Expectation: The most razor-sharp and heartbreaking novel of the year

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

Book Review: Expectation // Anna Hope : The Indiependent

It's a thoughtful, compelling story of friendship and finding happiness. In many ways Expectation is a story of ordinary life and the triumphs we can find in each day. I found it realistic and thought-provoking. I read this slowly and chewed on it, and I sincerely appreciate the author’s messages. While Sarah sleeps, they gather round the kitchen table. They take over. They make Lissa sit and drink wine, or tea. They take Lissa’s face in their hands and cry and kiss her cheeks and tell her how much she looks like her mother, and when they hug Lissa to their chests in their embrace, Lissa knows that they have lived through illnesses and lived through children and lived through no children and that they are a tribe, these women, with their battered bodies and their scars”.Wake, published in the UK in 2014, has now been translated into over 20 languages. It was called ‘a masterclass in historical fiction’ by The Observer and shortlisted for New Writer of the Year at the National Book Awards in the UK. The wildly funny, occasionally heartbreaking internationally bestselling memoir about growing up, growing older, and learning to navigate friendships, jobs, loss, and love along the ride Instead.... sexual energy was passed between them. Seems Nathan was the one who did the influencing— The fast lane is much too slow for Rachel Walsh. And Manhattan is the perfect place for a young Irish female to overdo everything. But Rachel's love of a good time is about to land her in the emergency room. It will also cost her a job and the boyfriend she adores.

Expectation Quotes by Anna Hope - Goodreads Expectation Quotes by Anna Hope - Goodreads

Dabei fällt das Lesen nicht immer leicht, es ist mitunter sehr schmerzhaft und auch zuweilen fast unangenehm, Hannah, Cate und Lissa auf ihren sich immer wieder kreuzenden Wegen zu begleiten. Die Geschichte ist wie ein Sog, aus dem man sich nur schwer befreien kann - ich konnte mich vor allem gedanklich lange nicht mehr von den drei Freundinnen losreißen. Zusätzlich wird der Roman auf ganz großartige Weise in prägnante Schauplätze (London, Canterbury) und das jeweilige (feministische) Zeitgeschehen eingebettet - inklusive einiger wirklich hinreißender Nebencharaktere, die mein Herz gewinnen konnten. Hope is such an elegant writer that it is simply a pleasure to absorb the words she weaves together. There is almost a musical cadence at times which, despite the thought-provoking content, makes it a very comfortable read. Ultimately, the novel’s message is a simple one: life is tough and we will often make mistakes and compromises, but we just do the best we can and try to be there for each other. The specific plot twists are slightly predictable, a few threads aren’t investigated as fully as they might be (Cate’s history with Lucy, chiefly) and I didn’t always feel as close to the main characters as I wanted to – first-person narration might have been better for creating that intimacy. My favorite relationship / subplot was Lissa and her mother. It wasn’t as though the topics and themes were inventive - but the writing was so seamless-readable - engaging - and real... that I’m glad I spent time with these characters.

5. Rachel’s Holiday - Marian Keyes

Beautifully observed study of female friendship and a moving account of the collision between aspiration and reality' DAILY MAIL MUST-READ Lissa thinks) “there’s bugger all between thirty and fifty, not just in Chekhov, but in everything else. Perhaps in life. Perhaps this is it – Womanhood. The Wasteland Years.”

Expectation by Anna Hope - Fantastic Fiction Expectation by Anna Hope - Fantastic Fiction

In this sharply observed novel set in and around London, three college friends, now in their thirties, must come to terms with the gap between the lives they imagined for themselves and reality in the face of marriage, fertility struggles, and loss. They are stiff in an English way. Not like the Russians. The Russians are not stiff, not at all. They have vodka and grief and the blood of the land in their veins, and the English have weak tea and the damp.” They discuss whether discharge - with its pejorative connotations - is itself a patriarchal term. They decide that there are as many different types of vaginal abjects as Inuits have words for snow. They watch with satisfaction as the boys cringe. They feel a power. They become electric.” Cate struggles with new motherhood, because... you know, raising a tiny human is hard, but whatev, she loves her kid. It turns out okay once she admits that she needs to self-care as well as childcare. Hers is by far my fave of the three major story lines.

Expectation is a beautifully written tale about the ups and downs of female friendship. Truthful, vivid and absorbing, this is a novel which is easy to get lost in. The carelessness of Hannah’s statement...a luxury gift that came so easily to Cate, made Hannah furious, but she’d said nothing. Hannah is the Godmother to Cate and Sam’s baby Eks meil kõigil ole oma ootused, kuidas elu peaks kulgema ja mis ajaks me peaks olema midagi saavutanud jne jne. Aga kui tihti need ootused ja lootused tegelikult täituvad? Siin raamatus on kolme naise lugu just nendest ootustest ja sellest, mis siis tegelikult kõigest välja tuli. Successful Hannah, married to Nathan would kill to be in Cate's shoes as she undertakes another round of IVF. Her expectation of being able to get pregnant has been cruelly dashed and her marriage is reduced to her ability to conceive, this need has become all consuming. This book does get compared to Sally Rooney’s books (Conversations with Friends and Normal People). I’m a big Sally Rooney fan and there is merit to that comparison. The writing style, tone, and pacing are similar in a way.