The Hopefuls

by Jennifer Close

When Beth arrives in Washington, D.C., she hates everything about it: the confusing traffic circles, the ubiquitous Ann Taylor suits, the humidity that descends each summer. At dinner parties, guests compare their security clearance levels. They leave their BlackBerrys on the table. They speak in acronyms. And once they realize Beth doesn't work in politics, they smile blandly and turn away. Soon Beth and her husband, Matt, meet a charismatic White House staffer named Jimmy and his wife, Ashleigh, and the four become inseparable, coordinating brunch, birthdays, and long weekends away. But as Jimmy's star rises higher and higher, their friendship--and Beth's relationship with Matt--is threatened by jealousy, competition and rumors.

Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Contemporary, Audiobook, Adult Fiction, Politics, Adult

310 pages, Hardcover

First published July 12, 2016

About the author

Jennifer Close is the best-selling author of Girls in White Dresses and The Smart One. Her new novel, The Hopefuls, will be out in July 2016. Born and raised on the North Shore of Chicago, she is a graduate of Boston College and received her MFA in Fiction Writing from the New School in 2005. She worked in New York in magazines for many years. She now lives in Washington, DC, and teaches creative writing at George Washington University.

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this, but Beth was just so passive and it was a real downer. All four of the main characters were pretty unlikable. I kept thinking something really scandalous would happen and spice things up - she kept alluding that something might happen with the two couples being in such close quarters, but no such luck. When something does finally happen near the end, it is disappointing and pretty anticlimactic.

[Larry H · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd rate this maybe 4.25 stars.

The Washington, DC area gets a bit of a bad rap. Sure, there are people who work within presidential administrations and on Capitol Hill that are a little status-obsessed, and really only want to deal with those who have similar jobs. (I've attended more than a few parties in my years down here in which people literally disengaged when they found out I worked in the association management field rather than in politics.)

But this area is unique in many ways—random encounters with political figures still leave me a little starstruck nearly 29(!) years after I arrived, and you can't beat the magic of an inauguration, especially when it's a candidate you supported. (Getting stuck behind a motorcade when you're in a hurry immediately gets old, however.)

When Wisconsin native Beth Kelly uproots her cosmopolitan New York City life to move with her husband Matt down to Washington, DC, where he had accepted a job with President Obama's Presidential Inauguration Committee, she's a bit shell-shocked. It's hard to believe that the Nation's Capital can feel like such a small town (unlike the anonymity you can escape into in NYC), the pace is really slow, and all anyone talks about is politics. And themselves. And what they do working in politics. And others who work in politics.

With no real career prospects and no friends to speak of, it's a fairly lonely existence for Beth. And the other downside to living in Washington is their close proximity to Matt's family, ruled by a mother who thinks Matt can do no wrong, and who treats all of her daughters-in-law as if they are outsiders no matter how long they've been married to her sons. Beth tries to get acclimated to the city and her new life, but it doesn't seem to be working.

Salvation comes when Matt meets Jimmy Dillon, a charismatic White House staffer, and Beth becomes very close with Jimmy's wife, Ashleigh, a Texas girl who is utterly unlike Beth in every way. The two couples become very close, and when Beth gets a job on a DC-social scene website, things seem to be looking up. But as Jimmy's career seems to be rising, Matt's seems to be stalling, and his jealousy of the opportunities Jimmy is getting—opportunities that Matt believes he is more deserving of—it threatens to drive a wedge into their friendships as well as Matt and Beth's marriage.

I found The Hopefuls to be a really enjoyable and fun read. Jennifer Close really hits all of the right notes about the culture and interpersonal dynamics in Washington, and what it's like for an outsider looking in. Even things that may seem outlandish to those unfamiliar with the city had me nodding and even laughing out loud a time or two. (I can actually recall having a conversation with friends about how many of the Safeway grocery stores in DC have nicknames—the Social Safeway, the Soviet Safeway, etc.—so it was funny seeing that in the book.)

Close is a very engaging writer with a keen ear for dialogue. I enjoyed the characters although I found Beth to be a little too passive throughout nearly the entire book, and I kept wanting her to get angry or make a scene. I also thought that perhaps Close drew out Beth's unhappiness with the area a little longer than necessary, but it didn't really interfere with my enjoyment of the book.

