Through her attempt to find healing, she turns to the journal her son gave her on the eve of his crime, a journal that tells the story of another woman, centuries earlier, who also felt the need to hide behind a false persona. This woman would go through grief, but she would also struggle with moving on, with the impulse to hide behind her radio personality, and with finding her identity not in her son’s deeds but in Christ.

I was brainstorming with my friend and fellow author Melissa Jagears when we remembered a recent news story about a man who had committed a terrible crime and an interview with a relative who raised him, who was just as shocked as the rest of the country over what her kin had done.īefore long-and with additional help from my extraordinary editor, agent, and critique partner-we had the story of Natalie, a mother and radio host of a popular Christian morning show, whose son had committed an unspeakable crime. The contemporary story didn’t come so easily. A story about a woman who finds herself caring for a man she must deceive. A story about a woman hiding behind a facade that could not only ruin every relationship she has but could put her life in peril as well. That was enough to get my imagination going!īefore long, I had a solid historical story down-a story about a woman seeking to redeem the wrong done to her fiancé, infamous spy Nathan Hale. I was searching for a true-to-life historical figure from the American Revolution who could inspire a new story when I stumbled upon Agent 355, a woman who played an important part in General George Washington’s most successful spy ring, a woman whose identity we still don’t know for certain. What inspired you to write The Hidden Side? In this interview, the author shares the surprising details that came out of her research, the role that faith plays in The Hidden Side, and the power of hope during trials… Her novel The Hidden Side (Tyndale House) is the story of two families-one in 1776, the other in 2016-dealing with secrets and shame. In the split-time novel The Hidden Side, two women-connected across centuries by a journal-struggle with living behind a façade.Ĭhristian author Heidi Chiavaroli loves exploring places that whisper of historical secrets.

The Hidden Side by Heidi Chiavaroli