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Hidden Pictures
When her marriage ends, Laura Giovanni, an artist who draws the hidden pictures page for a children's magazine, falls in love with a woman, a situation that complicates her relations with her ex-husband, David, and her young son, Sam
- GenresFiction
294 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 1986
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323 people want to read
About the author
Meg Wolitzer
50 books3,034 followersMeg Wolitzer is the New York Times–bestselling author of The Interestings, The Uncoupling, The Ten-Year Nap, The Position, The Wife, and Sleepwalking. She is also the author of the young adult novel Belzhar. Wolitzer lives in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 12, 2022
It's not a bad book, but there were so many missed opportunities with this one that I was practically screaming. Why isn't Laura's questioning of her identity stretched out longer? Why is Jane so boring? Why is a move to the suburbs necessary? Why isn't there more of a focus on Laura's (SUPER COOL) illustration job? And WHY, for the love of GOD, isn't the amazing "hidden pictures" symbolism - literally the TITLE of this book - used more?!
I wasn't even alive when this book was published and I still wish I could have been its editor.
Click here to hear more of my thoughts on this book over on my Booktube channel, abookolive!
I wasn't even alive when this book was published and I still wish I could have been its editor.
Click here to hear more of my thoughts on this book over on my Booktube channel, abookolive!
August 29, 2018
I only have one (adult) backlist title of Wolitzer's to go, so I'm pretty sure I can call this my least favorite book of her collection. (Though my ratings system is still bonkers; I'm not bitterly disappointed by this one the way that I was with Allegra Goodman's THE CHALK ARTIST, for example!)
I'm giving it a 3 because it's an decent story. We follow Laura, roughly from the mid-60s to the mid-80s, as she's sort of swept up into a marriage she finds lackluster, has a kid, divorces and then "comes out" to herself after some experiences with women. We also see perspectives from her ex, David, her long-term lover, Jane, and her 11-year-old son, Ian.
Mostly I was struck by the cultural differences between 50-30 years ago and now. Laura worked drawing cartoons for a Highlights-style magazine that touted itself as "anti-sexist and anti-racist" but "anti-homophobic" hadn't entered the buzzwords lexicon yet. Wolitzer describes a world where gay people live on the fringes, and couples like Laura and Jane, who ultimately move to the suburbs, are exceedingly rare. David starts dating a social worker, and at first she describes homosexuality in "scientifically abnormal" terms. That sort of attitude would not be in the mainstream for the psychological professions today.
There's also a couple of suburbanite "villains" who vex me enough that I want to groan about them here. Not so much that Elaine "I'm not homophobic BUT" Frankel and Mike "I guess you're not interested in my opinion on the matter (of your personal relationship)" Berger were badly written, really. They were believable enough for people who don't get POVs. I just wanted to smack them. :P And sometimes David, too, though at least he gets more dimension beyond being weirded out/threatened by his ex-wife's orientation. I mean, these are pretty understandable feelings in the face of bigotry, but I didn't feel very challenged beyond that. I simply sat back and appreciated that Laura and Jane got this space to mull through the various realities of their lives.
For Wolitzer, this feels like a "sophomore slump." Presumably she wrote this book to explore underrepresented people and situations. But there was a one dimensional feel at play. The present day stories felt well fleshed out, but the backstories were more shallow. We also did a fairly significant jump in time from the beginning of the Jane/Laura relationship to five years down the road. This was a short novel; not sure it could sustain the leap. I think I'm just more used to Wolitzer's sprawling epics where the language is more evocative and the characters have more room to breathe. This didn't even really read like a Wolitzer book.
At the same time I'm bummed by my response because I want to read more fiction about lesbians. It feels like I'm surrounded by stories of the male gay experience, but not as much of the female one. I guess I should keep looking, and meanwhile I'll continue to read Wolitzer's frontlist! I'm still very much on board with where she is with her writing now.
I'm giving it a 3 because it's an decent story. We follow Laura, roughly from the mid-60s to the mid-80s, as she's sort of swept up into a marriage she finds lackluster, has a kid, divorces and then "comes out" to herself after some experiences with women. We also see perspectives from her ex, David, her long-term lover, Jane, and her 11-year-old son, Ian.
Mostly I was struck by the cultural differences between 50-30 years ago and now. Laura worked drawing cartoons for a Highlights-style magazine that touted itself as "anti-sexist and anti-racist" but "anti-homophobic" hadn't entered the buzzwords lexicon yet. Wolitzer describes a world where gay people live on the fringes, and couples like Laura and Jane, who ultimately move to the suburbs, are exceedingly rare. David starts dating a social worker, and at first she describes homosexuality in "scientifically abnormal" terms. That sort of attitude would not be in the mainstream for the psychological professions today.
