The Art of Hiding - Amanda Prowse

I have been a fan of Amanda Prowse novels from her very first novel  Poppy Day, released in 2012 with all the proceeds going to the British Legion to help injured servicemen, Amanda is married to a serving soldier Major Simeon Prowse MBE.   Amanda Prowse is a prolific writer and writes about real life situations that everyday people can relate to but,  as with many prolific writers some of her novels are better than others.  My favourites are still Clovers Child and Will you remember me and complete Poppy Days story. She has gone on from strength to strength writing about looking after a mother with dementia, miscarriage and anorexia  to name but a few and Three and a half heartbeats originally written as a kindle edition to raise funds for Sepsis Trust, but due to popular demand is now going to released in paperback in July 2018 with all proceeds going to help raise awareness of Sepsis a condition that can be life threatening but is treatable if caught early enough. 

So what is The Art of Hiding about.  Nina McGarrick and her husband Finn are happily married with two sons. Finn has always worked hard and provided for his family, whilst Nina has always ran the home and looked after their boys. They live in a beautiful house and their sons are excelling at Kings Norton public school. Nina's world falls apart when Finn is killed in a car accident.  The life she knows is about to unravel. Unbeknown to her Finn's company has been in trouble and they are in a mountain of debt leaving them facing bankruptcy.  Even with  the life insurance its not enough to cover the 18 million they owe.  Nina begins to wonder if she ever really knew the man she married.  Forced to leave her family home Nina returns to the rundown Southampton council estate and the sister she thought she had left far behind. Nina can't let herself be overwhelmed, her boys need her to be strong. To save them and herself, she will have to do what Finn had always discouraged her from doing; pursue a career of her own. Torn between the life she thought she knew and the reality of the situation she now finds herself in she needs to take back control of her life. Armed with the last thousand pounds to her name, which Finn had hidden in the laundry basket as a rainy day emergency fund she moves their life back to Southampton to be nearer her sister. Nina needs to find a job and quick but what is she qualified to do? She will need to get her boys into the local comprehensive school a world apart from the school they have known since they were three. 

In a nut shell I really enjoyed this book. With all Amanda Prowse books they are thought provoking and do get you thinking about what you would do if you were to find yourself in this situation. D runs his own business and I have never questioned how his business is doing.  He will comment when business has been quieter and we always know when the tax bill is due as he will go around the house turning lights off and ranting that it's like Blackpool illuminations in this house and turning the thermostat down on the heating, but I am sure if things were that bad he would sit me down with a strong glass of something and break the news to me and after nearly 20 years I would hope that I could tell if something was wrong but I suppose there are those of us that are really good at bravado. We have discussed at length what insurance policies are in place  and who to contact should anything ever happen to him but I'm sure we all tend to go through life in that blissful ignorance of that will never happen to us but this book makes you think about those things that none of us likes to have to think about. 

I would definitely recommend this book for you to read and I would definitely recommend that you have those conversations with your family I know I will be.

Take Care

Mx