Publication Date: September 10, 2024
The unbreakable bonds of family and love are explored in this brilliant and tender story from the author of Guy’s Girl.
On the day she arrives in Canada for her older brother’s wedding, Eliot Beck hasn’t seen her family in three years. Eliot adores her big, wacky, dysfunctional collection of siblings and in-laws, but there’s a reason she fled to Manhattan and buried herself in her work—and she’s not ready to share it with anyone. Not when speaking it aloud could send her back into the never-ending cycle of the obsessive-compulsive disorder that consumed her for years.
Eliot thinks she’s prepared to survive the four-day-long wedding extravaganza—until she sees her best friend, Manuel, waiting for her at the marina and looking as handsome as ever. He was the person who, when they met as children, felt like finding the missing half of her soul. The person she tried so hard not to fall in love with… but did anyway.
Manuel’s presence at the wedding threatens to undo the walls Eliot has built around herself. The fortress that keeps her okay. If she isn’t careful, by the end of this wedding, the whole castle might come crumbling down.
Eliot Beck struggles with her mental health, something she can trace back to fifth grade. Growing up as the youngest in a large family, she tries to cope with the terrible thoughts that are on repeat in her mind.
After a three-year separation from her family and friends with no contact, Eliot’s brother’s wedding draws Eliot to the family’s beloved vacation destination. There, Eliot must decide whether to share her struggles with her family.
Author Emma Noyes delivers a ground-breaking story in How to Hide in Plain Sight by including a main character whose hidden battles have significantly impacted interactions with her family.
The idea of such a young girl keeping a worry notebook is sad, especially with resources to assist readily available. Although she finds solace in her best friend, Manuel, she’s not prepared for him to be included in the pre-wedding vacation.
Eliot’s self-talk plays a significant role in the story by giving readers additional context. While her family seems close, there’s a definite sense of isolation. The author covers many of the reasons for this as the story progresses.
How to Hide in Plain Sight provides an honest look at a young woman’s mental health struggle amidst family dysfunction.
Emma Noyes told her mother she wanted to be an author when she was six. She grew up in a suburb outside Chicago and attended Harvard University, where shestudied history and literature. She started her career at a beer company, but left because she wanted to write about mermaids and witches—eventually publishing her first YA fantasy series, the Sunken City. She now lives in Chicago with her Swedish boyfriend and miniature Pomeranian.
