Albion

by Anna Hope

A finely crafted, propulsive, and nuanced story of family, inheritance, and accountability that shakes the country house novel to its foundations from the internationally acclaimed author of Expectation.

The Brookes are gathering in their eighteenth-century ancestral home—twenty bedrooms of carved Sussex sandstone—to bury their patriarch, Philip. Father, grandfather, husband, landowner, one-time hippy, long-time philanderer, Philip was the blinding sun around which the family has orbited their entire lives.

Eldest daughter Frannie, inheritor of a thousand acres of English countryside, mother to a daughter whose future she fears for, dreams of rewilding and returning the estate to a last line of defense against the coming climate catastrophe. Her brother Milo envisages a treetop haven for the super-rich where, under the influence of psychedelic drugs, a new ruling class will be reborn to create a better world. Each believes their father has given them his blessing and are set on a collision course with the other.

Isa, Philip’s estranged youngest child, only hopes to reconnect with her childhood love who still lives on the estate, to discover if her feelings for him are creating the fault lines in her marriage. Grace, bruised and diminished after fifty years in a loveless marriage, is at a crossroads, wondering whether she may finally have the strength to choose between freedom and duty. And then there is Clara, who arrives from America, shrouded in secrets and bearing a truth that will fracture the dreams on which they’ve built their lives.

Beautifully layered and utterly compelling, Anna Hope’s multigenerational saga is a bold, brilliant, and deeply contemporary examination of family dynamics, colonial legacies, and class, set against the backdrop of the climate crisis.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Contemporary, Family, British Literature, Ebooks

288 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2025

About the author

Anna Hope is an English writer and actress from Manchester. She is perhaps best known for her Doctor Who role of Novice Hame. She was educated at Wadham College, Oxford, The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London, and Birkbeck College, London.

Anna's powerful first novel, WAKE, sold to Transworld Publishers in a seven-way auction. Set over the course of five days in 1920, WAKE weaves the stories of three women around the journey of the Unknown Soldier, from its excavation in Northern France to Armistice Day at Westminster Abbey. US rights were pre-empted by Susan Kamil at Random House. The book will be published in Doubleday hardback in early 2014.

- excerpted from Wikipedia and Felicity Bryan Associates Literary Agency

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Brooks family of Sussex is gathering at home on their 1000 acre estate to prepare to bury their father Phillip (quite the cad).
Three adult children Frannie, Milo, and Isa..
Frannie being the one who will inherit it all.. she is the oldest and had been working with her father on rewilding the land.
Their mother just wants to move out of the huge 20 bedroom crumbling mansion into a cottage on the land.
Phillip treated her badly all the years of the marriage until he got sick and needed her.
There are a couple very endearing male characters who have lived and worked the land in this story also.
This is a novel with themes of inheritance, trauma, and nature, and human nature and fascinating characters.

I previously enjoyed this author’s book The Ballroom.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins for the ARC!

[Ceecee · Rating 4 out of 5]

4-5 stars

Absolutely at the epicentre of all that is revealed is the Sussex mansion, a two centuries old Greek revival showcased in a thousand acres of land. However, Philip Brooke and his daughter Francesca (known as Frannie) have far from ancient ideas for the land; their vision is the rewilding Albion project where the future harmonises with the past. Now Philip is dead and Frannie inherits but will she clash with her siblings Milo and Isa or maybe her mother Grace over the direction estate management will take? In addition, Clara is due to arrive from America with disturbing information that may change everything.

This is just my kind of book, an intense slow burner character driven plot that raises all kind of issues and makes me think. The characters are all well crafted though not necessarily likeable. Some are troubled such as Milo who has many demons, some are torn and uncertain such as Isa whilst Frannie is driven, focused and can be ruthless in pursuing the vision. The standout character for me is Frannie’s daughter curious Rowan who doesn’t necessarily think like a typical child of her age but in fact she is central to pulling the whole thing together.

