This is the second Austin novel I've read and found the style in which it was written, very similar to her other novel 'Eve's Daughters'. I enjoy this author's style and was just as captivated by this Historical Fiction as I was the other. Lynn Austin is a wonderful Christian author who has the talent of intertwining the morals and values of Christianity into her novels without at all being preachy or in your face with religion. These are just nice, clean, works of fiction.Hidden Places begins at Wyatt Orchards during the winter of 1931. Eliza Rose, is just 30 years old and recently lost her husband Sam. She is now raising her 3 children on her own: 4-year-old Becky Jean; 7-year-old Luke; and 9-year-old Jimmy. Eliza's biggest worry is her mounting debt but she has no idea how to run an orchard alone.Stepping out the kitchen door into the freezing night air, Eliza is startled half to death finding a bedraggled, unshaven and unclean hobo standing in front of her. Since she hadn't heard any vehicles driving down her long, deserted driveway to the farmhouse, he scared Eliza so badly that she jumped and dropped a coal scuttle full of ashes down the porch steps. The man apologized, dropped his burlap sack and shook Eliza's hand. He bent down to scoop up the spilled ashes with his bare hands with an admonishment from Eliza: "Careful! those cinders might still be warm."The hobo asked Eliza if he could speak with her husband to see if he had any odd jobs he could do in exchange for a good meal. Eliza, not wanting to tell this hobo she was a widow, invited him inside to have a bite to eat. With instructions from Eliza to leave the ashes on the porch, she told the hobo it was far too cold to continue standing outside.Once seated at the kitchen table, Eliza sliced him up some bread, fetched a clean soup bowl, ladled a helping of leftover stewed chicken, carrots and dumplings from their own dinner and poured him a cup of coffee. Seated across the table was 4-year-old Becky Jean who suddenly poked the man with her fork! Eliza was shocked and embarrassed and asked Becky Jean why she poked the man. Becky Jean said she poked him to see if he was "an angel" because "Momma always feeds strangers 'cause she says they might be angels. But he wouldn't take his coat off so I couldn't see if he had wings under there!" Eliza, still unhappy over Becky Jean's behaviour, told her to apologize.It was decided the man would sleep in Sam's old workshop out in the barn that was equipped with a cot and a potbelly stove in which to make a fire, with a lantern and matches on a shelf just inside the door.After clearing away the dishes and getting the children into bed, Eliza, feeling cold, snuggled into her own bed when she suddenly realized she hadn't even asked the hobo his name.The next morning, having grown used to being alone on the farm, Eliza had forgotten all about the hobo until she opened the kitchen door. There on the porch, sat a huge pile of stacked wood, along with the coal scuttle which had been re-filled from the coal in the barn and set outside the door. Eliza also noticed a path had been shoveled from the porch to the barn and was wide enough for two people to walk side-by-side. The man had also sprinkled it with ashes so she wouldn't slip carrying the milk buckets. Heading to the barn with 9-year-old Jimmy, they realized the stranger had also shoveled the manure from all the stalls, a task Eliza despised, and that he'd also pitched a fresh supply of hay down from their loft and piled it in an easy place to reach. The whole barn had been tidied and ordered and Eliza realized then, that this was the work of a man who took pride in what he did the same way Sam used to keep things-notthe make-do job of a weary mother and her young son.Having seen enough, Eliza tells Jimmy too quit gawking and get to work before he's late for school. When they had finished milking the cows and feeding the horses, Eliza sent Jimmy back into the workshop to make sure the hobo had put the fire out. Suddenly Jimmy comes back yelling "Momma! Momma, come her! Quick!" The hobo is laying by the stove and can't be woken. Eliza assures Jimmy the man is not dead but probably drunk and sends him off to school with his brother Luke.Eliza watches the hobo huddled on the cot, wrapped in a dirty blanket but can see by the rise and fall of his chest that he is breathing and thinks he's just exhausted from all the work he's done. Eliza felt sorry for him and re-built his fire before returning to her own chores.A few hours later, with no sign of the hobo leaving the workshop, Eliza pulls on her boots and coat and heads to the shop to see how he is. She has trouble rousing him: "Mister...Hey Mister...you all right?" When he didn't respond