Anna Hope on the inspiring Yorkshire Moors

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The inspiration for an asylum set on the Yorkshire Moors

The Ballroom

A Richard and Judy book club pick

The unputdownable historical novel from the acclaimed author of WAKE and EXPECTATION - a devastating story of love and madness at the brink of the Great War.

Absolutely heart-breaking. One of the best books I’ve ever read

Dinah Jefferies, author of THE TEA-PLANTER'S WIFE

A British version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Moving. Fascinating

In this deeply moving book, Hope reminds us that behind everyone’s facade lies something waiting to be rent free

A heartbreaking story of how love can flourish in the darkest of times

Part social commentary, part mystery and part dangerous liaison, this poignant story casts an unflinching gaze at the historic treatment of mental health disorders.

Such a magnificent setting definitely demands a story that delivers, all guns blazing. It does, and then some . . . Fiction at it’s finest.

Tender . . . Hope is the emotion that unspools the delicate connections between these brilliantly drawn characters

The Ballroom is a beautifully wrought novel, a tender, heartbreaking and insightful exploration of the longings that survive in the most inhospitable environments.

Magnificent…a luminary of historical fiction…writing history from the margins, the personal stories behind the era, she delivers profound, poignant stories that stir the emotions.

All the intensity and lyricism of Hope’s debut, Wake

The Ballroom confirms her as a novelist of immense power...Exquisitely good. Sensitive, engrossing and highly recommended

The Ballroom is a beautiful, gripping, heart-wrenching, thought-provoking book. I was so enthralled, I read it in an evening, unwilling to put it down.

An atmospheric and thought provoking love story

An absorbing read from beginning to end . . . I'm already excited to see what Anna Hope does next.

This novel is at once romantic, thought-provoking and extremely poignant, with a rich narrative and an ending that moved me to tears

Gripping final chapters ramp up the suspense towards a hearth-wrenching conclusion ...explores the tensions and trials of the human condition with grace and insight.

Absolutely fantastic . . . I'm in real awe of her writing.

Elizabeth Macneal, author of THE DOLL FACTORY

ANNA HOPE studied at Oxford University and RADA. She is the internationally prizewinning and bestselling author of Wake and The Ballroom. Her contemporary fiction debut, Expectation, explores themes of love, lust, motherhood, and feminism, while asking the greater question of what defines a generation. She lives in Sussex with her husband and young daughter.

The unputdownable historical novel by the acclaimed and bestselling author of WAKE and EXPECTATION: a devastating story of love and madness at the brink of the Great War. 
 
'Absolutely heart-breaking. One of the best books I’ve ever read' DINAH JEFFERIES, author of The Tea-Planter's Wife 
 
'Compelling, elegant, insightful' OBSERVER 
 
1911: Inside an asylum at the edge of the Yorkshire moors, where men and women are kept apart by high walls and barred windows, there is a ballroom vast and beautiful. For one bright evening every week they come together and dance. When John and Ella meet it is a dance that will change two lives forever. 
 
Set over the heatwave summer of 1911, the end of the Edwardian era, THE BALLROOM tells a rivetting tale of dangerous obsession, of madness and sanity, and of who gets to decide which is which. It is a love story like no other. 
 
***************************************** 
 
Praise for Anna Hope's The Ballroom: 
 
'Beautifully wrought, tender, heartbreaking' Sunday Express 5/5 
 
'Moving, fascinating' Times 
 
'A tender and absorbing love story' Daily Mail 
 
'Unsentimental and affecting' Sunday Times 
 
'Exquisitely good' Metro 
 
'Absolutely fantastic . . . I'm in real awe of her writing' ELIZABETH MACNEAL, author of The Doll Factory 
______________

A heartrending story of three women and the journey of the Unknown Warrior

Wake

Unfolding over five days leading up to 11 November, 1920, the international bestseller and prizewnning story of three women's lives and loves. For fans of PAT BARKER, MADELINE MILLER and MAGGIE O'FARRELL

A compelling and emotionally charged debut about the painful aftermath of war and the ways - small, brave or commonplace - that keep us going. It touches feelings we know, and settings - dance halls, war front, queues outside the grocer -  that we don't. I loved it.

Rachel Joyce, author of THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY

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.

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.

A moving novel about the aftershock of the 1914-1918 conflict. ... unlikely many will prove better than Anna Hope's Wake

Impressive and poignant ... moving and rewarding

I wouldn't be surprised if this was the biggest hardback debut of the year

Alexandra Hemingsley, Radio Two Arts Show

This centenary year, so many more female writers have chosen The Great War as their central theme ...there is WAKE by Anna Hope, chronicling the lives of women battling with postwar loss ...I welcome these, and more, for their stories and the history lessons they incorporate

Anna Hope reveals a tragic connection between three women living i 1920s London in her impressive debut

Hope weaves her three characters’ workaday narratives together, building scenes that wear their research lightly …The women’s lives come at us in a present-tense narration that keeps the book easy to read, letting the characters’ thoughts bob to the surface of the text in italics, as if in a nod towards the modernism that was brewing in that very period.

