 |
| (Amazon UK link) |
Mia is the main protagonist of this book. She’s in her fifties, and works creating and selling designer hats. She is married to Jeff, who’s a bit grumpy and rather a male chauvinist, but mostly they seem to get along reasonably well. They have three adult children: Jensen, Eliza and Daisy.
Mia is very close to Jensen, possibly because in his first few years Jeff wasn’t involved in his life. And unfortunately Jeff and Jensen seem to bring out the worst in each other. But as the story begins, they are all gathering to celebrate Jensen’s thirtieth birthday, and to meet his American girlfriend Tattie.
Not that this is the start of the book. The first person we meet is Owen, a newcomer to the village. He is quite surprised at something he sees, and it’s an excellent start to the novel. He then moves into a quiet cottage, and gradually we learn why he’s so attached to it. Owen is quite wealthy, and able to live on his savings. And he’s a talented piano player.
There are plenty of back stories that gradually come to light in a story that I thought was very well-told. The first time I read this book I thought that the first half was too slow-moving. But this time, I liked it very much. I thought the pace was excellent, introducing believable people and I didn’t have any trouble remembering who was who.
One of the best-drawn characters, I thought, was Mia’s older daughter Eliza. She’s quite a rigid perfectionist who works extremely hard and rarely takes any time off. Eliza has recently fallen in love, however, and is beginning to explore her emotional side. She is very disappointed that Greg is unable to get to Jensen’s birthday party, as she would like him to meet her family.
And then there’s Daisy, who is unquestionably her father’s favourite child. She was somewhat spoiled as a youngster, and hated to disappoint him in any way. She’s working in a job he arranged for her, but really dislikes it, and is planning a major change in her life. She doesn’t know quite how to tell him, though.
Several things come to light during Jensen’s birthday gathering, including the fact that Tattie has a nine-year-old daughter. Madison is a delightful child, and we see some scenes from her perspective. Erica James has a particular talent for creating well-rounded, believable children and Madison, in my view, adds a great deal to this book.
What the author doesn’t do so well, however, is creating realistic villains. I realise that nobody is all bad, and some balance is good. But I never quite believed in Jeff; he’s not exactly a villain anyway, though he displays some very negative characteristics. But I also felt quite sorry for him at times. He’s not inherently bad.
There is another character who behaves in an appalling way that causes major unhappiness to someone else, but we don’t get to know him at all. And there’s a back story that involves some horrible abuse, but, again, we never actually meet the perpetrators.
In the second half of the book there’s a dramatic and shocking incident which I think I was half expecting; perhaps it had remained in my subconscious from the first time I read it. I’m not sure why it was necessary to the story; a slightly less terrible outcome could have worked, too, in my view.
But overall, I thought ‘The hidden cottage’ was a well-written, thought-provoking book about family relationships. It’s set in a village where everyone knows everyone else, and one or two people are prone to gossip. A lot of Erica James’ novels are set in small communities like this, and feel authentic; perhaps she herself grew up in a small village.
If you like women’s fiction that’s primarily character-based, with a few shocks along the way, then I would recommend this book. I’m very glad I re-read it.
Review copyright 2025 Sue's Book Reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment