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In Something To Hide by Deborah Moggach, each of the six main characters, spread across the world, has a secret. Their lives are intricately and cleverly linked by Moggach’s plotting. Moggach writes in the perspective of four of the six main characters:
Petra in London. Poor Petra had been through a difficult divorce. So when she finds love, in an unexpected person, the reader empathises with her, even knowing that he’s married to someone else. Petra’s character is interesting at first, but towards the end of the book she does begin to feel a bit whiny. Bev & Jeremy in West Africa. Bev’s character is great, multifaceted, very real and a missed opportunity for Moggach whom didn’t write any scenes in her perspective. Moggach didn’t write any scenes from Jeremy’s perspective either, so the reader doesn’t really get to know him directly. Li-Jing & Wang Lei in China. The reader will really feel for Li-Jing. Wang Lei dragged himself out of poverty with his drive and ambition. |
Lei uses this drive and ambition to try to solve the problem he’s presented with at the start of Something To Hide. The reader will wish they learned more about him and it would have been great to have a chapter in his perspective, especially because of his importance in the book.
Lorrie in Texas. Lorrie’s husband is in the army, so she is at home with two kids. That is until she is scammed out of their life savings. She comes up with a cunning plan to earn the money back, but in the meantime can she keep the secret? Especially with the physical changes she goes through as the nine months of pregnancy progress. Lorrie is very likeable and it would have been good to get to know her better.
The pacing of Something To Hide is appropriate, unravelling a plot that is full of twists and turns. What let this book down was the lack of writing in the perspectives of the male characters whom played key roles within the story. The ending of the book is painfully drawn and dragged out.
Overall Something To Hide is a reasonable book. One that the reader will enjoy and be entertained by, but that will leave the reader feeling as if only half of the story was told. It wont stick in the readers memory as a memorable story.
Something To Hide is available to buy on Amazon.
Review soon,
Antony
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