As for the estate, it’s beautifully described and I feel as if I’ve walked it with various characters. I love the rewilding element and the passion Frannie feels for it and it makes so much sense. The story of how the estate comes about takes a deep dive into social and economic injustice of the past and is dealt with effectively. Through what is learned the already tense situation intensifies and you realise breaking point has been reached. The things they’ve suppressed for a variety of reasons bubble to the surface where they boil and pain is palpable. I really like how things end and it feels right in a multitude of ways.

Overall, this is a compelling and ambitious novel which delivers for me. I’ve not read Anna Hope before but she’s a must read from now on.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Penguin General UK for the much appreciated epub in return for an honest review.

[Angela M · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a frequent theme in family drama novels . A parent dies and they come together for the funeral to grieve, to perhaps reconcile differences, to perhaps forgive each other. Phillip Brooke has died and the family is grieving, each in their own way, but they mostly harbor anger at their father for the things he did in the past . Each family member carries the demons of their past and their present, each is burdened with their resentment for their father and for each other. His widow is quietly relieved that her always unfaithful husband who left her for America and came back twenty years later when he was sick, is gone from her life. It’s more than about this family as there are characters close to them who are a part of their history. Anna Hope brilliantly draws all of these complex characters as their complicated relationships are revealed .

It’s also about legacy of the 1000 acres of land in Sussex , England to be rewilded to protect it for future generations in the wake of the damage being done by climate change. Before it ends secrets are revealed and it becomes about a different legacy - how their ancestors came into the wealth that allowed them to purchase the land those many years ago. The implications are thought provoking and profound and affect how the family will move forward with plans for the land and their futures taking into account the many whose Iives were impacted by the deeds of their ancestors.

I read Anna Hope’s The Ballroom a number of years ago and it’s a story that has stayed with me . This one will stay with me as well . Now I need to get to Wake which has been on my kindle for quite some time .

I received a copy of this book from HarperCollins through Edelweiss.

[Andrew Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in a large estate in Sussex, in South East England, we meet the family that are its present custodians. It’s land that’s been passed down the family line for decades. In truth, the responsibility for the management of the huge house and hundreds of acres of land fall to one person - Frannie, the eldest daughter. Sadly, her father has just died, and a private funeral is about to be held on the estate. Frannie’s mother, Grace, had had an up and down relationship with her husband. In fact, he’d disappeared for a decade to America, where he’d lived with another woman, before unexpectedly (and unannounced) he returned. Frannie’s siblings – Isa and Milo – have no role in the management of the estate and lead independent, complicated lives. But the family have gathered together for the funeral.

In addition to the family, a small number of others will be present. These include Jack, an employee who has worked the land for many years, and Luca, a long-time friend of Milo’s. There is also Ned, who has lived on the land for forty years or more. It’s a pretty tightly knit group. But then there is a surprise - Isa announces that another guest has been invited. This person, someone unknown to all of the family, is about to truly put the cat amongst the pigeons. In the words of Donald Trump, all hell will break loose.

There are a couple of themes here, aside from familial tensions and the distinct lack of available cash to cover the onward running costs of the estate. Frannie has already started the process of re-wilding the land, and she has ambitious plans in this regard, and Milo is keen to grab some of the land for a project he’s hoping to get off the ground with his monied buddy, Luca. There are issues with both of these ideas/plans, and this is a further cause of tension within the group.

It’s a really well written novel that starts rather calmly and slowly builds to a point of explosion. The issues covered are topical and seem to have been well researched. It’s a story that sucked me in, and by the end I was intrigued to see how it would all play out for all the various members of the cast, each with their own desires and needs. If I have a gripe, it’s that I found it hard to like pretty much all of the characters here (with the exception of Ned) and I found Frannie, in particular, to be annoyingly sanctimonious. But nonetheless, I found it to be an engrossing and thought-provoking story.

My thanks to Penguin for supplying an advance reader copy of this book via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

[Stephen the Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Funeral. ... A Family Reunion .... Unresolved Issues. .... A Sussex Manor House ..... and a family secret yet to be revealed .

Albion by Anna Hope could have been a "routine" novel about regret, desires and animosities between siblings gathering for their father's funeral - but this is a novel that digs deeper and darker into a family that has lived under the shadow of the patriarchal and egoistical (damaged) Philip Brooke - inheritor of a family estate going back several generations and self confessed party man- as well as privileged background.