There's also a couple of suburbanite "villains" who vex me enough that I want to groan about them here. Not so much that Elaine "I'm not homophobic BUT" Frankel and Mike "I guess you're not interested in my opinion on the matter (of your personal relationship)" Berger were badly written, really. They were believable enough for people who don't get POVs. I just wanted to smack them. :P And sometimes David, too, though at least he gets more dimension beyond being weirded out/threatened by his ex-wife's orientation. I mean, these are pretty understandable feelings in the face of bigotry, but I didn't feel very challenged beyond that. I simply sat back and appreciated that Laura and Jane got this space to mull through the various realities of their lives.
For Wolitzer, this feels like a "sophomore slump." Presumably she wrote this book to explore underrepresented people and situations. But there was a one dimensional feel at play. The present day stories felt well fleshed out, but the backstories were more shallow. We also did a fairly significant jump in time from the beginning of the Jane/Laura relationship to five years down the road. This was a short novel; not sure it could sustain the leap. I think I'm just more used to Wolitzer's sprawling epics where the language is more evocative and the characters have more room to breathe. This didn't even really read like a Wolitzer book.
At the same time I'm bummed by my response because I want to read more fiction about lesbians. It feels like I'm surrounded by stories of the male gay experience, but not as much of the female one. I guess I should keep looking, and meanwhile I'll continue to read Wolitzer's frontlist! I'm still very much on board with where she is with her writing now.
July 27, 2020
(Disclaimer: This book is still fucking amazing, please read it, despite what I discuss.)
There were a few moments (okay, a bit more than a few) that were VERY much a product of 80s attitudes relating to a character’s view of his ex-wife’s lesbianism, which I don’t quite understand, because the lesbian relationship in question is written so passionately and accurately for that time, and even now, and also because after a few brief mentions it’s never really discussed meaningfully, and the book ends, so you kinda just have to assume he got woke. Yay?
There were a few moments (okay, a bit more than a few) that were VERY much a product of 80s attitudes relating to a character’s view of his ex-wife’s lesbianism, which I don’t quite understand, because the lesbian relationship in question is written so passionately and accurately for that time, and even now, and also because after a few brief mentions it’s never really discussed meaningfully, and the book ends, so you kinda just have to assume he got woke. Yay?
May 29, 2010
There are many things to admire about this novel that centers on the Giovannis: a couple that divorces after the birth of their son. The divorce occurs largely because Laura Giovanni does not seem to want to be married to David. She knows it; he knows it. She later discovers that she is attracted to women and becomes a lesbian. That's where the book is strongest; Wolitzer does a great job in describing Laura's fumbling toward understanding herself during the 1960s and 1970s. It is thoroughly believable. Wolitzer is also good at describing -- and here there is a building tension that she handles well -- the fate of the Giovannis' son, Ian. Will he remain with Laura? Will David try to take him from her? Never resorting to extremes or high drama, Wolitzer is convincing in her portrait of this family and indeed her exploration of what makes a family to begin with.
As I talk about the novel I feel like I should be giving it 4 stars and not 3. If 3.5 were possible, that's what I'd do. Because for all of what it does very well, the prose is sometimes clunky, like Wolitzer has forgotten that the novelist's job is not just to list everything that happens but also to describe it and make it come alive for the reader. The novel also lacks some of the depth, particularly in describing characters, that is present in her later novels. The father and son seem fully realized as characters but Laura, and particularly her lover Jane, sometimes seem like archetypes rather than real people.
As I talk about the novel I feel like I should be giving it 4 stars and not 3. If 3.5 were possible, that's what I'd do. Because for all of what it does very well, the prose is sometimes clunky, like Wolitzer has forgotten that the novelist's job is not just to list everything that happens but also to describe it and make it come alive for the reader. The novel also lacks some of the depth, particularly in describing characters, that is present in her later novels. The father and son seem fully realized as characters but Laura, and particularly her lover Jane, sometimes seem like archetypes rather than real people.
March 13, 2014
A- Really good book; a couple are in a marriage with a young child but she feels cold towards him and without affection. They end up getting divorced. Laura is an illustrator for a children's magazine "Hidden Pictures" (one of those find the objects columns - oh the symbolism of her job) and ends up falling in love with a woman, somewhat by surprise. This book is the story of her relationships, her ex's relationship, their son growing up. Really great writing and characters.
July 24, 2007
This novel was so authentic a coming-out story that I needed to research whether it was partly autobiographical (I still don't know). No high drama. Just a finely-nuanced tale of intertwined lives. It's slightly dated, for which I am most grateful.
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August 3, 2008not my favorite Wolitzer but so far, entertaining.
September 27, 2009
Slow, but authentic, story about what makes a family. The book offers no clear cut answers, which I appreciate.
February 14, 2015
It was an interesting story, but somehow the characters just didn't seem quite real. Never could put my finger on why.
January 20, 2017
Good book. Enjoyed it.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews