Book Review

The Hiding Place
by Trezza Azzopardi

This novel is told more or less from the point of view of Dolores, the youngest of six daughters born to a desperately poor Maltese family living in the slums of Tiger Bay section of Cardiff. Dolores' father Frankie is an often abusive gambler and her mother Mary tries to maintain the family but is often neglectful. The girls' relationships to each other as they grow up are complex, mingling cruelty with connection. The book is filled with things seen and experienced but only half understood and concludes with veiled revelations. I always felt like there was something large and crucial lurking just under the surface that Azzopardi never quite uncovers.