Trezza Azzopardi

The Hiding Place Trezza Azzopardi

Publisher Marketing: 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. Review Citations: New York Times 01/27/2002 pg. 24 (EAN 9780802138590, Paperback) Booksense '76 Jan/Feb 2002 01/01/2002 pg. 1 (EAN 9780802138590, Paperback) Library Journal Prepub Alert 09/15/2000 pg. 54 (EAN 9780871138156, Hardcover) Library Journal 10/15/2000 pg. 100 (EAN 9780871138156, Hardcover) - *Starred Review Kirkus Reviews 10/15/2000 pg. 1444 (EAN 9780871138156, Hardcover) - *Starred Review Publishers Weekly 11/06/2000 pg. 70 (EAN 9780871138156, Hardcover) - *Starred Review Glamour 01/01/2001 pg. 24 (EAN 9780871138156, Hardcover) Atlantic Monthly 01/01/2001 pg. 85 (EAN 9780871138156, Hardcover) New York Times 01/14/2001 pg. 16 (EAN 9780871138156, Hardcover) Booklist 09/01/2000 pg. 64 (EAN 9780871138156, Hardcover) Atlantic Monthly 12/01/2001 pg. 149 (EAN 9780871138156, Hardcover) Library Journal 09/15/2000 (EAN 9780871138156, Hardcover) Contributor Bio:  Azzopardi, Trezza Trezza Azzopardi was born in Cardiff. She is a graduate of the creative writing school at the University of East Anglia. She is the author of Remember Me and The Hiding Place, a national bestseller and Man Booker Prize finalist. Azzopardi lives in Norwich, England. Contributor Bio:  Gigante, Phil Phil Gigante is an APA Audie Award winner (The Dark Highlander, The Stainless Steel Rat, and The Watch That Ends the Night), and winner of over a dozen Audiofile Magazine Earphones Awards. He has narrated and directed more than 250 books, and was twice named a "Best Voice in Mystery and Suspense" by Audiofile Magazine. He has been named a Best Male Narrator in the categories of Romance, Science Fiction, Militaria, and Mystery/Suspense, as well as "Favorite Dual Narrator" (with Natalie Ross). Phil also works in film, TV and radio, and is the Producer/Director of Gigantic Productions theatre company. He makes his home in the Midwest. Contributor Bio:  Bond, Jim Bond is a producer and host of radio talk shows, with an extensive background in theatre and the musical stage.