The hiding place by Jenny Quintana

Marina is adopted, she has always known this but she also knows she was abandoned at birth, left in the foyer of a house on Streatham High Road nearly thirty years ago. When visiting a nearby client, whose book she is editing, she is drawn to the house and finds there is a flat to let in the run down mansion. On impulse she arranges to see the flat and decides to move there to find out more about the people who lived there in 1964 when she was abandoned. The narrative shifts to 17 year old Connie in April 1964, finding herself pregnant to boyfriend Johnny who has left to pursue his dreams of becoming an artist in Paris. It is a year since Connie’s mother died of cancer leaving her father bereft, retreating into the world of second hand books in his small shop so she has no one to confide in. The narrative shifts from Marina, who keeps her identity secret as she learns more about the people who lived in the flats, tracking down leads and considering possibilities, to Connie as she struggles with the fact of her pregnancy and what options are open to her, concealing her swelling body by binding the bump and wearing loose clothing. We slowly piece together their stories and those of the people in the house until their secrets are revealed.

Connie’s story is a sad reflection on the times and her vulnerability and Marina’s is one of someone who has enjoyed love and security from her adoptive parents who are there to support her as she tries to fit the missing piece into her life. I didn’t feel the house itself carried any great significance and the narrative was too slow paced for me. The denouement was anticipated yet sudden and incomplete. I felt that finding excuses for the perpetrator was a mistake. This may have appeal to young adult and adult readers of Quintana’s other books and lovers of women’s fiction.

Themes: Identity, Adoption, Secrets, Teen pregnancy.

Sue Speck