Customer Reviews

All that is Hidden

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All That Is Hidden is beautifully written, with a simple richness that will draw in tweens and teens and anyone beyond. Everyone who's ever faced growing up--and discovered it means depending on each other for understanding, love, and forgiveness--will savor Denooyer-Moore's tender treatment of human frailties and the love that can bind together families. I highly recommend All That Is Hidden!

Laura Denooyer-Moore uses a colorful array of details to give you an inside look into a small town's growth pains. You are immersed in what happens to a family trying to live out their Christianity in a real world. You observe a spiritual battle as a man wrestles with the choices of his past and the consequences to the family of his present. The imagary is intense and topics discussed are riveting. Block out an afternoon with a pot of coffee to read this book as you will find it hard to put down.

I was shocked at the ending of this book! The way Denooyer-Moore weaves the plot through what would seem to be another ordinary kid's paperback(boring) is incredible! This book is NOT for kids, at least not young ones! Those who believe in a God above will be in for a surprise at the end. As a church deacon I can say that the content of this book is of a moral quality higher than most. The end of the book is more realistic than ever, sadly. It set my emotions whirling!
I would compare it favorably to, "Not my Will" by Francena Arnold, another outstanding book. Read them!!!

This book will always be on my favorites list. I enjoyed it first for the insightful Christian wisdom that I found throughout the book. Secondly, I enjoyed it for its colorful characters that seemed to reach out and grab hold of my heart. These were characters I got to know intimately. And thirdly, I love the rich descriptions of the Appalachian Mountains and the stress of a community with safety and charm being thrust into a more progressive community.

This is a book that I could not put down, anxiously reading forward to find out the secrets of its characters. The book parallels stressful situations in today's world: the loss of a spouse and child, battling materialism, being forgiven but yet still burdened by past sins in your life, division within the family, etc. I'm sure anyone reading this book will find that it was well worth the commitment of time and heart.

This novel captured my attention with its opening line: "I always knew my father had a secret." Like most people, I'm intrigued by secrets. Watching them unfold creates both tension and pleasure. And DeNooyer-Moore knows how to build both of these feelings as she weaves a story as intricate and beautiful as an Appalachian quilt. Tina Hamilton's coming-of-age story is pieced together from satisfying fragments of cultural history, family memories, and mountain stories. The tales that introduce each section (such as "Bear Dogs and Mercy") are my favorite parts. Told in perfect dialect, they reward the reader with humor and wisdom. "Sometimes all a body needs to get by in this world is a little mercy." But a good book on the bedside table helps, too...and this is definitely one of those books.

"Both Dad and Mom had a way of reading that swept us from this century and continent and placed us firmly in others, far and away" (page 73) - this is exactly how I felt while reading this novel. I really enjoyed this novel for it's depth and realism. The imagery and word choice made the plot come alive for me. I wasn't expecting to see the book resolve the way it did - definately kept me guessing until the end. I've recommended this novel to my friends and family.

Long after the first read, I enjoyed playing mental games with the subtleties rasied by the characters in this dynmaic and moving book. DeNooyer-Moore reveals in rich and meaningful ways the shadows that so often color life's understanding of concepts of right and wrong, black and white, past and future, perfect and imperfect. With a deep love and respect for the culture, the land, the people and the language, the author invites the reader into this time and place, into the life of a family with roots in the soil of the Appalachians - a family that sturggles to do right.
A quiet humor laces the culture and people together. Details paint pictures of characters so real that one makes mental plans to look them up next trip to the mountains.
That's why, when I play the mental games about so long, I pick up the book for one more read - knowing that I will enjoy it long after the last word is read.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book- reading all 422 pages within 3 days. Each chapter ended in such a way that I wanted to keep reading.
The character development in this book was excellent.Each character had a personality of its own. The excellent use of dialect and folk tales, that were intertwined with the theme of the story, made it hard to believe that the author wasn't part of the time and culture herself.
Laura DeNooyer-Moore had a very artful way of using the English language. The descriptions of the setting and characters were very well done. I often felt as if I were sitting on the front porch with this family, listening in on their conversations.
I hope there will be a sequel to this novel. I would definitely read it.

All That Is Hidden longs for answers to the enigmatic questions raised by the progress of the last century. In this way, it reaches into the spaces described by all of our great Southern novels-however, in a way that is real and immediate, dealing with wounds not yet healed, more in line with the rebellious spirit of the Agrarians than with any romanticized Antebellum past-that-never-was. Set barely a generation ago, in small-town Appalachia, DeNooyer-Moore weaves a tale composed of several thematic strings. Central to the tale is Tina, the young girl who, along with her community, is coming of age in a tumultuous time.

Secrets abound here, as they do everywhere, but a line is drawn in the hard-worked soil of this farming community between the frivolous and lyrical secrets of childhood and the high stakes secrets of adulthood. DeNooyer-Moore leads us on a romp and a dance back and forth over that line as Tina grows up and pays her first ante into the game of adulthood. Taken back, as we are through Tina, to the troubling move from self-interested childhood into the awareness of adulthood, we are again reminded of the murky, shifting nature of modern morality. What is right, what is wrong, in a world where the lines are being redrawn constantly?

Throughout all, however, life, family, hard work and play, community, and love are affirmed, recast continually through the language of the novel itself, which is based on the sing-song of Southern idiom and the fluidity of the oral tale. Each section of the novel opens with a tale, an oral tale retold on paper-reminder that the world of the novel, magical as it is, is only an approximation of the real magic of people telling tales to people, passing down little bits of truth from generation to generation, teaching the young ones a new step to the beautiful dance of their lives.