Book Review: Hide by Mathew Griffin

Hide by Mathew Griffin

(Goodreads)

Set in a declining textile town in North Carolina, Hide is the love story of Wendell Wilson, a taxidermist, and Frank Clifton, a veteran of World War II. They meet after the war, in a time when such love holds real danger. But, severing nearly all ties with the rest of the world, they carve out a home for themselves on the outskirts of town and for decades the routine of self-reliant domesticity--Wendell's cooking, Frank's care for a yard no one sees, and the vicarious drama of courtroom TV--seems to protect them.  

But when Wendell finds Frank lying motionless outside at the age of eighty-three, their carefully crafted life together begins to unravel. As Frank's physical strength deteriorates and his memory dissolves, Wendell struggles in vain to keep him healthy and to hold onto the man he once knew until, faced with giving care beyond his capacity, he must come to terms with the consequences of half a century in seclusion, the sacrifices they made for each other, and the different lives they might have lived--and most especially the impending, inexorable loss of the one they had.

Thanks to Bloomsbury USA at NetGalley for providing me with this eARC! 

I have to be honest: I feel hesitant about posting this review. Why? For two reasons, the first being that I wasn't able to finish this book and the second being that I feel bad for not liking this novel.

As with any other book I entered Mathew Griffin's debut novel with an open mind. The premise seemed interesting and I was ready to give my heart to Frank and Wendell, whose love had kept them together for a bit over five decades. However, I was about fifty pages in and I felt no connection to any aspect of the book.

Frank seemed like the most stubborn old person with no redeeming qualities. The story is told from Wendell's point of view and I struggled to find why he loved Frank, most of the time it was just Wendell looking after Frank and doing things for him that he was too stubborn to do. This novel uses two different perspectives in the form of alternating chapters to tell the current situation and how the two met. I thought I'd find a connection when I read about how they fell in love but instead I was disappointed, I didn't feel like there was a story to tell.

There's a lot of descriptions of mundane everyday things. The kind of things that grandparents drone on about but you listen to because you love them and you care about what they want to share with you. But because I was never given a reason to love and care about Frank and Wendell, these descriptions bored me (a scene that comes to mind is Wendell describing how he had to wash a knife twice because the first time the food didn't come off it all the way).

At the end of chapter 7 (around page 70), I realized I couldn't finish this novel. The only thing I liked about this novel was the gorgeous cover art. I really do wish I could have enjoyed it as much as others seem to.