she shook him harder and harder yelling "Hey there! Hey, wake up!" Finally, the man begins to moan and Eliza notices his glazed eyes and flushed cheeks and suddenly realized he wasn't drunk, it was a terrible fever. Eliza backed away from him, worried he had something contagious like polio. Her children had all been exposed to him the night before and Jimmy, again that very morning. Eliza quickly threw more logs on the fire to keep it going, closed the door to let him sleep.After school, Eliza warned the children to stay way from the workshop and the sick man. She then loaded some of the previous night's broth from the stew into a small milk pail and buttered a slice of bread to take to him.The workshop was cold again when Eliza arrived with the food. She woke the stranger and was able to ask him what was wrong with him, fearing he'd picked up some dreaded sickness in one of the many hobo camps. Startlingly, he managed to whisper to her: "my leg." Eliza asked if she could see and he nodded yes and closed his eyes again. Lifting off the blankets, she could see where the right leg of his pants had been ripped, the cloth was dark and stiff with dried blood. Underneath that, he had tied a rag around his leg. Unwinding the rag, Eliza saw a jagged cut that ran down his shin from his knee to his ankle. The wound was swollen, inflamed and festering and Eliza figured he would have blood poisoning and had probably come to her orchard to die. She began yelling at the man: "How dare you! How dare you come crawling to MY house to die, like some mangy old dog! Haven't we been through enough? How dare you pick MY house!" The moment her tirade was over, Eliza covered her face in shame and cried. With the boys sled and their help, they dragged the man to their house and settled him into Grandpa Wyatt's old bed in the spare room off the kitchen.With the help of the kids, they stripped off his smelly clothing, and left him in his torn long-johns. Eliza cleaned his wound with boiled water and applied a hot poultice. Little Becky Jean still believing he was an angel, prayed at dinnertime: "Please don't let the angel man die."Later that night, Eliza went through the man's burlap sack and found his identification. It said his name was Mr. Gabriel Harper. Most perplexing was what Eliza discovered, wrapped in an old blanket at the bottom of the sack--a typewriter!! Eliza thought to herself: "What an odd thing for a hobo to carry." She also found a stack of notebooks that had all been written in except for one. "How strange", she thought.Eliza wonders what this hobo's motive is for showing up at HER particular farm and wonders if this stranger can jeopardize all she has fought to attain for herself and her children...This is truly a captivating tale!!
Summary:Eliza Wyatt is a young widow with three children. Her surly father-in-law has recently died. Her beloved husband died a year before.The Wyatt Orchard is the source of income for her family. It is their home. It is her source of security. It is the future hope for her children. It is a legacy she had planned to pass on to her children.Bad business decisions have left her in a bad state.Meanwhile, a stranger arrives at her door asking to help work the place in exchange for a meal. Eliza's daughter believes him to be an angel. An angel disguised as a hobo.Meanwhile, Eliza's late husband's aunt Batty, has come to live with them.The time period is the early years of the Great Depression.My Thoughts:This is one of the BEST Christian fiction books I've read.I had a difficult time laying the book down to do other things. I read the book in two days.The main characters in the story are Eliza and her three children, aunt Batty (Betty), and Gabriel Harper. What gives an added dimension to the story is chapters devoted to the history of these individual characters. The chapters define their individual life's journeys.Aunt Batty, or Betty. Is an eccentric personality. When the story began, I wondered if she had an imbalanced mind, or if she was saner than the other characters. On one page her statements were both odd and yet prolific. Some of my favorite quotes in the book came from the sage words of aunt Batty.It is refreshing for a Christian fiction story to have heroines who are both average looking (not a Miss America) and yet have a special quality to their personality that sets them apart.Gabriel's identity kept me guessing. It was difficult to not realize his arrival was not by chance.I have always loved strong characters in stories. Hidden Places has characters that are torn by choices they've made and by others. They wrestle with decisions. I've read fear is one of the greatest motivators. Fear is behind many of the character's anger and unforgiveness.
