The Hiding Game is the second book I read by Naomi Woods after Mrs Hemingway. I read Mrs Hemingway with pleasure, but this book disappointed me a little.
The Hiding Game tells the story of a group of friends attending Bauhaus when Germany was about to enter its darkest period. Doesn’t it sound beautiful and exciting? It has art, history and an academic environment which I love to read. When I first saw it, I thought it was written just for me. However, after reading a few chapters, I realized that the book would take a lot of time to finish. I was neither able to give up reading nor was dying to read it.
Although it is a character-driven novel, I could not get to know any of the characters well. So I could not warm up to any of them. I read that strange web of relationships between them with pleasure. However, I found their reaction to happenings unnecessarily strong and meaningless. I learned a little more about the Bauhaus but still couldn’t help getting bored reading the book. It is not a bad book; it wasn’t for me. If you are a fan of Bauhaus, I think the book might be of interest to you. Enjoy!
The Hiding Game
In 1922, Paul Beckermann arrives at the Bauhaus art school and is immediately seduced by both the charismatic teaching and his fellow students. Eccentric and alluring, the more time Paul spends with his new friends the closer they become, and the deeper he falls in love with the mesmerising Charlotte. But Paul is not the only one vying for her affections, and soon an insidious rivalry takes root.
As political tensions escalate in Germany, the Bauhaus finds itself under threat, and the group begins to disintegrate under the pressure of its own betrayals and love affairs. Decades later, in the wake of an unthinkable tragedy, Paul is haunted by a secret. When an old friend from the Bauhaus resurfaces, he must finally break his silence.
Naomi Wood
Naomi Wood is the author of The Godless Boys (Picador, 2011) and the award-winning Mrs. Hemingway (Picador, 2014), which won the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Award, was shortlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Award, and was a Richard and Judy bookclub choice.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
