“With vivid and richly textured prose, Brett Ann Stanciu offers unsparing portraits of northern New England life well beyond sight of the ski lodges and postcard views. The work the land demands, the blood ties of family to the land, and to each other, the profound solitude that such hard-bitten lives thrusts upon the people, are here in true measure. A moving and evocative tale that will stay with you, Hidden View also provides one of the most compelling and honest rural woman’s viewpoint to come along in years. A novel of singular accomplishment.” – Jeffrey Lent
“Early in the book, I was swept by a certainty of truths in Hidden View: that Stanciu knew the bizarre and fragile construction that people’s self-deceptions can frame. And that she was telling, out in public, against all the rules, the heartbreaking story of far too many women I’ve known, at one time or another, who struggled to make their dreams come to reality in situations…. …(In Hidden View) the questions of loyalty to person, commitment to dreams, and betrayal of the helpless are as vivid as the flames in the sugarhouse, as sweet and dangerous as the hot boiling maple sap on its way to becoming valuable syrup. There’s so much truth in this book that at some point, it stops being “fiction” and stands instead as a portrait, layered, complex, and wise. The Vermont that we love, the farms that we treasure, the children we nurture are fully present.” – Kingdom Books, Beth Kanell
“Stanciu is a Vermonter’s writer. Anyone who loves the landscape and language of Vermont will be drawn into this story, but her writing holds a universal appeal, too, and rings true with the language and landscape of the human heart and mind as well. The characters in Hidden View are people you’re going to think about, and care about, long after the book is read.” – Natalie Kinsey-Warnock, AS LONG AS THERE ARE MOUNTAINS
We are waiting for the rain as well! Lovely poem.
Goodness! Should come today!
🌂
We are in the season of regular rain. the joke here is “What do you call two days of rain in Oregon? The weekend!” Pretty soon it will dry up until October but not yet.
Wow! Weirdly, the weather this May in Vermont reminds me of New Mexcio’s beautiful climate — hot and dry — but, of course, Vermont isn’t a desert, and our gardens and woods are thirsty for a downpour.
We have to irrigate here in West-Central Oregon, but this Saturday we are supposed to get 1.12 inches so I have another week to get it set up.
15 years old! Wow is right! Best wishes to the birthday girl and to you, too. XO
XO, too. 🙂
We have had so much rain, we are waiting for the sun to shine. ☀️
Funny how that goes. I sure hope it doesn’t rain all summer in Vermont!
I hope it is a lovely summer for you.
Thank you! Same for you!
Did you ever get any?? We’ve been in a constant cloud here in CT – and I was looking forward to a soaking – especially for our recently planted community garden plot. Barely a drop! So disappointing. Best wishes to the birthday girl!
Major thunderstorm here — thank goodness! — and light rain again this morning. Thanks for the birthday wishes. I’m sure it’s a birthday she won’t forget.