What do You think about Hidden Places (2001)?
I'm normally not a fan of "chick flick" type novels but I loved Hidden Places. The characters were very lovable with the exception of Frank who is clearly meant to be the bad guy. SPOILER ALERT!Aunt Batty and Walter were two of my favorite characters. Walter was patient and kind trusting God as he prepared to die. The love between him and Aunt Batty was unconditional and beautiful. I wept like a baby when he died. I also love Aunt Batty with her love for God and others. Her quirkiness is a plus as well. Oh, and the mitten kittens were absolutely absurd yet so cute!Along with developing good characters, I was impressed by Austin's ability to intertwine their stories, adding new information at the perfect time. Not exactly knowing what would come next and what secrets people were hiding made this book a real page turner.Lastly, I was impressed at Austin's ability to apply biblical truth in a way that was in context without shoving in down your throat. SPOILER ALERT!Aunt Batty did a great job of gently explaining to Eliza that though Gabe was helpful, God was the only one who could meet all Eliza needs. The book was full of applications like this. SPOILER ALERT... Another good example was when Gabe and Eliza are expecting a child and it's mentioned that all good gifts come from God. I wasn't a huge fan about over emphasis on angels. I get it. Angels are part of the theme but I just don't think it's quite biblical. But that would be my only complaint. I really did enjoy this book.
—Lauren Storm
What an amazing read. It was filled with many twists and turns. This is a captivating tale of lives intertwined by need and circumstances, family and love. I LOVED every page. Through this suspenseful and intriguing journey the author explains God and the good book (the bible) in a childlike way that is so appealing. It really hits the heart of the matter. This is the first book I have read by Lynn Austin - I will definitely read more. I highly recommend this as a fun read and one what would work well with your book club. They made this book into a movie. That would be an added bonus for your book club.Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”Nora St LaurenttTBCN Where Book Fun Begins www.bookfun.org The Book Club Network blog www.psalm516.blogspot.com Book Fun Magazine www.bookfunmagazine.com
—Nora St Laurent
Eliza Wyatt has been a widow for barely a year when her father-in-law, Frank Wyatt, owner of Wyatt Orchards, where they all live, passes away suddenly. The country is the years of the Great Depression, and Eliza is struggling to raise her three young children and trying to run the orchard all by herself. Coming to her aid is her late husband's Aunt Betty (who has been called "Aunt Batty" for as long as anyone can remember), and a mysterious stranger, Gabriel Harper, who appears to be a hobo. Gabe has been injured in an accident, and after Eliza nurses him back to health, he stays on at the farm to help the family in any way he can out of gratitude for Eliza saving his life.Eliza soon finds out, due to Frank's will, that she may be in danger of losing the only home she has ever known. As she struggles to save the farm and the orchard, family secrets come to light, and she also begins to doubt that Gabe is who he claims to be. She is also in fear of her own past coming back to haunt her.I really enjoyed this story; it was a page-turner right from the very first chapter. Every time I thought I had one of the mysteries figured out, there was another plot twist that added another layer of richness to the story. The characters were authentic and well written; one of favorites was Aunt Batty, whom once you get to know her through her back story, isn't so "batty" after all.I've read several of Lynn Austin's books and enjoyed them all, so I knew this one was going to be a good one, but it turned out to be even better than what I had expected; in fact, I think this one just may be my favorite one of hers so far.This book was also made into a movie by Hallmark in 2006, starring Sydney Penny and Shirley Jones. I haven't seen it yet, but I hope it will air again on TV sometime in the future.
—Shari Larsen