A very simple book which elicits very complicated emotions ...luscious, impressive, moving.

It's an unusual story, told well and written delicately. The women and the world they inhabit are beautifully drawn. It tells us that life can continue to be lived even after terrible loss.

RONAN BENNETT, Whitbread award-winning author and creator of Channel Four’s ‘Top Boy’

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.

Wake is a staggeringly good first novel, packed with soulful insight, universal emotions and those intimate small details which add more depth and meaning to a picture than the brutal sweep of a broad brush.

It’s hard for me to believe that this amazing, touching book is a debut novel. Absolutely recommend and already on the run for a spot in my top 10.

It is a powerful read; you can almost see the endless mud of the trenches, and sense the fear of those young men.

Anna Hope wove her spell and managed to conjure up an intriguing tale, quite rich with emotion that held me entranced until the last page. I can’t wait to see what she does next.

Wake is a brilliant debut novel, deeply moving, well-plotted and engrossing.

http://ourbookreviewsonline.blogspot.co.uk

This is such a brilliant book; one that is both beautifully written and emotionally involving, with a fascinating plot and wonderful characters who pluck at your heartstrings on every page.

I have no doubt that Wake is going to be included in my Top Ten books of 2014, I know that it's only January, but this is a book that has had a huge effect on me.

randomthingsthroughmyletterbox.blogspot.co.uk

The only regret I have is that I didn’t read this book sooner. WAKE is luxury. Pure luxury.

She manages to capture every single detail, every emotion and every sound.

http://lauraslittlebookblog.blogspot.co.uk

Wake is that rare and beautiful thing: a first novel that sings with such power and grace that it lifts itself effortlessly from the pack.  Powerful, passionate, compassionate, it marks the rising of a new star in the literary firmament.  Anna Hope is here to stay.

M.C. Scott - Author of Rome and chair of the Historical Writers Association

Intricately researched and beautifully written, with the kind of restrained yet emotional prose one expects from a seasoned author. Its characters, too, have a depth and quiet tragedy one rarely finds in debut fiction. In this centenary year commemorating the outbreak of war, there've been many novels about the conflict:Wake is without doubt one of the best.

Impressive ... A heart-breaking tale of grief and guilt

ANNA HOPE was born in Manchester, and educated at Oxford University and RADA. The idea behind Wake came to her when she visited the Somme, where she was struck by the sight of so many rows of identical crosses, and wondered at the grief of the women they left behind. WAKE is her first novel. 
 
 
Follow her on Twitter @Anna_Hope

The International prize-winning bestseller and Simon Mayo bookclub pick 
'Powerful and humane' SADIE JONES, bestselling author of The Snakes 
____________ 
Remembrance Day 1920: A wartime secret connects three women's lives: 
 
Hettie whose wounded brother won't speak. 
 
Evelyn who still grieves for her lost lover. 
 
And Ada, who has never received an official letter about her son's death, and is still waiting for him to come home. 
 
As the mystery that binds them begins to unravel, far away, in the fields of France, the Unknown Soldier embarks on his journey home. The mood of the nation is turning towards the future - but can these three women ever let go of the past? 
___________________ 
Readers' love WAKE by Anna Hope: 
 
'Beautifully, written, compelling, very moving' 4 **** 
'Engrossing and illuminating' 5 ***** 
' If you like a relationships novel with war backdrop, hard to find better' 4 **** 
'An amazing achievment' 5 *****

Anna Hope

Profoundly intelligent and humane. Deserves to feature on many a prize shortlist

A brilliant exploration of friendship, feminism and thwarted ambition

One of the most intensely readable novels I've encountered this year

Will resonate with approximately 99 % of all women

Thoughtful, beautifully written, honest. A sensual book. I URGE YOU TO READ IT

Brilliant portrayal of long-term female friendships . . . I was gripped.

A Sally Rooney-esque evocative examination of female friendship

The real joy of this novel – while exploring just what second wave feminism has done for this generation of women (“you’ve had everything… we changed the world for you. For our daughters. And what have you done with it?”) – is in it’s writing; the dialogue and the honesty behind these characters who are doing their best, who are trying to live up to the fictional counterparts that they themselves have created… It’s the perfect summer reading

Absolutely encapsulates what it means to be a young woman today, and beyond

Hope’s writing is sublime and her characters so well fleshed out they will feel like friends at the end

BEST BOOKS FOR JULY: Expectation has defied all my expectations and completely redefined the friendship novel. Each of the characters resonated with me and I’m in awe of the way Anna Hope captures what it means to be a woman, right here, right now, with all the precision of a surgeon’s knife.

EDITOR'S CHOICE: I enjoyed this contemporary novel about the gulf between the expectation of how life will turn out and the reality... [it] taps into the current conversation about finding fulfilment and living a meaningful life.

Anna Hope has a way of getting inside difficult and painful moments, turning them inside out. I felt I knew these women as my own friends. Taut, electric, complex, funny.

