The Ways We Hide highlights myriad pieces of history. Which among them fascinated and/or surprised you most?

From the Italian Hall Disaster and its parallel tragedy at Bethnal Green Station to the efforts of MI9, Houdini, and the Dutch Resistance, plus those of the Engelandvaarders, The Ways We Hide highlights myriad pieces of history. Which among them fascinated and/or surprised you most?

I didn’t know about the Hall Disaster and I didn’t know about M19 efforts to hide information in everyday objects. But neither of those things surprises me. One had to be clever during war and anti union sentiment caused many disasters. It’s tragic that so many children died

I was familiar with the art of hiding information in every day items. However, I didn’t know about the Italian Hall disaster and I was most interested in the situation with management, the striking workers and the strike breakers and the cause of the stampede and how labor and management coexisted after.

I wasn't aware of any of the hidden things...really enjoyed learning about the items.

Fabulous research done by Ms. McMorris.

I was not aware of any of these things either. I found it fascinating to learn about them!

I was interested in all of the historical topics, which were fascinating and enlightening. Definitely appreciate McMorris’s meticulous research for this book!

Until the author's notes at the end of the book, I didn't realize how many of her novel's details were based upon actual WWII facts. The hiding of objects in packages to prisoners-of-war was a new one for me. Using the main character as a Houdini aficionado was a unique approach. I thought, "how clever!" The connection to direct the reader to watch for the clues revealed throughout of ways Fenna hid, worked for me. That is exactly what I did and underlined a long the way as well.

Yes...very clever, shirleyv.

I didn't know much about the effort to hide things for POWs and thought it was an interesting part of the story.

I am embarrassed to say that I knew nothing about the art of hiding things in every day objects, although it seems obvious and necessary when you think about it. I was most intrigued by the incredibly clever minds and skill sets it would have required to pull such things off.

The Hall Disaster was also gut-wrenching to read about, as well as the suspected motives behind it. What an incredibly horrific tragedy.

That being said, I so loved the way the author connected all of these things together to develop a riveting story.

While I was aware of the use of everyday objects to conceal tools useful to spies and resistance members from other reading about this period, I was not familiar to the level of detail the author presents and I found that information fascinating. I thought McMorris's connection of the diverse events included in the book -- the Hall disaster, Houdini, the bombing of the shelter, MI9, the Dutch resistance -- was quite clever. When I began the book I thought this story was going to challenge inevitability, but as I read on I was hooked.

I am most surprised at how the British government hid what they were up to, not just during the war, which is understandable, but for years afterwards!

kyliew - I read about The Hall Disaster in another book you may want to take a look at. It was THE WOMEN OF COPPER COUNTRY by Mary Doria Russell.

I didn't know about these items or their uses either.

I liked that she used many of the real names of the people involved with establishing and running MI9. I was somewhat familiar with the operation as Ian Flemming was friends with some members and was inspired to use them, M and Q, and the idea of secret gadgets in his Bond books.
I also like the way she tied disparate events together into a single narrative and am looking forward to reading more about those, like the Bethel Green Station tragedy.

I was most familiar with the Italian Hall disaster because I had read The Women of Cooper County by Mary Doria Russell (also mentioned by Elizabeth of Silvers Reviews) and would also recommend it for additional background on this piece of history.

I admire how Kristina McMorris seamlessly stitched together several varied historical events into a wonderful story.

Dianej - Yes...THE WOMEN OF COPPER COUNTRY was an excellent read and will give more background.

I think most of the historical aspects concerned things I already knew about. The one surprise for me was MI9. I knew that British soldiers who were captured had a duty to try to escape, but I didn't know they had "help." I was fascinated by all the different maps and compasses MI9 invented.

I didn’t know how creative M19 was in hiding contraband in everyday items. No wonder Ian Fleming’s movies have so many unexpected gadgets. I also hadn’t heard of the Italian Hall or Bethel Green Station tragedies. I felt the author did an excellent job of tying a variety of historical events together to produce a wonderful story!

Good comments, cindyb and kimk

I was not aware of the fire or the special weapons creations. I was a bit surprised that an American was involved in that way in a European war. It was a very clever immersion of fact with the fiction and served the purpose of plot enhancement. Sometimes books read like an author spewing facts which actually serve no purpose in the plot of the book. This was very integral to the novel. Nicely done.

I have read a lot of WWII fiction and was not aware of the creation of hiding places in everyday objects. The author's notes at the end were fascinating.

The book did cover a lot of historical thing small and big. Starting with the stampede, the orphanage, Harry Houdini, traveling vaudeville, religious divisions, etc. It's hard to believe that one person was affected by all of these. I did find the idea of maps and escape devises being sent to POW's. The uniform idea was interesting, just turn it inside out and become a German.

I wasn’t sure how the preface of magic would tie into the story but it was fascinating to read the details of how everyday objects were hidden for the soldiers’ use during war.

Loved how they hid useful items in everyday things, LizB.

I have also read a lot of WWII fiction and non-fiction, but wasn't aware of MI9 and the objects used in everyday items, nor was I aware of The Hall Disaster - McMorris is a terrific writer and loved the way she ties these "events" together. I loved the book!!

McMorris was a magician herself in the way she tied together all the small plots into a great novel packed with information from such a historical time period. I found the actions of the Dutch Resistance Movement very interesting. I had not read much about them in previous WWII novels. MCMorris did a fantastic job in her Author's Notes explaining everything. She should be congratulated on the tremendous amount of research she did.