The Lies We Hide: An Absolutely Gripping and Darkly Compelling Novel

By: S. E. Lynes

Narrated by: Tamsin Kennard

Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's Summary

The truth can set you free, or make you a prisoner...

Thirty years ago, Nicola Watson lived with her parents and older brother in a respectable suburb. At 10 years old, she didn’t yet understand why her stomach tightened when she heard her father’s heavy tread as he returned home late at night, or why it made her brother Graham’s stammer get worse, or why one night her mother Carol woke them both, wide-eyed and whispering, and took them out of their home and into the unknown.

Now a successful lawyer in the city, with a life poles apart from her dark beginnings, Nicola has returned home for her mother’s funeral. But as she stands in her mother’s house, remembering the woman who sacrificed everything for her children, Nicola has to confront the guilt that she feels for leaving her family behind. And the belief that she played a part in the events that led to her brother going to prison for murder.

All Carol wanted was to protect her children, but escaping her husband was only the beginning of the story. And when Nicola learns the truth of what her mother did, it will change everything she thought she knew about herself and her family.

A gripping, emotional story of family secrets, and the strength of a mother’s love in the darkest times. The next powerful listen for fans of The Silent Wife, Kerry Lonsdale and Emily Bleeker.

©2019 S.E. Lynes (P)2019 Bookouture

So well done

First of all, the narration was brilliant. Among the best of the 200 or more audiobooks I’ve listened to.

The story was really unusual and well thought out.
Became attached to the wonderful characters and loved how descriptive the time and place were!
Highly recommend.

Very touching story

I love it when I take a chance on a book with so few reviews and I really enjoy it! The narrator is excellent and I fell in love with the flawed, raw and realistic characters in this book. Yes it is dark, but these characters constantly struggle to evolve emotionally throughout the story. The beauty of this book is in their fight to find their way into the light. Alcoholism, drug addiction and physical violence are at the premise of the storyline, but truly so is hope and love. I could painfully identify with Carol's constant feelings of trepidation in her marriage. There will be those who say Carol is weak, but she is NOT. She makes mistakes, as we all do, and she is often unable to see herself as worthy of love, like so many victims of family dysfunction are. But she is NOT a victim, she is a strong woman who never gives up on her family, always putting one foot in front of the other searching for the light. This is just a beautiful story of love in all forms that a we cultivate over a lifetime. READ THIS BOOK!

Realistic tale

This one struck a cord. Made me think about my Mother and all she kept inside to raise 8 reasonably successful children. I had a really peaceful uneventful childhood, however I always had a feeling of something was about to jump off when my Dad was around. Notice I have this feeling around most men. I enjoyed this book and the family's dynamic. It also had a few twists. The narration was excellent. I would highly recommend this book.

Good listen

S.E. Lynes has become one of my favorite authors and Tamsin Kennard an excellent narrator. This book held my interest from start to finish, narrative acting is spot on.

Excellent Story. Insightful.

If you enjoy the subtle and emotionally riveting story telling of Liane Moriarty or Lisa Jewel, then you will find this one worth the read.

Good story

good narrator. listened to the end waiting for the secrets and lies to come out

Proceed with caution..

The writing was excellent as was the performance.
I just wanted to warn those who may have lived with/grown up with domestic violence. For those (me) this will not be an easy listen as it will definitely pull up things in your past, no matter what stage of healing you may be at. Peace

Meh...

This book was meh...just meh. It was boring and I felt like there were at least two characters who were just thrown in the mix that didn't really add anything to the story. I was hoping that the ending would redeem it but I had already predicted what would happen. Tamsin Kennard was brilliant at narrating as always and is truly the only reason I kept on listening. If not for her, I would have returned the book.

Boring

This book is just boring. I only listened hoping it would get better. The story is slow and boring.

Startling twists near the end

(As posted in GoodReads)
Wow, what fascinating and unexpected twists at the end! Despite the fact that it's not a mystery, running questions about the characters and their motives and activities were constant throughout. And the questions "what really happened?" and "Who's the good guys, and are they entirely good?" were prevalent throughout. And, although, they were primarily answered by the end, the question of whether anyone was actually good and whether any activities were correct/justified is an ongoing question just in general. It's an interesting look into a screwed up situation and family for which there really wasn't a good answer.

Convincing and compelling

Completely gripping. I switched it off once, because I had to get some sleep, then switched it straight back on again as soon as I woke up. 'The Lies We Hide' shines a light on the horror of domestic violence. Carol and Ted who get together in a Northern town in 1968, make sense. They reflect the pressures, attitudes and influences of their time. Their story, and the story of those affected by Ted's violence, spans decades. Always routed in time and place, 'The Lies We Hide' is convincing and compelling - beautifully written and read.

The best book I’ve read this year

Lift yourself into the world of fear and trepidation,gripping story line, characters were well chosen, although Graham seemed an old name for a young boy.. narrator was excellent. There’s something in this book for everyone, even a touch Scottish humour from Jim. 5 stars

Excellent Book

A good story but what made it for me was the brilliant narrator. Each character had a distinctive voice .

dull story and terrible accents

Gave up listening to it. The story was anything but gripping and the scouse accents were beyond terrible.

Weak

This was described as gripping. That being so , all I can say is it must take more to grip me than most people.
The narration wasn't good but the actual stoyline was weak and silly!

Underwhelmed and disappointed

Although the subject is a serious one the writing was very superficial. There was no depth to this book. Setting the scene by using product references is completely unnecessary . The accents used in the reading made it seem like a school play. I don't recommend this book.

Disappointing

I love S E Lynes books and have read all the previous ones - but I'm returning this one. It's a family drama story, about the lives of an abused woman, her son and daughter (who leave the husband at the beginning). But I nothing much else happens...

Lost a lot of sleep listening!

Thoroughly enjoyed and could not stop listening. Characters were so real brought me close to tears many times as they showed a family’s strength and fragility at the same time.

Perfect narration for a twisted story

This is my 4th S E Lynes novel narrated by the splendid vocal chords of Tamsin and as always, with more twists than a corkscrew. Mother is definitely my favourite followed closely by The Housewarming, then Valentina and now this novel so I really must enjoy the authors books. However, I think I need a break from those numerous twists. Just when you think all has been revealed, there is yet another denoument and off we speed in an utterly different direction. So many times when I thought "this is the end" but another chapter began and we are off again. So, if you like such stories then this author is going to give you hours of reading/listening ..... and I challenge you get it right.

A painfully accurate portrait

An engrossing story. Witnessing the demise of each character it’s easy to see how families keep secrets. Beautifully told.