and then graduated from St Hilda's College, Oxford with a degree in Modern Languages. She was known for her stage and vocal talents, but decided instead to become a full-time writer.
Geras's first book was Tea at Mrs Manderby's, which was published in 1976. Her first full-length novel was The Girls in the Velvet Frame. She has written more than 95 books for children, young adults, and adults. Her best-known books are Troy (shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize and Highly Commended for the Carnegie Medal) Ithaka, Happy Ever After (previously published as the Egerton Hall Trilogy), Silent Snow, Secret Snow, and A Thousand Yards of Sea.
Her novels for adults include: Facing the Light, Hester's Story, Made in Heaven, and A Hidden Life.
Geras won two prizes in the United States, one the Sydney Taylor Book Award for the My Grandmother's Stories and the National Jewish Book Award for Golden Windows. She has also won prizes for her poetry and was a joint winner of the Smith Doorstop Poetry Pamphlet Award, offered by the publisher of that name.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 24, 2014
What I liked about this book - its portrayal of the feelings and reactions of some of the main characters, which were touchingly expressed. I got a nice sense of place from her descriptions, too. However the story was ultimately unsatisfying.
It's no spoiler to say that the "hidden life" is Louise's grandfather's - it's obvious very early on. We're kept guessing what it might be, with hints like his wife saying she loved him until "she found out what he was", and his bonfire to burn of all his red-covered notebooks. But neither of these mysteries is ever explained, and it left me feeling that the author changed her mind about what his secret would be, half-way through the book!
As it turns out, his "hidden life" isn't hidden at all - it refers to his childhood in a Japanese POW camp, which his family is aware of, and which he wrote a novel about. And this is the first plot device that's hard to swallow - the family assume his novel is NOT autobiographical. Even though it's all about a small boy in a POW camp and the author was a small boy in a POW camp - excuse me? So, his "hidden life" relates only to the true meaning of the events around the death of his mother. Traumatic for the child, certainly, but it left me with a feeling of anti-climax - as well as wondering what the burning books were for (he had nothing to hide) and what his wife meant by "what he was".
There were two other ideas that didn't gel with me. One, that Constance could possibly be such an evil, vindictive character. She had to be, to create the unjust will and to explain why she was opening and destroying her husband's mail. Sure, she disliked him but surely she would just have ignored his mail altogether? After all, as far as she knew it was just fan mail and other such "rubbish". It felt contrived, done purely to enable part of Louise's journey to happen. Two, the fact that someone decides to republish the grandfather's novel at exactly the same moment Louise inherits the copyright. The author could have made that believable by inventing some media coverage of the controversial will, but she didn't bother.
On the jacket, I see that the author writes children's books. That makes sense, because I did notice she wouldn't use a long word where a short word would do. That's a good thing in general but sometimes it meant the prose didn't flow as smoothly as it could have.
It's no spoiler to say that the "hidden life" is Louise's grandfather's - it's obvious very early on. We're kept guessing what it might be, with hints like his wife saying she loved him until "she found out what he was", and his bonfire to burn of all his red-covered notebooks. But neither of these mysteries is ever explained, and it left me feeling that the author changed her mind about what his secret would be, half-way through the book!
As it turns out, his "hidden life" isn't hidden at all - it refers to his childhood in a Japanese POW camp, which his family is aware of, and which he wrote a novel about. And this is the first plot device that's hard to swallow - the family assume his novel is NOT autobiographical. Even though it's all about a small boy in a POW camp and the author was a small boy in a POW camp - excuse me? So, his "hidden life" relates only to the true meaning of the events around the death of his mother. Traumatic for the child, certainly, but it left me with a feeling of anti-climax - as well as wondering what the burning books were for (he had nothing to hide) and what his wife meant by "what he was".
There were two other ideas that didn't gel with me. One, that Constance could possibly be such an evil, vindictive character. She had to be, to create the unjust will and to explain why she was opening and destroying her husband's mail. Sure, she disliked him but surely she would just have ignored his mail altogether? After all, as far as she knew it was just fan mail and other such "rubbish". It felt contrived, done purely to enable part of Louise's journey to happen. Two, the fact that someone decides to republish the grandfather's novel at exactly the same moment Louise inherits the copyright. The author could have made that believable by inventing some media coverage of the controversial will, but she didn't bother.
On the jacket, I see that the author writes children's books. That makes sense, because I did notice she wouldn't use a long word where a short word would do. That's a good thing in general but sometimes it meant the prose didn't flow as smoothly as it could have.
June 3, 2008
This was absolutely fantastic. From the believable characters to the way each of their stories were told, brilliant.
You can help but fall in love with the hopeless romantic Louise (Lou), after being with an abusive partner thinks that she will never find Mr Right and after her grandmother dies and leaves her the copyrights to all her grandads books, she feels quite deflated and hurt that her grandmother didn't really like her.
But all that changes when she looks deeper into her grandads past and soon her life starts to come together.
I would easily read this book again. All the characters were colourful and the whole story was brilliantly written. Fantastic!!
