Member Review

You'll live with Hope in your heart after you read this charming, thought-provoking story of a young woman in search of answers to her past. Born with Foetal Alcohol Syndrome, Hope Nicely was found abandoned in a cardboard box on the steps of a church, and subsequently adopted by Jenny Nicely. Hope is now 25, learning disabled, but ready to face all that life throws at her. She even has a "real" job, walking dogs, and now, with her mum's encouragement, she has decided to write her own life story, in the naive hope that it will bring her real mother out of the woodwork to answer Hope's questions of why she chose vodka, gin and beer over her growing baby.
In the course of the story we learn about Hope's past, the challenges she's faced and the challenges she continues to face from prejudiced, ignorant people. Thankfully her knack of making friends brings her plenty support - but can other people help her find the answers she needs to make more sense of her life?
I was captivated from the very first page! Hope writes as she thinks, so the reader gets an immediate sense of her character, of her difficulties in processing and grasping ideas, and of her determination to see things through to the end. What a strong, loving and lovely young woman she is. Of course she has less endearing traits - anger management being one of them - but we can feel and empathise with her every emotion, laughing and crying with her through her joys, sorrows, heartaches and bewilderment as she finds ways to dust herself off and begin again.
There are lots of lovely characters in this story - Hope's mum, Jenny, her social worker Julie, fellow writer Danny and his lovely mum and brother. But Hope is the true heroine, who exemplifies her adopted mother's assertion that labels don't matter, it's people who matter.
Perfect for fans of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, Hope's story will stay with you long after the final page and remind you that with women like Hope, her true friends and family in the world, there is always hope for the future, for us all.