A quiet, tender, and profoundly moving love story that explores what it means to build a life together in secrecy and in devotion.
 
In Hide, Matthew Griffin crafts a poignant, beautifully written debut about love, aging, and resilience. Through the quiet rhythms of Frank and Wendell’s days, Griffin explores themes of secrecy, identity, and devotion with stunning sensitivity.
 
For over sixty years, Frank Clifton and Wendell Wilson have lived side by side in rural North Carolina, sharing a life built in private. Frank, once a teacher, and Wendell, a taxidermist, have hidden their relationship since the 1950s — a time when their love was forbidden. Now aging and facing new challenges, the two men confront loss, mortality, and the bittersweet truth of a life lived both fully and in hiding.
 
Set against the shifting landscape of the American South, the novel captures the intimacy of long partnership and the emotional cost of living unseen. With prose that is spare yet lyrical, Hide becomes both a love story and a meditation on time — a reminder that the deepest connections are often forged in silence.
 
Shortlisted for the Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize and praised by critics for its emotional honesty, Hide stands as a powerful work of contemporary LGBTQ+ literary fiction.
 
💖 Why You’ll Love It
A beautifully written, emotionally resonant love story.
Explores LGBTQ+ life, secrecy, and devotion across decades.
Deeply empathetic portrayal of aging and long-term love.
Lyrical prose and quiet, intimate storytelling.
A celebrated debut that lingers long after you finish.
 
🌟 Perfect For
Fans of Call Me By Your Name and The Heart’s Invisible Furies.
Readers of quiet, character-driven literary fiction.
Book clubs discussing love, identity, and time.
Anyone who enjoys deeply human, reflective stories.
 
❤️ Fans Also Liked
If you enjoyed Hide, you might also like:
A Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunningham — friendship and chosen family.
The Lost Language of Cranes by David Leavitt — secrecy and identity.
Less by Andrew Sean Greer — love, humor, and self-discovery.