You can help but fall in love with the hopeless romantic Louise (Lou), after being with an abusive partner thinks that she will never find Mr Right and after her grandmother dies and leaves her the copyrights to all her grandads books, she feels quite deflated and hurt that her grandmother didn't really like her.
But all that changes when she looks deeper into her grandads past and soon her life starts to come together.
I would easily read this book again. All the characters were colourful and the whole story was brilliantly written. Fantastic!!
Read
August 14, 2011I found this book for $2.95 on the bargain table in the English section of a bookstore in Spain. I fell into the story immediately. A wealthy elderly woman in England changes her will just before her death. She practically disinherits one grandchild, gives a slight amount to another, and gives the rest of her large estate to the good-for-nothing grandson. This wreaks havoc on a family already dealing with divorce, infidelity, and family secrets...both present-day secrets and those from the past. Many plot lines from a multitude of characters, none of whom are purely good or purely bad...just like in real life.
April 18, 2022
Adele Gera's has written 4 adults books and I have read 3 of them. A Hidden Life is the latest I have just finished reading. And I love it. I love her story writing skills, the characters, the storylines. If you love family dramas & relationships, please read her books. I am surprised her ratings are low. Her books are good. Very good in fact. I wish she will continue to write. I love reading her books so much and I have one more to go only, and it will be sad for me to read the last book. She is an amazing writer. Somehow her story flows nicely and I just feel so serene and peaceful reading her books even though there are family dramas involved. Such a good writer!!!
December 13, 2021
My book was an uncorrected manuscript proof that a friend lent me. There’s no blurb, reviews or author info, so you’re straight into the story with no preconceived ideas which I rather like.
I really enjoyed the book which was essentially about a will, changed at the eleventh hour, and how it affected an already quite dysfunctional family. It was well written and easy to read with a few interesting twists, some great characters, and would make a good holiday read as it’s totally immersive.
I really enjoyed the book which was essentially about a will, changed at the eleventh hour, and how it affected an already quite dysfunctional family. It was well written and easy to read with a few interesting twists, some great characters, and would make a good holiday read as it’s totally immersive.
April 23, 2019
Quite slow to get in to but I enjoyed the second half. There was a few twists to some characters story line and I liked the portrayal of the family interaction when all the characters came together.
March 30, 2023
at first i think of it as boring but then i saw its beauty
October 5, 2012
Maybe a desperation read, but not much more. Unlikeable, flat characters and a totally predictable plot - felt like I'd heard it all before. Events totally telegraphed LONG before they occurred. Not horrible, but not great either. Bland. Just good enough to while away a few hours waiting for your train or plane & no tragedy if you misplace it during or after reading. Good book to leave on one of those book exhange racks when finished - better luck with the next one!
March 5, 2016
Ik vond dit boek niet zo geweldig. Ik heb het tot het einde toe gelezen, omdat ik wel een "guilty pleasure" heb voor verhalen over familie-intriges, maar ik vond de schrijfstijl eerder van het genre chicklit en dat laat me dan toch wel wat op mijn honger zitten. Het is allemaal een beetje dunnetjes, zowel verhaal als schrijfstijl. Van mij mag het een niveau hoger. Drie sterren vind ik misschien zelfs iets teveel.
January 21, 2014
Een boek over boeken, altijd leuk:
Louise erft de copyright rechten van de boeken die haar grootvader heeft geschreven: autobiografische stukken over zijn tijd in het Jappenkamp, en ze gaat op onderzoek uit.
Familieverwikkelingen en relatie gedoe, zowaar zelfs een aardig beschreven lesbische liefde.
Al met al wel onderhoudend.
Louise erft de copyright rechten van de boeken die haar grootvader heeft geschreven: autobiografische stukken over zijn tijd in het Jappenkamp, en ze gaat op onderzoek uit.
Familieverwikkelingen en relatie gedoe, zowaar zelfs een aardig beschreven lesbische liefde.
Al met al wel onderhoudend.
Read
July 1, 20156/26/2015: Borrowed from Mechanics' Institute
June 2015: PLS info: available as audio (6/16/2015)
Mechanics: Available as audio (6/19/2015): http://milibraryca.oneclickdigital.co...
June 2015: PLS info: available as audio (6/16/2015)
Mechanics: Available as audio (6/19/2015): http://milibraryca.oneclickdigital.co...
June 2, 2009
excellent
July 30, 2010
The aftermath of Constance Barrington's last will & testament. A story within a story. Granddaughter Louise brings to life her grandfather's long forgotten novel
July 14, 2011
THis book was horribly written. The characters were very whiny and under-developed. I wish I could have the hours back I wasted reading this book.
September 16, 2011
A good read - enough interesting characters and storyline to keep it all going and leave you feeling satisfied
September 27, 2012
Nice story, many characters all with a well-defined and really different personality. Not the best book I've read lately, but still, entertaining enough.
May 8, 2014
enjoyed it
December 27, 2014
A type of book that you lose yourself into ..
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews