Anna Hope

'Profoundly intelligent and humane. Deserves to feature on many a prize shortlist' GUARDIAN 'A brilliant exploration of friendship, feminism and thwarted ambition' PANDORA SYKES 'If you wished Normal People had tackled female friendship, try Expectation' GRAZIA _______________________ What happened to the women we were supposed to become? Hannah, Cate and Lissa are young, vibrant and inseparable. Living on the edge of a common in East London, their shared world is ablaze with art and activism, romance and revelry - and the promise of everything to come. They are electric. They are the best of friends. Ten years on, they are not where they hoped to be. Amidst flailing careers and faltering marriages, each hungers for what the others have. And each wrestles with the same question: what does it take to lead a meaningful life? The most razor-sharp and heartbreaking novel of the year, EXPECTATION is a novel about finding your way: as a mother, a daughter, a wife, a rebel. FOR FANS OF SALLY ROONEY, DOLLY ALDERTON, ELIZABETH DAY AND PHOEBE WALLER-BRIDGE'S FLEABAG ___________________ 'Thoughtful, beautifully written, honest. A sensual book. I URGE YOU TO READ IT' MARIAN KEYES 'Will resonate with approximately 99% of women' RED MAGAZINE summer pick 'One of the most intensely readable novels this year' METRO 'One of our most gifted contemporary writers' WATERSTONES 'Beautiful, sharp, moving. I urge you to read it' ELIZABETH DAY 'I couldn't stop reading the fab Expectation. Such brilliant points on the feminist legacy' PROF KATE WILLIAMS 'The story of 3 college friends, if you're a fan of Sally Rooney, you'll love EXPECTATION' IRISH EXAMINER 'A must-read' FABULOUS MAGAZINE 'Exceptional.. I highly recommend it' STACEY HALLS 'A generation-defining book on motherhood, ambition and sex. Like Normal People with female friendship under the microscope.' ERIN KELLY 'Jaw-droppingly good' SARRA MANNING 'SO GOOD. A 'What they did next' story of characters from a Sally Rooney novel' SARAH FRANKLIN 'Few novels leave me so genuinely breathless with their brilliance' HANNAH BECKERMAN 'The perfect summer reading' STYLIST 'Sublime' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING 'Dark, relatable, elegant' LIZA KLAUSSMANN 'Intimate and touching' NINA POTTELL 'A marvellously tangy London novel' DAILY MAIL 'A grown-up, honest take on female camaraderie. Packed with talking points' MAIL ON SUNDAY 'Hugely absorbing, massively enjoyable' LISSA EVANS 'An observant look at the complexities of modern female friendships' I-NEWSPAPER 'Perceptive, intelligent, bittersweet, and beautifully written' BOOKBRUNCH 'Brings to vivid life that tension one feels just before middle age, when it begins to become clear life won't end up looking exactly how we thought it would. The female friendships here are ones we'll all recognize. Outstanding' MARY BETH KEANE A HighLow, Good Housekeeping, Red, Prima and Irish Independent Best Read of 2019

Expectation

Yorkshire, England, 1911. After a moment of defiance at the factory where she has worked since she was a child, Ella Fay finds herself an unwilling patient at the Sharston Asylum. John Mulligan is a chronic patient, frozen with grief since the death of his child. It is in the ornate ballroom at the centre of the asylum that Ella and John begin a tentative, secret correspondence that will have shattering consequences, as love and the possibility of redemption are set against one ambitious doctor's eagerness to make his mark in the burgeoning field of eugenics, at all costs.

The Ballroom

Three women confront the aftershocks of World War II and its impact on the men in their lives, including dance teacher Hettie, who pursues a dubious relationship; Pensions Exchange worker Evelyn, who mourns the changes in her brother; and Ada, who sees her missing son everywhere.

A Novel

Wake

Roman

Was wir sind

In a spellbinding narrative of sacrifice and survival, chaos and connection, four characters are caught up in the tides of history over three centuries and drawn to the sacred White Rock of San Blas off the coast of Mexico. In 2020 an Englishwoman travels to give thanks for her child, a singer in 1969 runs from the law, from his rabid fans and an America burning with the fever of the Vietnam War, two Yacqui sisters are torn from their homeland at the start of the twentieth century, and in 1775 a Spanish Lieutenant prepares to set sail from the White Rock to continue the conquest of the Pacific coast. The White Rock is a breathtaking novel about what happens when the stories we have lived by can no longer keep us safe.

