Hidden Pictures

WINNER, 2020 PNWA's Nancy Pearl Book Award for literary/contemporary fiction

Contains Reader's Guide for book club discussions

Gordon Carlson's Chicagoland neighbors know a sweet old man with a green thumb and a big heart. His pain and shame live in the hidden, ragged corners of his self-imposed solitude. One morning in 1996 begins like no other. A whirlwind of despair, desperation, and deceit forces him from the comfort of his lonely routine. Sorting truth from lies can help him solve other people's problems, but he'll have to face his own past to do it. A past he'd much sooner forget. Hidden pictures hold the key if Gordon has the courage to find the lock.

Forester is a village complete with 100-year-old traditions, gentrified Victorian mansions and not far from Chicago's Loop. Gordon Carlson, Olivia Dimato, and Patricia Wrenowski are neighbors. A sexual predator is terrorizing this idyllic town. One morning, Olivia pounds on reclusive Gordon's front door seeking refuge from their neighbor, a ballistic Patricia, who is chasing Olivia down the street in her van. Thus, begins an unlikely intergenerational friendship between Gordon and Olivia as each deals with cruel bullies in their lives while Patricia begins a journey to protect all that she loves. Gordon, Olivia, and Patricia find themselves at the core of the escalating damage done by the assaults. They discover the difference between truth and lies and learn that while it takes a village to implement change, someone must have the courage to begin. It's all in the hidden pictures.