A Hidden Place
Robert Charles Wilson
Bantam Books
1986
Ms. Hen picked up this book at the Little Free Library in
Downtown Boston because she liked the cover. She tried to explain to her hen
friend that was with her that good books have good covers, but her friend didn’t
believe her. Ms. Hen knows that it’s hard to believe that you can judge a book
by its cover, but she has learned this in publishing seminars. If the company
thinks the book is worthwhile, they will create an attractive cover. Ms. Hen
has told you this before, but she wants to remind you.
Ms. Hen started reading this novel because it’s short and
she wanted to finish a book fast before she goes on vacation this week. Even
though this novel is not that long, it’s intense reading, and is dense at
times. Ms. Hen thinks that the best part of A HIDDEN PLACE might be the
writing; it’s well crafted and mellifluous. Some aspects to the book are not superb.
This novel is about a small town on the plains of the United
States, Haute Montagne, where Travis, a young man, goes to live with
his aunt and uncle after the death of his mother. His uncle gives him a job at
the ice plant that he owns. It’s the Depression, and jobs are hard to
come by, and Travis has limited choices. A mysterious woman, Anna, lives upstairs, and Travis is intrigued
by her. His uncle warns him not to consider her romantically, and Travis is
afraid of him, so he acquiesces.
Travis becomes friendly with a waitress in the town, Nancy,
and the two of them go to the movies a few times. She has heard about Anna, but
she doesn’t understand what she is doing in the house or the town. Anna has a
secret. Travis and Nancy discover that she is not human, and is looking for her
other half, Bone, who has forgotten who he is and what he must do. Travis finds Anna attractive, and he realizes why his uncle didn’t want him
to become involved with her, because he wanted her all to himself. Anna escapes
from the house and Travis and Nancy help her.
Ms. Hen liked this book, but she thought it was strange.
It’s a story about a small town during the Depression, and how desperate and
conservative the townspeople have
to be in order to survive difficult times. But it turns into a science fiction novel,
and Ms. Hen doesn’t quite see how that fits into the environment where
the story takes place. Ms. Hen likes science fiction and magical realism, but
she likes it in a context that she can believe. She doesn't understand why
Anna and her other half have separated and have to get back together. She doesn't know why the things in this novel happen the way they happen. She
believes that this might be meant to be a fairy tale, but she doesn’t
comprehend why it has to take place during the Depression.
Sometimes when Ms. Hen’s mind is on other things, she gets
distracted and can’t focus. Her mind right now is on the South of France and
Paris and vacation, and that might be the reason why she didn’t enjoy this
novel and much as she would normally. This reminds her a little of movies from
the 1980s, like ET and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. This novel was published
in that era, so those might be influences. If she read this at a different
time, she might have liked it more.
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