The Hideaway by Pam Smy

 

I first came across The Hideaway by Pam Smy during a shopping trip in the middles grades section of Barnes and Noble. I was instantly drawn to it because the edges of the pages were sprayed black, giving it a very distinctive dark and moody look. When I picked it up, the cover design and the beautiful illustrations on the inside cemented my interest. I already had an embarrassing amount of books in my arms that day, so I didn't buy it right away, but I did pick it up on Amazon a few weeks later. I remained very curious about it, despite having several other books on my shelf that I was thinking about reading first. I figured that must mean something, so I decided to give it a try this month.

The plot of the novel follows a young boy named Billy that lives in England with his mother, Grace, and his stepfather, Jeff. Jeff physically abuses Grace regularly, and as the novel begins, Billy has had enough. He runs away to a small hideaway he discovered in a cemetery during a school trip last year. The small concrete shelter is dirty and cold, but it is the perfect place for Billy to get away from the violence and sadness at home. He settles in with the meager supplies he packed and enjoys the solitude. 

Before long, he runs into the cemetery caretaker, a kindly old man that agrees to let Billy stay there for a while in exchange for helping him maintain the headstones. Billy quickly agrees to this plan and falls into a new routine of working during the day and spending time thinking about what to do next at night. The old man has made it clear that he can only stay for a few days, so he has to figure out whether he will return home or find a new place to hide out. He loves his mother and misses her desperately, but he can't make himself go back to watch her be beaten and screamed at over and over anymore.

The story alternates between Billy's time in the cemetery and the people back at home who are trying to find him. The narration shifts between his mother, a police officer, one of his friends from school, and some kindly neighbors as they come together to try and locate him and help his mother separate herself from her abusive husband. Jeff has been very successful in isolating Grace from friends and family, so she is reluctant to reach out to others at first, but Billy's drastic act of leaving home and the kindness of several members of the community help her finally take steps towards protecting herself. She can only hope her efforts aren't coming too late to salvage her relationship with her son.

This book was absolutely beautiful. Billy's story was sad and serious, but it was presented in a way that was appropriate for younger readers. Pam Smy didn't shy away from telling the ugly truth of what living with domestic abuse is like, but her focus stayed on the actions people take to get out of these situations and the hope that always exists for a better life afterwards. Her writing style was simple and easy to read, like an old-school storybook. There's a little twist of the supernatural in the story that added to this feeling as well. Billy was a very likable character and it was easy to sympathize with him and root for him to find some peace. Due to the shifting narration of the story, it was also easy to sympathize with Grace. By including her point of view, Smy was able to show readers her backstory and explain how things went wrong over time for her, culminating in Jeff and the nightmare of living with him. She did a nice job of showing how abusers slowly exert more and more control over their victims and make them feel like there is no escape. 

Another important aspect of the multiple-perspectives strategy was showing readers the effect friends and neighbors have on people living with abuse. Some of Billy's neighbors knew that Jeff was violent and fought regularly with Grace, but they hesitated to say anything out of a fear of being wrong about the situation or somehow making things worse. It's easier to chalk things up to being "private family business" and not saying anything than it is to speak up. In this story, things only improve for Billy and his mother when these people actively start helping, which I thought was an important message to include.  

The first thing that attracted me to the book, its artistic elements, continued to consistently impress me throughout my reading as well. The pages were thick and had a lovely weight to them, the black edges matched the sadness of the story, and the large amount of illustrations throughout were the perfect accompaniment to the plot. It was a pleasure visually to make my way through the book. This is definitely one that should be read using a physical copy. A Kindle won't cut it here - it's worth having it in your hands.  

For being a book I randomly came across in a shop, The Hideaway was a surprisingly good reading experience. The difficult story, the simple writing, and the beautiful illustrations combined together to create something emotional, touching, and, ultimately, hopeful. This was a serious read, but a great one too, centered around love, family, and overcoming extremely difficult challenges. This has become a new favorite for me and I hope to explore more of Pam Smy's work in the future.   

Challenge Tally

Middle Grade Mission: 13/24

Total Books Read in 2022: 34