Hidden (28 page)

Once again, thank you to my constant earliest reader, Katie, for giving me the courage to go on when it would’ve been easier to stop.

To my agent and friend, Abby Koons, for telling me this book wasn’t good enough until it was. I am always listening, even when you think I’m not. And to the whole team at Park Literary for making it possible for me to keep writing books.

To my editors at HarperCollins Canada, Jennifer Lambert and Jane Warren, for being there from the beginning of this one and encouraging me to continue. And for that great lunch in Toronto, where we worked the last third out. And to my new US editor, Liz Egan, who came late to the party but brought supplies right when they were needed.

To the writers in my life, particularly the members of the Fiction Writers’ Co-op, for being a source of information, a circle of trust, and a constant support system. And to Shawn Klomparens, whose own words made me want to do better this time around.

To Judy Phillips, for copy editing this and two of my previous books. Any mistakes that remain are mine. To Sarah Howden and the whole production, sales, and marketing team at HarperCollins Canada, for making my words into books and getting those books into stores.

To my friends, Tasha, Phyllis, Janet, Tanya, Eric, Presseau, Candice, Kevin, Lindsay, Marty, Annie, Phil, Christie Brown, Patrick, Sara, Dan, Katie, Stephanie, Thierry, Amy, and Olivier, what would I do without you?

To the many readers who’ve taken the time to write me or connect with me on Facebook and Twitter, your kind words mean more than I can say. To my readers in general, for making this fourth (!) book possible.

And to my family, Mom, Dad, Cam, Scott, Owen, Liam, Mike, Katherine, Alex, William, Jennifer, Michael, my amazing grandparents Dorothy and Roy, and David. Your love and support help get me through.

1
. Claire and Seth must cope with Jeff’s sudden disappearance from their lives, and they are obviously in shock at the news of his death. Do you think it is more difficult to cope with a loved one’s death if it’s sudden than if you have had the chance to prepare yourself for their passing, as in the case of a prolonged illness?

2
. Although Jeff is one of the narrators of the novel, he cannot answer any of the questions Claire is left with after he passes. How do you cope with unreconciled questions about someone you love after they are gone? Do you think Claire finds any amount of peace after visiting Tish?

3
. Claire’s family takes an active role during her bereavement—her parents, her in-laws, her sister, and even her brother-in-law surround and support her—while Tish must face the true extent of her grief alone. Have you ever had to hide the extent of your feelings from the closest people around you? Did you end up confiding in someone?

4
. Is Jeff’s pre-funeral a grim foreshadowing of his future, or just a cruelly ironic coincidence? Do you agree with Claire that “if you [are] prepared for the worst, you might make it come true”?

5
. Throughout the novel, it appears that Jeff and Tish’s affair begins as an emotional attachment rather than anything physical. Is having an emotional affair as damaging to a relationship as a physical one? Is it possible to be in love with more than one person?

6
. Jeff and Tish agreed to put a deadline on their relationship, after which they would no longer contact one another for the sake of their respective families. Have you ever had to end a relationship you really wanted to continue?

7
. In the end, Tish holds true to her pact with Jeff to keep what happened between them a secret. Do you think it is selfish of her not to tell grieving Claire the truth? Do you think it is better for Claire not to know?

8
. Do you think Claire is justified in going through Jeff’s emails once she becomes suspicious of his relationship with Tish? Would you feel comfortable if someone close to you had access to your cell phone or computer?

9
. Do you think Claire’s past relationship with her husband’s brother provides Jeff with some amount of justification for his affair with Tish, or contributes to its development? Do you think Jeff is truly reconciled to the idea of Tim and Claire’s relationship?

10
. Tish and her daughter Zoey are both intellectually gifted individuals, and they also end up sharing anxiety about performing in front of an unseen audience. Does this factor in to larger issues in the novel surrounding the idea of being observed and judged by others? How important are other people’s opinions of you, and of your relationships?

CATHERINE McKENZIE
was born and raised in Montreal, where she practises law. A graduate of McGill University
and McGill Law School, she is the author of the bestsellers
Forgotten, Spin
, and
Arranged
. An avid skier and runner, Catherine also blogs regularly for
The Huffington Post
.

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www.AuthorTracker.com
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Hidden
Copyright © 2013 by Catherine McKenzie.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks.

EPub Edition © MAY 2013 ISBN: 9781443411929

Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

FIRST CANADIAN EDITION

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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