Book Review: The Hideaway by Laura K. Denton

 The Hideaway was a title that kept showing up on my library Libby app when I searched for new fiction to read. Because this was an unknown author to me, I bypassed this book a couple times.

I’m pretty picky about fiction and tend to read titles that have been recommended to me in some way: friend, podcast, or book club. I’m also a little stingy when it comes to how many stars I give a book on Amazon or Goodreads.

Recently, The Hideaway popped up again. Maybe it was the book’s lovely cover that persuaded me to read the book description this time. Or perhaps it was the recommendation I noticed by Patty Callahan Henry*:

“A story both powerful and enchanting: a don’t miss novel

in the greatest southern traditions of storytelling.”

I like Patty’s writing, so with her recommendation and the fact that The Hideaway was published by Thomas Nelson, I was assured that it would be a good story (and without rough language or steamy scenes).

Keep reading for a link to one of Laura K. Denton's titles to read for free!   

The Hideaway is a story with dual timelines, one in the present and the other beginning in 1960. I enjoy dual timelines, but it’s not always well done. In The Hideaway, it is masterfully well done.

One timeline tells the reader about Sara, the owner of “Bits & Pieces” in New Orleans. She loves her life as it is: staying busy with her shop, refinishing old furniture, and redecorating projects. She doesn’t realize that anything is missing in her life until her grandmother dies unexpectantly. She is called back to Sweet Bay, her hometown, and all its memories she left permanently. Or so she thought.

Sara assumes her time in Sweet Bay, Alabama, will only be long enough to take care of the funeral and other necessary duties. Instead, she winds up with an unexpected inheritance with a charge from her grandmother, stated in the will.  And with that, Sara begins her journey, with an old house and discoveries about her grandmother’s past that she never knew.

Once from high society and married into an influential family, Mags became an eccentric character who was well-loved in her community. She is the owner of The Hideaway, formerly a bed and breakfast, now a community-dwelling with two other couples who never left from their stay. Mags reveals from her perspective what events transpired in her life that got her to The Hideaway in 1960 and why she decided to stay.

Both of these characters become strong women, but not necessarily by determination alone. There are hard choices and heartbreaks along their paths in life, which become intertwined in an unexpected way.

Once into the book, it only took me a couple days to finish. This book was hard for me to put down because I wanted to read about Sara's discoveries about her grandmother's life that she never anticipated. This book got a 5-star review from me on Goodreads. 

The Hideaway would be an excellent book club read, with many details to discuss the two protagonists. (There are book club discussion questions at the back of the book.)

What draws you to a new book or author? Share with us in the comments! 

After finishing The Hideaway, published in 2017, I was excited to learn that Lauren has three other books, plus The One You're With, to be released in July 2021. And my TBR** list keeps growing . . .

Read for free!
Glory Road is free on Kindle if you have an Amazon Prime membership.

*Patty is the author of “Becoming Mrs. Lewis” and one of the five authors from the Friends & Fiction Facebook page. (Their live chats on Wednesday evening are such fun – so go subscribe to their Facebook group! It’s one of the best things for readers that came out of the pandemic!)  

** TBR = to be read

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