Synopses & Reviews
This early work by the Booker Prize-winning author Barry Unsworth chronicles one of his literary obsessions the corruption of innocence and forms it into a compelling contemporary narrative set in the rambling, overgrown grounds of an English estate. There, relying on his rich sister Audrey's beneficence, Simon obsessively digs a secret system of tunnels from which to spy on others. When Josh, a good-looking naïf, becomes a gardener at Audrey's home, the two women of the household, Audrey and her distant relative and housekeeper, Marion, find Josh's strength and seeming innocence a potent spell, and his response escalates unacknowledged tensions between them. Meanwhile, Simon, worried about Josh, takes steps to prevent the exposure of his underground labyrinth. The explosive chemistry between the characters will eventually rip apart and rearrange all their lives.
Review
"Now available in the U.S., this haunting early novel by the Booker Prize-winning author is sure to roil the passions of its new readers. Simon Thebus, an elderly retiree, lives on his sister Audrey's estate where Marion, a distant young relative also stays. Audrey hires a 20-year-old gardener, Josh, to restore the patrician grounds to its former glory. But Simon, resentful of Audrey's dominance, has already begun to dig a secret tunnel. Josh threatens his longed-for autonomy. This and other misalliances trigger an eerie series of devastating blows into all their lives—until finally the suspense cracks the dangerous surface of the chapters which shift between the voices of Simon and Josh. Curiosity and voyeurism plummet into sexual depravity and forbidding cruelty. Frightening and extraordinary." Reviewed by Daniel Weiss, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)
Review
"Bristling with menace, The Hide is a superbly modulated study of the blighting of an innocent." Anthony Quinn
Review
[A] black comedy about the quintessentially human act of observation. . . . Caustic and hilarious. --Drew Limsky
Synopsis
"[] has it all: imagination, character, dialogue and above all, plot. . . . It's a scary book, written by a master tale-teller."--Susan Salter Reynolds,
About the Author
Barry Unsworth (1930-2012), who won the Booker Prize for Sacred Hunger, was a Booker Prize finalist for Morality Play and was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize for The Ruby in Her Navel.