Hide by Matthew Griffin

Matthew Griffin has written this beautiful novel, and here I am struggling to string a few sentences together to express how good I feel about it. It's a love story that endures through many difficult decades, but it's also the most wonderfully observed description of what it's like to get old together when everything is wearing out, but the only option is to keep going.

Wendall Wilson and Frank Clifton have been together since the end of the Second World War, so their relationship has endured through times when they could have gone to prison for their love, even though they never caused any harm to anybody. The only option they had was to buy a run down old property a few miles out of the nearest town, and never leave or arrive anywhere together so as not to arouse suspicion. Even as they grow older and their type of relationship becomes legal and commonplace, they can't shake off the need to be cautious, so when Frank is taken to hospital they still pretend they are brothers.

I loved the petty bickering between the two old men which is only ever done to preserve their dignity. Wendall is struggling to help Frank recover from his hospital stay, and he knows that making him slightly mad will get a reaction and help keep him on track. Matthew Griffin dedicates the book to his grandparents and I can only imagine that he observed them very carefully because all the mannerisms displayed by the old men are spot on. It doesn't matter what type of old couple you get, if they have been together long enough, they will bug one another but would never want to be apart. It reminded me of my own parents when my dad would say something that my mum though was daft, and she would call him a silly old fool, then straighten his clothes carefully before they went out.

This book has won awards in the gay fiction categories, but it really breaks through all boundaries of sexuality and anyone who is not sure whether they would like that sort of thing should give it a go. There is nothing in here to frighten the horses, and if you don't enjoy it then that's your problem.

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