The White Rock

Durant les cinq premiers jours de novembre 1920, l'Angleterre attend l'arrivée du Soldat inconnu, rapatrié depuis la France. Alors que le pays est en deuil et que tant d'hommes ont disparu, cette cérémonie d'hommage est bien plus qu'un simple symbole, elle recueille la peine d'une nation entière. A Londres, trois femmes vont vivre ces journées à leur manière. Evelyn, dont le fiancé a été tué et qui travaille au bureau des pensions de l'armée ; Ada, qui ne cesse d'apercevoir son fils pourtant tombé au front ; et Hettie, qui accompagne tous les soirs d'anciens soldats sur la piste du Hammersmith Palais pour six pence la danse. Dans une ville peuplée d'hommes incapables de retrouver leur place au sein d'une société qui ne les comprend pas, rongés par les horreurs vécues, souvent mutiques, ces femmes cherchent l'équilibre entre la mémoire et la vie. Et lorsque les langues se délient, les coeurs s'apaisent.

Le chagrin des vivants

De vriendschap van drie Engelse vriendinnen sinds 1990 toen ze tieners waren, verandert in de 20 jaar erna.

Verwachting

Görünmez Izler

ǂA ǂbálterem

La sala da ballo

I giorni sospesi

Letters to the Earth

Sala de bal

Da denne boka kom ut i England ble den en umiddelbar snakkis, forfatteren ble sammenliknet med Sally Rooney, og både kritikere og lesere trykket den til sitt bryst. Det er en bok som angår oss alle. Den gransker hva det vil si å være menneske, å være datter, mor, kone, opprører, arbeidstaker. De fine sprekkene mellom det man trodde det skulle bli og der man endte opp - drømmene og smerten– en tilgjengelig og gripende roman om å finne sin plass i livet.

Forventning

Durant les cinq premiers jours de novembre 1920, l’Angleterre attend l’arrivée du Soldat inconnu, rapatrié depuis la France. Alors que le pays est en deuil et que tant d’hommes ont disparu, cette cérémonie d’hommage est bien plus qu’un simple symbole, elle recueille la peine d’une nation entière. À Londres, trois femmes vont vivre ces journées à leur manière. Evelyn, dont le fiancé a été tué et qui travaille au bureau des pensions de l’armée ; Ada, qui ne cesse d’apercevoir son fils pourtant tombé au front ; et Hettie, qui accompagne tous les soirs d’anciens soldats sur la piste du Hammer-smith Palais pour six pence la danse. Dans une ville peuplée d’hommes incapables de retrouver leur place au sein d’une société qui ne les comprend pas, rongés par les horreurs vécues, souvent mutiques, ces femmes cherchent l’équilibre entre la mémoire et la vie. Et lorsque les langues se délient, les cœurs s’apaisent.

FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF EXPECTATION 'So bold and wild, but controlled and fierce. It reminded me of Cloud Atlas, but it's very much itself. Stunning' Russell T. Davies, writer of It's A Sin 'Absolutely a story for our times, and a fiercely important one, too' Clover Stroud, author of The Red of my Blood I see you. Inside the cage you have been given. The cage you have made. The cages we have all made The White Rock stands, ancient and sacred, off the Pacific coast of Mexico. Four people, across four centuries, each navigating ruptures to the world they know, are irresistibly drawn to it. A British writer travels in 2020 with her husband and young daughter to give thanks for the birth of their child. She looks to the White Rock for answers, even as her faith in her marriage, and the future itself, is unravelling. An American rock star in 1969 is in the final act of his self-destruction. On the run from the law, from his rabid fans and an America burning with the fever of the Vietnam War, he washes up at the edge of Mexico, hoping to lose, or maybe find himself. A Yoeme girl is torn from her homeland at the turn of the twentieth century and taken by force to the coast. As her future is recast in the name of progress and power, she turns to the stories of her people, to resist, and to survive. And in 1775 a young Spanish naval officer, preparing to set sail from the White Rock to continue the conquest of the Pacific coast, appears to lose his grip on reality, with far-reaching and fatal consequences . . . Each finding themselves at the end of the story they have lived by, their tales echo, breathtakingly, through time. As the White Rock bears witness to the truth that we are not the first to face days of reckoning, is there still a chance we might not be the last? 'I loved it. I became invested in each of the different eras and was struck by the sense of unknowable forces outliving us all. It is full of wisdom, intricate and emotional, and it will linger in my head for a long time.' Dave Haslam, author of Sonic Youth Slept On My Floor