After abandoning his wife ( still living alone on the estate ) and children and going to America, the estate/land goes into disarray until Frannie- the eldest of the children returns home after a self imposed exile and begins the job of turning the land into "Albion " a place of rewilding- returning the land to nature. Philip finally returns home to spend his final years on the estate - a state of atonement for past actions and works alongside Frannie.

Frannie's brother Milo has visions of making a fortune by using part of the land for a millionaire's retreat while young sister Isa has her own personal reasons to return to the estate as she struggles in her marriage.

This is a book set over five days exploring the fallout of a father's death; acknowledging hidden truths ;the expectations of the privileged and the impact of an unexpected guest Clara.

Anna Hope has written a superb novel that explores wider issues within society- legacy being at the forefront - what we leave behind ( the environment /natural world- climate change) but also the unspoken factors of the past and the need for benefactors from past wealth to acknowledge the roots of their entitlement and good fortune.

The novel moves from the perspective and voice of each of the main characters- each damaged by the actions of Philip. The tensions, greed, aspirations between the characters are palpable. The voice of Rowan- Frannie's daughter - is the one that curiously shines through as she observes the actions of the adults.

Yes, there is a fairly neat ending but not all lives are continually leading to more dramas - resolutions and solutions can be found

Gripping, moving , thought-provoking.

A highly recommended read for 2025 .

Growing up in Sussex - much of the landscape resonated with me

[Katie B · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

Thank you Harper Books for sending me a free advance copy!

ALBION is a character driven novel. Patriarch Philip Brooks has died and his wife and 3 adult children have gathered at their 18th century ancestral home to bury him. Not exactly the most endearing man to his family, he does leave behind a large estate. Frannie, his eldest daughter, is passionate about rewilding the land for the good of the environment while his son, Milo, has other ideas. This Sussex property is such an integral part of the story it’s almost like a character itself.

I hesitate to call this book a family drama because non family members are part of the supporting cast. It’s a quiet novel, one you sit and reflect on rather than be caught up in a fast moving plot. The characters all struggle with something. Even though they aren’t the most likable bunch, I was invested in their lives. I liked this one quite a bit as it was an interesting read. One thing I took away from it is how wealth is often accumulated at the expense of others.

[Claire Fuller]

The English country house novel re-imagined for our times: an exceptionally well-drawn portrait of a battling family, which also astutely wrestles with the issues around rewilding, inheritance, and colonialism.  

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having previously read and enjoyed Anna Hope’s Wake and The Ballroom, I was happy to have the opportunity to rad her latest novel, Albion, the story of an English family, an English estate of storied lineage, and all the complexities of life in the generations of the Brooke family, of Sussex, over the past approximately fifty years. As the novel begins we meet Frannie, eldest child of Philip Brooke, the late owner of Albion, the above mentioned estate. Philip has recently died and Frannie is planning the family funeral that will bring her brother, Milo, and sister, Isabelle (Isa) home to for a few days. Her Mother, Grace, and daughter, Rowan, already live at the mansion. Tension is already running high as planning is underway, thoughts about inheritance, taxes etc are a worry, and there is a lingering tension from Philip’s life and the history of relationships throughout the two hundred years old “home” with its twenty two bedrooms.

As the planned long weekend begins, family gradually arrives

to be continued…

Thanks to HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley for an eARC of this book.

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Als Philip Brooke, Patriarch und Egomane, stirbt, kommen seine drei Kinder Frannie, Milo und Isa für fünf Tage auf dem großen Familienanwesen in Sussex zusammen, um ihren Vater beizusetzen. Auch ihre Mutter Grace ist mit von der Partie, die angesichts Philips Untreue und ihrer Abneigung für das riesige Haus fast so etwas wie Erleichterung nach seinem Tod fühlt. Ganz anders geht es Frannies Tochter, die aus ihrem gewohnten Umfeld gerissen wird, um mit ihrer Mutter, der Haupterbin, fortan im Haupthaus zu wohnen. Während Frannie in der Arbeit rund um die Beisetzung und dem Renaturierungsprogramm, das sie noch gemeinsam mit ihrem Vater für den riesigen Grundbesitz gestartet hat, versinkt, verfolgt Milo ganz eigene Pläne - und auch Isa wird von alten Dämonen heimgesucht. Sie hat die Tochter einer ehemaligen Geliebten ihres Vaters aus Amerika zur Beerdigung eingeladen, was der Zusammenkunft noch mehr Sprengstoff verleiht.

