Secrets We Hide From Ourselves

by Nigel Stewart

Simon Turner is planning a party for his 60th birthday. It's meant to be a celebration of family, enduring friendships, memories - and his beloved music. But when the dancing stops and the lights go on, has more been revealed than either Simon or any of his guests could ever have imagined?

Unknown Binding

Published September 21, 2021

About the author

I was born in Corbridge, Northumberland and lived in the north east of England until I was seven. My parents uprooted the family in 1966 and we moved to live in Hereford, where I went to Broadlands CP School and Hereford Cathedral School. I started piano lessons when I was nine and sang as a chorister in Hereford Cathedral for four years - and am very proud to have been head chorister for part of that time. Music was a massive part of my childhood and adolescence, so it probably isn't a surprise that I ended up in a rock band called Gruin, formed with schoolmates.

I wasn't particularly academic and left education at 19 after pretty miserable exam results. My day job took me to Berkshire, where I lived in and around Slough for ten years before moving to Lancashire in 1989. Life as a musician dwindled during my late 20s and, eager to sustain my creativity, I started writing the book that became Colouring In in 1990.

During the late 90s I was married, and have two fabulous children - Alana and Jacob.

Colouring In was self published in 2016, which led to an amazing collaboration with Purple Parrot Publishing on each of my three published books.

As I write this bio, a 4th Novel - Justinian's Daughters - is finished and I've begun work on a 5th.

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simon Turner is turning sixty and planning a birthday party with his oldest friends. He has known them since his teenage years and they have shared many experiences and probably even more secrets. The plot moves between the past and the present as the friends reveal the ways in which their lives have developed and how these developments have impacted on their relationships with each other. Elements of jealousy, resentment and betrayal begin to seep into the narrative. There is a beguiling and subtle infusion of tension as the novel progresses. I knew there was going to be a denouement but I hadn't a clue what it was going to be.

The writing is skilful and the characters are very real. The dialogue between them is realistic. This is an incisive dissection of relationships between families and friends. We all tend to think we know ourselves and those around us but is this really true? What does it take for someone to show their true colours? How do we get behind the smoke and mirrors? That is the paramount theme of this excellent novel.

[Tom Horn-Author · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nigel Stewart’s latest novel, ‘Secrets We Hide From Ourselves’ is a bit of a departure from his earlier works; yet I found myself captivated by the tale nonetheless. Secrets is well written, the characters engaging. I won’t give away the book’s Secrets, but I will say that it’s ending was not what I suspected, and I am pleased to discover that I was completely surprised! Highly recommend this latest treasure!

[Catherine Baxendale · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5🌟

[Dawn Witney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. The prose is wonderful, sensitively written. The characters had such depth and evolved throughout the story. The Simon Turner we were introduced to at the start of the book was not the same person we thought he was by the end, and the same can be said of all the characters. The simple premise, the organising of a 60th birthday party, leads us on a wonderful journey of discovery as we are introduced to the four - friends from school days - who have gone their separate ways but still meet up. Nigel, the author takes us by the hand, and gently leads us into their world with rembrances, news, gossip, asides, chaperoning us to the day of the birthday party. The party: a glorious affair where secrets are revealed, secrets that bite into the hearts of the characters we have bonded with, secrets which rip their worlds, and our imaginings of them, apart. I loved this book, but I really didn't see that ending coming, Nigel. Brilliant.