Dana Ridenour
The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center is honored to host the launch of local author Dana Ridenour’s newest novel, All the Hidden Pieces, on Saturday, September 5th from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at 601 Bladen St. in downtown Beaufort. The book launch is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served, books will be available for sale, and the author will be on hand to sign and personalize copies, with a percentage of the proceeds to be donated to the Pat Conroy Literary Center.
The book is the author’s fourth novel and is an emotional and suspenseful journey of grief, friendship, and self-discovery set amongst the breathtaking backdrop of the Appalachian Trail. With themes of loss, resilience, healing, and the transformative power of nature, All the Hidden Pieces blends women’s fiction, literary fiction, and outdoor adventure to appeal to readers who enjoy character-driven tales, inspirational survival stories, and novels centered on enduring female friendships.
About the Book
When Julia Chandler’s husband dies in a late-night car crash, grief and betrayal drive her to do something impulsive: hike
all 2,190 miles of the Appalachian Trail. Joined by three of her oldest friends, each carrying secrets of their own, Julia sets out to rediscover herself. What begins as an escape soon becomes a test of endurance, courage, and trust. As the friends tackle brutal climbs, raging storms, and dangerous wildlife encounters, they begin to shed the layers of guilt, fear, and regret that have long defined them. But when a heart-stopping accident occurs on the trail, their strength and courage are pushed to the next level. From Georgia to Maine, each mile forces them to face the truths they’ve buried for years. An emotional, heart-pounding story about the unbreakable bonds that carry us through life’s roughest miles and the transformative power of nature, All the Hidden Pieces invites readers to reflect on the hidden pieces we all carry and the beauty of finding wholeness again.
“A sudden, heartbreaking loss sends Julia Chandler on an unexpected journey where she’s forced to sort out conflicting feelings of grief, betrayal and confusion. In a complete departure from her orderly domestic life, Julia urges three of her closest friends to join her hiking the Appalachian Trail. None are experienced hikers, and all are escaping lives that have brought mostly regret and disillusionment. The Trail becomes a metaphor for their shared odyssey of self-discovery as they must overcome both the inner and outer obstacles that confront them along the way. Their struggles—sometimes terrifying, sometimes heartwarming–kept me eagerly turning pages as I urged them on from their first steps to the very last!”
– Cassandra King, author of Tell Me a Story: My Life with Pat Conroy
About the Author
Dana Ridenour is a retired FBI agent and the award-winning author of the Lexie Montgomery thriller series. Behind the Mask was named one of the best indie books of 2016 by Kirkus Reviews, while Beyond the Cabin won the 2018 Royal Palm Literary Award for best thriller or suspense novel, and Below the Radar was the 2020 Readers’ Favorite gold-medal winner in the thriller genre as well as the 2021 Feathered Quill Book Awards gold/first-place winner for best adult fiction. Dana has also written two television screenplays. Her screenplay for Below the Radar was a finalist for an Atlanta International Screenplay Award.
An avid kayak angler and hiker, Dana lives in Beaufort, South Carolina, where she is working on her fifth novel.
To learn more about the event or the Pat Conroy Literary Center, visit www.patconroyliterarycenter.org.
