Love, Hope by Juliet Ann Conlin

 

Love, Hope by Juliet Ann Conlin.

Published 29th July 2021 by Hodder and Stoughton.

From the cover of the book:

An unexpected letter. An unlikely friendship. A chance to start again.

Ever since she first picked up a violin, Hope Sullivan dreamed of going to music college, joining an orchestra and travelling the world with her best friend Janey. But when her parents were killed in a car accident on the way to one of her recitals, she gave it all up to look after her younger sister, Autumn. Ten years later, Janey is living their dream on her own, Autumn is flourishing as a doctor and Hope's life is smaller and less musical than ever.

Arnold Quince had the happiest of lives - until he lost his beloved wife Marion. Once the life and soul of the village, he withdrew into his grief and pushed all his friends away. Now, five years on, he is sick, lonely and just counting down the years until he can be with Marion again.

When Hope and Arnold are pushed into writing to one another, neither has any idea how much their life is about to change.

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When Hope and Janey find each other at music academy, aged eight-years-old, they instantly become best friends - going through all the trials and tribulations of growing up together. Their joint dream is to join the same orchestra and tour the world, but this vision is shattered when Hope's parents are killed in a car accident on the way to one of her recitals, when she is just eighteen. Hope suddenly finds herself in sole charge of a younger sister Autumn - coping with her own grief, being a comforting parent-figure for Autumn, and trying to find a way to support them both leaves her little time to regret what she has lost. Meanwhile, Janey goes on to do what she cannot, and Hope can only watch from afar, living their dream vicariously through her best friend.

Although time moves on, and Autumn grows up and goes on to become a doctor, Hope seems stuck. She has become the manager of a music shop to pay the bills, but the chance of love appears to have passed her by, and selling musical instruments to others seems to be the closest she will ever get to the life she once wanted so desperately. Then Hope strikes up an unlikely friendship with a pen friend - pensioner Arnold Quince, who once lived a happy life with his beloved late wife Marion, but now longs for nothing more than to be with her again. It's a friendship that helps them to see that although their lives have been affected by grief there is still the chance of happiness for them both - if only they are brave enough to take a chance.

Love, Hope is a touching story about coping with grief, loneliness and new beginnings. It is written entirely in epistolary form, with a mix of letters, texts, emails, and even shopping receipts, which works beautifully to drive this rich character led story along. I was very impressed how Juliet Conlin manages to wring so much emotion from a story written in this format, especially since quite pivotal moments are often only referred to obliquely through the different communications between the characters - and the impact of events is sometimes only to be inferred by the content of Hope's shopping basket! Very clever.

Although the way Conlin uses the unusual format is certainly to be admired, there were a couple of times when this left a bit of a blank in an otherwise rich tapestry. For me, this mostly applies to the part of Hope's tale just after the death of her parents when her life has been turned upside down. Through the immediate aftermath of the accident, we do not hear from Hope at all, and it would have been nice to hear her side of the story and how she was struggling with her emotions at this significant point - perhaps through journal entries, or maybe aborted letters and emails to Janey.

This novel touches on a lot of sensitive subjects, but interestingly the way you are slightly removed from the intensity of them by the format serves to make is a gentle and reflective sort of read. There is plenty of sadness, but it is not overwhelming, and the overall feel of the book is actually heart warming and quite uplifting. The title says is all with its smart double meaning really - love and hope are what ultimately pull the characters through the hard times, and I found this quite enchanting.

Love, Hope is available to buy now in ebook and paperback editions from your favourite book retailer.

Many thanks to Hodder Books for sending me a paperback copy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Kelly Lacey of Love Books Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Juliet Conlin was born in London and grew up in England and Germany. She holds an MA in Creative Writing from Lancaster University and a PhD in Psychology from the University of Durham. She works as a writer and translator and lives with her husband and four children in Berlin. Her novels include 'The Fractured Man' (Cargo, 2013), 'The Uncommon Life of Alfred Warner in Six Days' (Black & White Publishing, 2017), 'The Lives Before Us' (Black & White, 2019), and 'Sisters of Berlin' (Black & White, 2020).