This exceptional debut novel about family, love, and the innocence and terror of childhood has caused an absolute sensation, garnering no less than eleven leading publishers around the world. Set in a Maltese immigrant community in Cardiff, Wales, and peopled with sharp-edged, luminously drawn characters, The Hiding Place is the story of Frankie Gauci, his wife Mary, and their six daughters and about Frankie's betrayal, gambling away his family's livelihood and eventually the family itself. Written in magical language buoyed by grace, it is a mesmerizing exploration of how family, like fire, can shift suddenly from something that provides light and warmth to a dangerous conflagration, sparing no one in its path. The Gaucis' story is seen through the eyes of Dolores, the youngest daughter and, in her father's estimation, the embodiment of bad luck, condemned to bear the mark of a family that is rapidly singeing at the edges. With a lyricism that belies the horrors she so often recounts ("children burnt and children bartered: someone must be to blame"), Dolores presents an unsparing portrayal of the fear and hopelessness of childhood amid grim poverty and neglect, of children growing up without safety nets and on sunken foundations. The Hiding Place conjures the coarse sensuality of life among the docks, the smoky cafes and bars, the crumbling homes and gambling rooms of Tiger Bay. Sustained by a tightrope tension and combining the stark, youthful wisdom and the uncanny, perfect pitch of Susan Minot's Monkeys with the redemptive liveliness of the downtrodden in Angela's Ashes, The Hiding Place is a breathtaking, radiant debut.

The Hiding Place

Literature & Fiction

Trezza Azzopardi

Literary

Picador

When Kenneth Earl realises his memory is failing, he advertises for someone to help him catalogue his vast collection of music, and so create a record of his life. Maggie, the final candidate, is his last hope. But he doesn't guess, when he gives her the job, that the archive will be as much about her past as his -- because this isn't the first time that Maggie has been to Earl House, and it's no coincidence that she applied for the post ...'Slowly, and in Azzopardi's melodic, lyrical prose the secrets of Maggie's childhood are revealed, full of loss and longing, unfaithful loves and bad choices' Marie Claire 'Not just a good read, but a fireworks display of true talent. A Fred and Ginger extravaganza -- and an unforgettable dance' The Scotsman 'Azzopardi is an accomplished writer, beautifully weaving the past into the present until her words literally sing off the page' Stylist magazine Book of the Week

Song House

Picador USA

A crisp clean softcover, no markings throughout.

Seventy-two-year-old, red-haired Winnie—homeless and abandoned time and again by those she's trusted—would say she's no trouble. She is content to let the days go by, minding her own business, bothering no one. Winnie would rather not recall the past, and at her age, doesn't see much point in thinking about the future. But she is catapulted out of her exile when a young girl robs her of her suitcase and her wig—her only material possessions.Winnie then embarks on a journey to find the thief, and what begins as a search for stolen belongings becomes the rediscovery of a stolen life. Forced to take stock of how events long buried have brought her to a derelict house on the edge of nowhere, she relives the secrets of a past she had disowned.As she pieces together the fragments of her life, Winnie recognizes that she is no longer simply on a hunt for stolen goods. After all these years, she has not escaped from her life at all: she has been circling it, and now must come to terms with it.Also available as a Grove Press hardcover.

Remember Me

For the last twenty years, Lewis has been haunted by his brother’s death. He’s tried hiding from it, running from it, even erasing it from his memory, but the relentless ghost of Wayne confronts him at every turn. Then he meets Anna, a young woman who is also haunted - by her mother, Rita, a vivacious spirit who, unlike Wayne, happens to be very much alive. Rita is the exact opposite of her daughter: loud, carefree, and a daredevil. At seventy-six, she still runs a guesthouse on the coast and has a boyfriend, Vernon, a retired actor and bon vivant. Together they make a formidable pair, living life as if every day might be their last. Anna would be happy for them, if not for the memory of her late father, a reserved and careful man. Into this precarious environment of carousing, music hall turns, and cocktails, stumbles Lewis, on a quest to find the person he believes is to blame for the death of his brother. He immediately recognizes a kindred spirit in Anna, and she in him, but at first both are too headstrong to admit that they are susceptible to falling in love. Against the backdrop of the Norfolk coast, with its massive skies and relentless seas, they finally learn to trust each other, and accept that an uncertain future can be as wild and alluring as the landscape they have grown to love.

Winterton Blue

Contemporary

Set in England against the backdrop of World War II, Remember Me is a story of pursuit: of stolen goods, of missing years, and of one woman's forgotten history. Seventy-two-year-old Winnie - homeless and abandoned by those she's trusted - is content to let the days go by, bothering no one. But when her closed existence is shattered by a random act of violence, Winnie embarks on a search for her stolen belongings - and rediscovers a stolen life. 
 Available only in Core 6 and 7.

Thorndike Press

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Mystery

This exceptional debut novel about family, love, and the innocence and terror of childhood has caused an absolute sensation, garnering no less than eleven leading publishers around the world. Set in a Maltese immigrant community in Cardiff, Wales, and peopled with sharp-edged, luminously drawn characters, The Hiding Place is the story of Frankie Gauci, his wife Mary, and their six daughters and about Frankie's betrayal, gambling away his family's livelihood and eventually the family itself. Written in magical language buoyed by grace, it is a mesmerizing exploration of how family, like fire, can shift suddenly from something that provides light and warmth to a dangerous conflagration, sparing no one in its path. The Gaucis' story is seen through the eyes of Dolores, the youngest daughter and, in her father's estimation, the embodiment of bad luck, condemned to bear the mark of a family that is rapidly singeing at the edges. With a lyricism that belies the horrors she so often recounts ("children burnt and children bartered: Someone must be to blame"), Dolores presents an unsparing portrayal of the fear and hopelessness of childhood amid grim poverty and neglect, of children growing up without safety nets and on sunken foundations. The Hiding Place conjures the coarse sensuality of life among the docks, the smoky cafes and bars, the crumbling homes, and gambling rooms of Tiger Bay. Sustained by a tightrope tension and combining the stark, youthful wisdom and the uncanny, perfect pitch of Susan Minot's Monkeys with the redemptive liveliness of the downtrodden in Angela's Ashes, The Hiding Place is a breathtaking, radiant debut.

Hiding Place, The

Audible Studios on Brilliance Audio

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Books by Trezza Azzopardi

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The Hiding Place

Song House

The Hiding Place

Remember Me

Winterton Blue

Winterton Blue

Winterton Blue

Remember Me

Winterton Blue

Hiding Place, The