Three college friends from London — Hannah, Cate and Lissa — come up against an entirely new series of challenges as they navigate through their thirties. In her latest novel, Expectation (Harper), Anna Hope forges at full speed into the many aspects of their adult lives that are difficult to face.
Cate is a retired activist and stay-at-home mother. Her and her husband, Sam, a talented chef, move to Kent to be closer to his family. Her mother having passed away and her relationship with her father lacking, Cate feels alone and vulnerable. As a new mother, she suffers from postpartum depression and postpartum anxiety. She hesitates to ask for help, but when help is forced on her, she takes matters into her own hands. When she visits a local playgroup and makes friends with another new mom named Dea, she begins to find her pathway to wellness.
Hannah is the quintessential successful corporate woman. Her home is beautiful, and from the outside looking in, her marriage to university scholar Nathan is perfect. Hannah suffers from her own thinly veiled anxiety. She channels it into a compulsion for meticulous planning, including all the necessary calculations for her and Nathan’s IVF. Their inability to conceive a child, however, quickly spirals into much more than infertility when Nathan reconnects with their mutual friend Lissa.
Lissa is a moderately accomplished actress looking for success in dark spaces. Her relationship with her body is insecure. Her relationship with her mother, Sarah, a successful artist and also a retired activist, is tenuous. When she reconnects with Nathan, she wonders what she might have given up when she introduced him to Hannah.
Every character wheedles their way into the reader’s hearts. We watch them make mistakes, then learn from them and grow as people. Some find happiness and resolution; others, not so much, and perhaps unfairly so. Though there is always room for redemption; the story ends where it begins — with Hope’s beautiful, multidimensional characters, concerned about the state of the world, their futures, and what they can expect for themselves.
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About Anna Hope:
Anna Hope studied English at Oxford, attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and then received an MA in creative writing at Birkbeck, University of London. Her first novel, Wake, was a finalist for the 2014 National Book Awards (UK) and the Historical Writers’ Association’s Debut Crown Award. Her second novel, The Ballroom, followed in 2016. Anna lives in London, UK.