"Wo wir uns treffen" von Anna Hope ist ein zunächst gemächlich erzählter Familienroman, der mich vor allem durch sein Setting auf einem englischen Anwesen fasziniert hat. Ich habe sehr gerne mit den Protagonist*innen Streifzüge durch die Ländereien unternommen und bin ganz in diese Welt der reichen Großgrundbesitzer*innen eingetaucht. Ab der Hälfte des Romans erhält das Buch einen sehr spannenden Twist (um nichts vorweg zu nehmen mag ich auf die Themen des Buchs nicht näher eingehen), den ich zwar vorhergesehen habe, der mich aber trotzdem noch einmal mehr an die Geschichte gefesselt hat. Alles scheint sich auf diesen Seiten zu entladen und das wahre Erbe der Brookes kommt ans Licht. Anna Hope erzählt ihr Buch abwechselnd aus den verschiedenen Perspektiven der Familienmitglieder und der Tochter der Geliebten des Vaters, was auch noch eine gewisse Dynamik in die ansonsten recht ruhige Story gebracht hat. Mir hat's gefallen!

Übersetzt von Ulrike Kretschmer.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

4++ stars I have enjoyed Anna Hope before, but she has surpassed her prior work with Albion. This novel deals with what could be a very over-worked topic: the three adult children of a landed family in England gathering for the funeral of their father. Of course, sibling tensions, family tensions, inheritance issues and family secrets all unfold - - but the outstanding writing, characters and setting took this to a lovely literary level. Each of the adult children was a fully developed character. The oldest child, Franny, has inherited the entire estate, likely because Franny and her father started a rewilding project at the estate at the end of his life. Franny has many oldest child issues: she worries constantly about everything, including the estate, is constantly in motion, and never slows down (for example, she feel compelled to manage the entire funeral). Her younger brother, Milo, is a person who is clearly not at peace. He is quite lost in life and wants to create a center for mental health treatment at the estate - but his center would be based on the use of hallucinogenic drugs. Obviously, there is love and conflict between Franny and Milo. The youngest sibling is Izzy, a mother of two, who is married to a “good man”, but remains emotionally involved with Jack, a lifelong employee of the estate. Franny’s daughter, Rowan, experiences all the events of the novel, and the reader sees her viewpoint and perspective of the adult behavior. Other fully portrayed characters include Philip, the deceased father, whose rejection of his family and its effects are made quite clear, and his wife (and mother of the three adult children), who suffered through his rejection. Two other very unique characters also put in meaningful appearances. Ned was a friend of Philip’s when they were young members of the 60’s and 70’s counter-culture, and he has lived in seclusion on a remote part of the estate for 50 years. In many ways Ned has not moved past the 60’s; however he is a source of refuge for many of the characters. Clara, an American woman, is invited to the funeral because Izzy believes that she is the daughter of Phillp and an American woman with whom he had a long affair – that is, that she is a half sister to the siblings. That is not the case, but Clara brings with her a powerful family secret that moves each character deeply – and differently.
The novel revolves around the relationships between and among the characters, yet deeply entwined with their relationships is the relationship that each of them has with the estate. The estate becomes its own character, and the descriptions of it are not just beautiful and tangible – but key to the storyline and ambience of the novel as well.
Anna Hope read the novel, and I strongly recommend listening to this one. It is generally quite special when an author reads their own work (yes, there are some exceptions!), but Ms. Hope did a masterful job creating the voices and spirits of the characters in this novel.

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars.