From the bestselling author of Expectation

Anna Hope’s brilliant debut unfolds over the course of five days, as three women must deal with the aftershocks of World War I and its impact on the men in their lives. Wake: 1) Emerge or cause to emerge from sleep. 2) Ritual for the dead. 3) Consequence or aftermath. London, 1920. The city prepares to observe the two-year anniversary of Armistice Day with the burial of the unknown soldier. Many are still haunted by the war: Hettie, a dance instructress, lives at home with her mother and her brother, who is mute after his return from combat. One night Hettie meets a wealthy, educated man and finds herself smitten with him. But there is something distracted about him, something she cannot reach. . . . Evelyn works at the Pensions Exchange, through which thousands of men have claimed benefits from wounds or debilitating distress. Embittered by her own loss, she looks for solace in her adored brother, who has not been the same since he returned from the front. . . . Ada is beset by visions of her son on every street, convinced he is still alive. Helpless, her loving husband has withdrawn from her. Then one day a young man appears at her door, seemingly with notions to peddle, like hundreds of out-of-work veterans. But when he utters the name of her son, Ada is jolted to the core. The lives of these three women are braided together, their stories gathering tremendous power as the ties that bind them become clear, and the body of the unknown soldier moves closer and closer to its final resting place. Advance praise for Wake “Hope’s unblinking prose is reminiscent of Vera Brittain’s classic memoir Testament of Youth in its depiction of the social and emotional fallout, particularly on women, of the Great War. . . . Hope reaches beyond the higher echelons of society to women of different social classes, all linked by their reluctance to bid goodbye to the world the conflict has shattered.”—The New York Times Book Review “Wake is a tender and timely novel, full of compassion and quiet insight. The author gives us a moving and original glimpse into the haunted peace after the Great War, her characters drawn by the gravity of the unmarked, the unknown, and perhaps, finally, the unhoped for.”—Chris Cleave, author of Little Bee “Wake is a compelling and emotionally charged debut about the painful aftermath of war and the ways—small, brave, or commonplace—in which we keep ourselves going. It touches feelings we know, and settings—dance halls, war fronts, queues outside the grocer’s—that we don’t. I loved it.”—Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry “Wake is powerful and humane, a novel that charms and beguiles. Anna Hope’s characters are so real, flawed, and searching, and her prose so natural, one almost forgets how very great a story she is telling.”—Sadie Jones, author of The Uninvited Guests “Using telling detail, Hope creates a vibrant physical and emotional landscape in which her leading characters, and a sea of others, move irresistibly into the future, some having found resolution, others still in search. Fresh, confident, yet understated, Hope’s first work movingly revisits immense tragedy while also confirming her own highly promising ability.”—Kirkus Reviews

Fünf Tage im November 1920. Zum ersten Mal in der Geschichte werden die Überreste eines unbekannten Soldaten bestattet und nach London gebracht. Währenddessen versuchen drei Frauen, mit ihrer eigenen Trauer fertigzuwerden: Adas Sohn ist im Krieg verschollen. Sie ist überzeugt, dass er noch lebt. Lady Evelyn betrauert den Tod ihres Geliebten, ein Neuanfang ist für sie undenkbar. Die junge Hettie ist im glamourösen «Palais» für einen Sixpence als Tanzpartnerin zu mieten. Sie träumt davon, sich zu verlieben und dem tristen Leben zu entfliehen. Drei Frauenschicksale, auf dramatische Weise miteinander verknüpft ... Ein mitreißender Roman über die Folgen des Krieges und den Beginn einer neuen Zeit.

Fünf Tage im November

Londra, 1920. La Grande Guerra è finita da due anni, ma ha lasciato cicatrici indelebili, nei corpi e nell'anima. Nei cinque giorni che precedono l'anniversario dell'armistizio, la città si prepara a una grande cerimonia per rendere omaggio al Milite Ignoto. Ada, Evelyn e Hettie non si conoscono, ma un filo sottile le unisce a loro insaputa: una verità che lega gli uomini della loro vita, un segreto inconfessabile che risale al tempo della guerra. Nel corso di cinque giorni cruciali, quel segreto inizierà lentamente a emergere, rischiando di sconvolgere ogni loro certezza, ma anche, finalmente, di spezzare i lacci che le imbrigliano al passato. Perché soltanto quando avranno fatto pace con i ricordi potranno finalmente aprirsi alla vita.

Anna Hope

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