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

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Each of the friends’ lives are followed in narrative threads which intertwine, interspersed with snapshots from their past filling in their stories. 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. The mother who feels everyone else has motherhood down pat exceptt for her, the woman who feels it will complete her and has no backup plan , the woman without any solidly defined boundaries of her life. Lissa is the only one who actually is still actively trying to achieve her goal of being an actress, juggling charity work, auditions and life modelling. Whereas Hannah and Lissa live in London, Cate has recently relocated to Canterbury, so her bits are mostly separated from the rest of the narrative and feature a completely different cast of characters, including a friendly fellow mum and a truly ghastly brother-in-law.

The characters were complex, yet distinct enough that one could imagine Buzzfeed running a 'Which of the Expectation gals matches your personality? Unfortunately, the pregnancy fails yet again; Hannah immediately goes back on her word and starts gearing up for attempt number four. As the years in which she might conceivably conceive have diminished, she has felt a corresponding, surprising sadness rise. By their mid-thirties, their carefree life has slipped away: Hannah and Nathan are into their third round of IVF; Cate has a baby with a man she barely knows, marrying him and moving out of London, and Lissa makes ends meet with whatever work she can find.I feel that these difficult to explain tensions and links between women are likely as alien to men as any of the nuances of male friendship are to me. Each woman has something the other wants—Lissa has freedom, Hannah has success, and Cate has a family. Sometimes they make decisions that others may find irritating, but to me that makes they more dynamic. through competitiveness, envy, jealousy, transgression, guilt, genuine emotional intimacy, and love. She is doing her best to look after Tom, her newborn son, with precious little help from Sam, her husband, and a little too much help from Alice, her overbearing mother-in-law.

Hope's novel is being compared to Sally Rooney's award–winning 'Normal People', but I personally found this author’s lower-key writing style more accessible and her characters rather more believable. Does she find out that raising a child isn't all joy and laughter - that it can also be stressful, if not downright nightmarish? There was something comforting about the story meandering through places I’m familiar with especially because the 3 characters’ emotions, life choices and realisations were often so difficult and you as the reader could feel their vulnerability. It is just that sometimes, lately, on the way to work, or walking through the weekend markets, she will stop, made suddenly breathless at the sight of a baby.

Anna Hopes Roman, übersetzt von Eva Bonné, greift dieses Erwartungs-Motiv auf ganz eindringliche Weise auf, sie lässt uns Lesende ihren drei Protagonistinnen sehr, sehr nahe kommen und schafft Figuren, mit denen wir uns auf ganz unterschiedliche Weisen identifizieren können. If I was to do a star rating, these were the things that would have brought the reading experience down from a five star to a four star for me.