RACHEL JOYCE bestselling author of THE UNEXPECTED PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY

Few novels leave me genuinely breathless with their brilliance. EXPECTATION is one of them. This book is beautiful. I am in AWE

Succulent, tender and honest, EXPECTATION  is about the relationships between women: love, loss, triumph and betrayal. It was one of those books that knowingly flirted, then seduced me and then utterly ravished me

A generation-defining book, honest and relatable on motherhood, ambition and sex. Like NORMAL PEOPLE with female friendship under the microscope

ERIN KELLY, bestselling author of HE SAID/SHE SAID

I tore through EXPECTATION at the weekend. Exceptional gorgeously written and reads like a love letter to London. I highly recommend it

STACEY HALLS, bestselling author of THE FAMILIARS

I absolutely loved this. What really appealed to me was the depiction of the parents, about legacy and about what the mother's generation leaves for the one that comes after

An intimate and touching portrayal of female friendship that shows it's okay to just be

So fresh, human, kind and relatable

Such a dark, relatable, elegant take on how time alters female friendships: how we become THESE people and our friends become THOSE people. Anyway, I loved it. You probably will, too

LIZA KLAUSSMANN, author of Tigers in Red Weather

A must-read. Will make you want to hug the women in you life

A deftly crafted hymn to the comfort and frustration of female friendship from one of our most gifted contemporary writers

Sensual and evocative, deeply attuned to both the inner lives of the protagonists

The prose is beautiful, the characters achingly real, their flawed decisions enraging and yet somehow still relatable. This wonderful book will resonate with every woman who reads it

A quietly political story that suggests historic battles have left women with new impossible burdens of expectation. A marvellously tangy London novel

Hope beautifully examines how female friendship, its issues entirely relatable, ebbs and flows over time in this wise and engaging read

Hugely absorbing, massively enjoyable

A deftly crafted hymn to the comfort and frustration of female friendship from one of our most gifted contemporary writers

A story that resonates with anyone who has tried and failed and tried again as they contemplate that gap between what is possible and what is not.

Compulsive and beautifully told storytelling  - an ode to 21st century London and an examination of the pressures of modern society

completely redefines the friendship novel. I am in awe of the way Anna Hope captures what it means to be a woman, right here, right now.

Hope is adept at characterisation. The friends are fantastically well-realised.

The story of 3 college friends, if you're a fan of Sally Rooney, you'll love EXPECTATION

A grown-up, honest take on female camaraderie. Packed with talking points

Fantastic. Beautifully written, sharply observed and saying important things

BOOK OF THE YEAR. It's the book we're all buying for our sisters and besties this Christmas.

Brings to vivid life that particular tension one feels just before middle age, when it begins to become clear that life won’t end up looking exactly they way we thought it would. An outstanding novel

Anna Hope's beautifully observed study of female friendship is a moving account of the collision between aspiration and reality

Fantastically well-realised portrait of female friendship's joys and pains from an exciting new voice in British fiction

The most razor-sharp and heartbreaking novel of the year

THE MUST-READ SUMMER 2020 RICHARD AND JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK 
 
'If you wished Normal People had tackled female friendship, try Expectation' GRAZIA 
'Profoundly intelligent and humane. Deserves to feature on many a prize shortlist' GUARDIAN 
'A brilliant exploration of friendship, feminism and thwarted ambition' PANDORA SYKES 
______________________ 
 
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. 
 
___________________ 
'Thoughtful, beautifully written, honest. A sensual book. I URGE YOU TO READ IT' MARIAN KEYES 
 
'Beautiful, sharp, moving. I urge you to read it'' ELIZABETH DAY 
 
'A brilliant exploration of friendship, feminism and thwarted ambition' PANDORA SYKES 
 
'I loved it ... 10 out of 10' BRYONY GORDON 
 
'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 
 
'SO GOOD. A 'What they did next' story of characters from a Sally Rooney novel' SARAH FRANKLIN 
 
'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 
 
'A generation-defining book on motherhood, ambition and sex. Like NORMAL PEOPLE with female friendship under the microscope.' ERIN KELLY 
 
'Few novels leave me so genuinely breathless with their brilliance' HANNAH BECKERMAN 
 
'Sublime' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, Book of the Year 
 
'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 
 
'Totally unputdownable, immersive, sharp, FAB' HARRIET EVANS 
 
'Beautifully observed study of female friendship and a moving account of the collision between aspiration and reality' DAILY MAIL MUST-READ 
 
'Fantastically well-realised portrait of female friendship's joys and pains from an exciting new voice in British fiction' DAILY TELEGRAPH

Anna Hope

Praise for Expectation

Profoundly intelligent and humane. Deserves to feature on many a prize shortlist

A brilliant exploration of friendship, feminism and thwarted ambition

One of the most intensely readable novels I've encountered this year

Profoundly intelligent and humane. Deserves to feature on many a prize shortlist

A brilliant exploration of friendship, feminism and thwarted ambition

One of the most intensely readable novels I've encountered this year

Profoundly intelligent and humane. Deserves to feature on many a prize shortlist

A brilliant exploration of friendship, feminism and thwarted ambition

One of the most intensely readable novels I've encountered this year

Books by Anna Hope

Articles featuring Anna Hope

The inspiration for an asylum set on the Yorkshire Moors

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