Two lives, forever bound together by secrets

Tina Alexis Allen, the youngest of thirteen in a devout Catholic family, had what appeared to be a privileged and normal childhood: She grew up in a fancy house with a pool in the suburbs outside of Washington, D.C. Her family was deeply entrenched in their faith, gathering together for lively dinners and festive holidays. She was a high school basketball star, winning a full scholarship to college. She was beautiful, cared for, and, to those who didn't know the whole story, happy.

But as with many families, appearance and truth are often far apart. Tina's life, and the lives of her mother and twelve siblings, was dominated by Sir John, her charming but formidable father?an English orphan, ex-soldier, and Catholic servant so diligent that he had been knighted by the pope. With a hot temper, an obvious disdain for his wife, and a devotion to drinking that rivaled his devotion to God, Sir John kept his family, ever watchful and fearful of the volcano in their midst, on edge.

As Tina grew into a smart-mouthed teenager, she began to trade in the commodity of secrets, keeping her lesbian identity, her romances with older women, and a deeper secret shame concealed in her heart. It was not until Sir John brought Tina into his successful Catholic travel agency as a protégé that she learned he was even more expert than she in the complicated work of secret keeping.

Together, father and daughter create a private world?reveling in their true identities, pushing the boundaries, and living parallel double lives. But what begins as a tender confession of truth and trust quickly spirals into booze-soaked nights of sex, drugs, and lies. And, as Tina dives ever deeper into her father's life, she discovers a deeply conflicted man whose commitment to his faith has led him into another secret world. This one, she will never know.

Hiding Out is a memoir of a father and daughter who fight like hell to create an honest relationship. It is also an astonishing story of self-discovery, the family ties that bind, the shame that binds even tighter, and the power of the truth to set us free. Hiding Out shows us that real life does always have the edge on fiction.

Tina Alexis Allen is a GLAAD Award-nominated actress, producer, screenwriter, and playwright. She appeared on the WGN America series Outsiders, and has costarred in several feature films. Allen is also the cofounder of Gina Raphaela Jewelry's mission-driven No More Violence collection. She lives in New York and Los Angeles.

"[Hiding Out] brims with drunkenness, sexuality and urgency...a "can't-put-down” read." — Washington Post

Actress and playwright Tina Alexis Allen's audacious memoir unravels her privileged suburban Catholic upbringing that was shaped by her formidable father—a man whose strict religious devotion and dedication to his large family hid his true nature and a life defined by deep secrets and dangerous lies.

The youngest of thirteen children in a devout Catholic family, Tina Alexis Allen grew up in 1980s suburban Maryland in a house ruled by her stern father, Sir John, an imposing, British-born authoritarian who had been knighted by the Pope. Sir John supported his large family running a successful travel agency that specialized in religious tours to the Holy Land and the Vatican for pious Catholics.

But his daughter, Tina, was no sweet and innocent Catholic girl. A smart-mouthed high school basketball prodigy, she harbored a painful secret: she liked girls. When Tina was eighteen her father discovered the truth about her sexuality. Instead of dragging her to the family priest and lecturing her with tearful sermons about sin and damnation, her father shocked her with his honest response. He, too, was gay.

The secret they shared about their sexuality brought father and daughter closer, and the two became trusted confidants and partners in a relationship that eventually spiraled out of control. Tina and Sir John spent nights dancing in gay clubs together, experimenting with drugs, and casual sex—all while keeping the rest of their family in the dark.

Outside of their wild clandestine escapades, Sir John made Tina his heir apparent at the travel agency. Drawn deeper into the business, Tina soon became suspicious of her father's frequent business trips, his multiple passports and cache of documents, and the briefcases full of cash that mysteriously appeared and quickly vanished. Digging deeper, she uncovered a disturbing facet beyond the stunning double-life of the father she thought she knew.

A riveting and cinematic true tale stranger and twistier than fiction, Hiding Out is an astonishing story of self-discovery, family, secrets, and the power of the truth to set us free.