[Angelica Star · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m conflicted about this book because a lot of the writing is beautiful, and there are moments of real reflection on nature and on the minute movements of our living ecosystem which you can tell are filled with a real sense of honouring. But at other times it was quite contrived and I felt that what was supposed to be the big twist in this novel fell flat. It took too long in its exposition which left everything else feeling rushed, the books conclusion falling into place too simply. The revealing exposure of historic ties to British slavery and imperialism felt like a regurgitated textbook from Clara’s character and I didn’t enjoy the black saviour aspect of her, coming from a white author. Everything felt a bit cop-outy at the end, which left the feeling that the author had an idea that she couldn’t fully execute. This could have been a really honest and interesting book about British Imperial history and its reconning, but everything was a bit of a mess, and even unrelated stories of this family were left incomplete and unsatisfying.

[Bonnie G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the majority of this book, I was pretty sure it was a 4.5 that I would round up to a 5. The prose is lovely, the characters beautifully drawn, the family dynamics authentic, and the subject matter interesting. The reason there was a half-point deduction was that it occasionally lapsed into illogical, unnuanced looks at progeniture, generational wealth, planet stewardship, and colonialism. Then the last 20% came, and the lapses went from occasional to constant.

Certainly, the fact that we benefit from stolen land and the enslavement of people is important to acknowledge, and we should be considering how we can make up some of the wealth differentials that resulted from that. (We cannot undo the horrors, unfortunately.) But how far back do we go? Here, much was made of the records of human cargo on slave ships, records meticulous because Lloyds insured that human cargo. Is that when we start, when meticulous record keeping started? Because there was lots of land theft, disenfranchisement, and human trafficking before that. These are complicated questions, and Hope avoids complicated consideration of how we atone for our transgresions and those of our forbearers in favor of smug pronouncements and pouring out wine while reciting the names of those who were victims of the system (Who the hell does that help? The people who reaped the benefits and can now pat themselves on the back for the acknowledgement?)

Anyway . . . there were a lot of last-minute pat resolutions to systemic injustices centuries long and human complications decades long. I disliked most of the resolutions, and there was no lead-up to any, just cinematic epiphanies. Also, there was no resolution to one storyline with respect to a child's parentage despite a dramatic scene raising questions about the same, and that irked me. Still a worthy read despite the late-stage disappointment. The last chunk takes this from a round-up to a 5 to a solid 4.

Note: I listened to the audiobook read by the author, and she is a very good reader. I loved her narration.

[Helen_t_reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Albion unfolds over five days as the Brooke family gathers at their 18th-century ancestral home to bury their father, Philip, a one-time hippy and erstwhile philanderer. Frannie, the eldest daughter has inherited the estate, and dreams of returning it to nature as a last line of defence against the coming climate catastrophe. Milo, her brother, envisions a treetop haven for the wealthy delivering psychedelic drug treatments. Each believes their father has given them his blessing and are set on a collision course.
Grace, Philip’s widow, who has been in a loveless marriage for 50 years, wonders if she can now finally choose freedom over duty, whilst her third child, Isabelle, only hopes to seek out her childhood love — still living on the estate — to discover whether it is her feelings for him that are creating the fault lines in her marriage. And then, Clara arrives from America with secrets that will shatter the family's dreams...

In Albion, Anna Hope has delivered the reader a truly engrossing, character-focused story that portrays a landed family's complex and multilayered dynamic, with all its attendant tensions and idiosyncrasies, set against a wider global perspective of contemporary issues and problems.

I was completely hooked in from the very beginning and loved the way Anna Hope develops the characters, shifting our sympathies as perspectives change and events unfold. We may not always like the members of this dysfunctional family, or agree with their actions and beliefs, but they are all drawn with such conviction, empathy and sympathy that we really do come to care about what happens to them.

Characterisation is one huge strength of this tremendous novel, and the second is Anna Hope's ability to vividly depict the natural landscape and describe it in such beautiful, lyrical, yet unsentimental prose.

The wildlife and natural world of the estate is so perfectly rendered that you see it in your head as you're reading, you hear the birds singing and the water splashing, you feel the dew-wet grass, and you smell the woodsmoke and the leaf mold.

This beautiful tract of countryside is just as important within the novel as the family that own it, and the two characters who hands-on manage and care for it day to day, Ned and Jack, are both good, decent people with a deep understanding of it, and a strong relationship and affinity with it.

Inheritance and legacy are important themes in this novel. Fannie and Milo have clashing views about the direction of the estate now their father is dead, and as young as Rowan is, she's already beginning to get a sense of the legacy that will one day fall to her.

But inheritance of the actual land itself is only one aspect, and the author sets up a fascinating parallel as the novel unfolds: as well as the land, Frannie inherits the consequences caused by the ethics of past generations, which endanger the estate's future despite her best intentions to protect it and ensure its survival, whilst Rowan will inherit land on a planet which has been so damaged by the actions of previous generations, that its future is further endangered.

The novel also explores themes of responsibility, accountability and freedom; inherited wealth, class and privilege; climate change and rewilding; colonialism and intergenerational trauma; and love - romantic, familial, and for nature . Yes, there is much to unpack and think about here, and yet it's all bound together in a highly readable, beautifully written, absorbing, propulsive and nuanced country house story. It manages to be both a satisfying and thought-provoking solo read and the perfect buddy-read/book club read.

It will stay in my head for a long time to come and is definitely going to be one of my best books of 2025. Brilliant stuff. Highly recommended.

[Rita Egan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Albion
By Anna Hope

I love when a novel permanently alters the way I think about a subject. This is quite an unusual story in that I'd be hard pressed to decide if it's character driven or plot driven.

In a way it's neither. The characters are all related through family, friendship or marriage to Philip Brooke, a descendant of the landed gentry, but despite each person's perspective being explored, we actually learn very little about them individually.

The novel takes place over the course of 5 days around Philip's funeral, but it's not propulsively plotty. It's a slow burn with revelations that really made me think about the concept of legacy.

What this book does is ask questions about where inherited wealth comes from. It looks at how the responsibility of stewardship of land throws up many challenges, and it reflects on the many people and communities on who's backs all this wealth and ownership was obtained.

The main character is the estate that the Brookes have called home for seven generations. Set in Sussex it is it's relationship to each character that defines them, and creates the backdrop to their family dynamics.

A family saga, with a bohemian undercurrent and a message that reparations are due, that one can't assume inheritance without accepting the blame for the original theft.

Thoughtful, atmospheric and highly astute.

Publication Date 1st May 2025

Thanks to #Netgalley and #penguingeneralUK for providing an eGalley for review purposes

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a slow burner of a novel, it took me a while to get into it. We follow the various inhabitants of a country estate over a long weekend as they prepare for the funeral of the patriarch Phillip. They are joined by guests and family members, but ‘Albion’ has a small cast and we get to know them intimately. The setting too plays its part and, while characters seek escape by immersing themselves in the rewilded country estate, tensions boil over and arrival of Clara, who may be Phillip’s illegitimate daughter, adds a further discomforting element to the mix. Whilst working on a small scale, Anna Hope tackles big issues relating to ‘the twisted creed and brutality of the ruling class’ and the need to tackle historical injustices face on. ‘Albion’ went from being mildly interesting to enthralling and I would wholeheartedly recommend it.

[Ophelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Expectation by the same author is a book that I really enjoyed so I went into this book with high hopes.
The plot is intriguing and the twist was unexpected but the pace was a little too slow for me and the characters were all unlikeable.
A talented writer and a good story but I needed a bit more oomph.

[Linus Giese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was für ein lesenswerter Roman! In "Wo wir uns treffen" geht es um drei Geschwister, ein riesiges Landgut im südenglischen Sussex und die Frage, wie wir mit der Schuld unserer Vorfahr*innen umgehen wollen. Als Frannie, Isa und Milo zur Beerdigung ihres Vaters - Patriarch und Egomane Philip - zusammentreffen, ist der Konflikt vorprogrammiert. Und dann taucht auch noch die Tochter von Philips Ex-Affäre auf, doch Clara will gar nichts abhaben vom Erbe, sondern fragt sich viel eher, mit welchen Mitteln die Familie überhaupt so reich geworden ist: und was bedeutet es für eine Familie, wenn nicht nur Reichtum weitervererbt wird, sondern auch Schuld? Anna Hope hat mich nicht nur unglaublich gut unterhalten, sondern auch sehr zum nachdenken gebracht und dabei einen Roman geschrieben, der viele wichtige Fragen stellt.

[Madeline Elsinga · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Fig Tree for the eARC!

Rating: 3.5 stars

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this one. On one hand I enjoyed the writing for the most part. There were some well written thoughts and reflections on things like grief, nature, family, and privilege. Moments where I connected with some characters in the beginning, like Frannie as a fellow eldest daughter. I loathed Milo and wanted to punch him in the face. And other characters felt so underdeveloped. I also enjoyed the discussions on privilege considering this family owning an old British estate, and the threat of nature due to climate change.

But as the book went on I became increasingly confused where everything was headed. The book has a slow start that was difficult to get into especially given 8 different character POVs. It was hard to connect fully with any one character and with most books that have more than 3-4 POVs, too much is going on and ends up rushed or unresolved.

As for writing, there could occasionally be too much telling over showing and repetitive writing especially in Rowan’s and Ned’s chapters.

The middle of the book had my interest but towards the last little bit it was lost again. The twist that happens you can see from a mile away and from there we only have 10% left which leaves things rushed and too quickly resolved in a perfect way.

Also very minor things: 1- why was Clara, our American, using British terms? unlikely she would do that considering her mom was American and hasn’t spent any time in England at all before this trip?! And 2- Grace compares the land to that of her childhood stories (LOTR, Alice in Wonderland, Narnia) but then when thinking of herself and her husband refers to one another as pairings from Alice, Narnia….and CAMELOT?! Anna Hope girl get your references in order.

Overall it was a book with so much clear potential but Hope was adding too much, with too many character POVs, and important messages to make for a satisfying execution.

[Marliz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jaaaa ik vond deze heel mooi!!

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5/5 ⭐️ wat langdradig!!! Tekstueel vond ik het wel best mooi geschreven maar kwam echt amper door dit boek heen

[Taylor · Rating 1 out of 5]

I took too long to read this book and then the last like third when it turns out to be about White Guilt I was like ehhh and then I just audibly groaned when the only black character who is there to make the white people feel bad about where their wealth comes from does a land acknowledgement……..

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slow burn novel, set in England, grappling with privilege and colonialism. Beautiful setting and reveal. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC - more fulsome review to come. Out in May.

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 but rounding up to 5!!! would recommend this to a lot of people. a stark & unrelenting dive into the legacy of british colonialism & the many ways in which it is mired with global climate collapse, told in the form of a compelling family drama. vivid characters & setting, detailed political commentary & VERY good storytelling. probably a 4.5 rather than a 5 simply because i think the political commentary was at times a little overstated/didactic? like a little bit more left to the reader would have been nice. other than that though amazing book would recommend. ALSO was a mrs kirby recommendation for those whom that means something to

[Zehava (Joyce) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went into this book expecting a juicy story of rich people behaving badly and that is definitely not what I got. The basic setup of this book does sound like that (a family returns to their English countryside manor to bury their patriarch) but wow is this book more. This is a deep and beautiful story of dealing with losing a difficult parent, abandonment and neglect, family ties, nature, confronting the crimes of your ancestors and that’s just scratching the surface. This book does not wrap up in a pretty bow or with any easy answers but it will definitely give you something to think about.

[Henneke Wateringen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Geweldig verhaal. En met verassende twists en om over na te denken. En mooi voorgelezen door de schrijfster.

[Aggie]

I’ve finished this audio but refuse to rate. I want to give this another go.

[Sophie Deen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kwam wat traag op gang maar maakt dat met het einde zeker goed! Onverwachte plottwists en intriges, op een landgoed in Downton Abbey achtige setting.

[Katarina · Rating 3 out of 5]

echt heeeeel beschrijvend over het Engelse landschap, tot de conclusie gekomen dat het me niet zoveel interesseert wat een lijsterbes is als een goed plot ontbreekt...

[Kiara · Rating 4 out of 5]

me 🤝 family dramas with blue covers and pink titles