If you've never lived in the DC area, you may be amazed or skeptical of the culture that Close describes in the book. It's pretty dead-on, though, but you don't have to know anything about this city to enjoy The Hopefuls . It's fun (and funny), enjoyable, and well-written. It feels like a great summer book.

NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Company provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

See all of my reviews at http://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blo....

[Ron Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

The corruption, the graft, the waste — these are the least of Washington’s irritations. Once you move to the District, what really grates is the sweaty envy, the cloying eagerness, the frantic trading of acronyms by those nerdy student council members you once mocked in high school. Now ruling the world from their nouveau Versailles, this army of civil servants jockey tirelessly for position, for the teeny-tiniest anecdotes about People in Power. Only here would a lunch companion interrupt to say in hushed excitement, “Don’t look now, but that’s the deputy undersecretary of agriculture!”

Jennifer Close knows this city — and your pain. Her new book, “The Hopefuls,” is a hilarious gripefest about what it feels like to be caught in the gravitational pull of Washington. For you, the haters of D.C. who were dragged to the capital by spouses or necessity or mistaken idealism, here, finally, is a novel witty enough to match your. . . .

To read the full review -- and watch the video! -- go to The Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entert...

Also, I had the chance to interview Jennifer Close here:
https://www.facebook.com/poststyle/vi...

[Malia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Hopefuls is a story that appealed to me when I first read about it, since it focuses on recent DC transplants, which I count myself to be, too. The couple in The Hopefuls, Matt and Beth move from NYC to DC for Matt's job in government. Beth is reluctant, and initially hates everything about her new hometown, until she and Matt meet another new couple in the same situation, Jimmy and Ash. Their friendship slowly changes who Matt and Beth are, jealousy arises, manipulation and backstabbing, all the while the veneer of friendship is maintained.
This is not really a book where much happens, despite this description. It is slow, but never dull, and told by Beth, who is much more an observer than active figure in the story, at least the way I read it. She also struck me as a fairly reliable narrator, which I enjoyed. This is my first book by Close, but I'm definitely curious to read more. She has a style that gripped me instantly and felt very accessible, for lack of a better way of describing it. I was definitely turning the pages way after bedtime. There are a few clichés, a little predictability, but this isn't really a story about plot twists, it's about observation, about nuance and characters, and on that score it delivered!

Find more reviews and bookish fun at http://www.princessandpen.com

[Y. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this one more than I actually did. First, the title is misleading, at least for 95% of the book. One is not "hopeful" when all one does is complain about DC and hating DC (because wow, nothing compares to NYC! And the rats in DC are apparently so much larger! In my opinion, both statements are false. Also, yes, grocery stores suck in DC, but NYC doesn't really rank too highly on this either...). Really, all Beth does is complain. And her husband, Matt, doesn't quite give off a hopeful attitude either, given that he's constantly looking for new jobs, even though he literally just started a new one. Or maybe Close thinks that never being satisfied means that they're hopeful? In what definition...

Anyway, Beth hates DC and everyone in it, Matt hates all the jobs he has. To be fair though, Beth has a point, to a certain extent. If all the people you hang out with are political types, then obviously you're going to hate your life if you're not one of them, because they are the worst. Like, 30-year old sycophantic frat boys, pissing contests worst. Well, they meet another young couple, become fast friends... or do they??

Everyone in this book is insufferable. Every single one of them, except maybe Colleen and Bruce, but they don't show up a lot. Beth, Matt, Jimmy, Ashleigh (Ash-lay, of course), Matt's entire Kennedy-esque family, all the people in DC, etc.

[Snotchocheez · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I totally enjoyed 2/3rds of Jennifer Close's The Hopefuls. The story of the Kellys---narrator Beth (a Wisconsinite turned NYC denizen and writer for Vanity Fair) and her husband Matt (a Harvard lawyer with a political bent)--is a pitch-perfect, convincingly realistic look at the behind-the-scenes goings-on in Washington DC,

When Beth gets laid off in 2008, Matt lands a job with the Obama election campaign, relocating the couple to the epicenter of the political process. Beth, not particularly politically-minded, predictably hates the surface superficiality of the DC cognoscenti scene but dutifully accedes to the aspirations of Matt. At one of the countless obligatory parties attended by Obama campaign workers (with Matt schmoozing and networking away, and Beth feeling like a fish out of water), they meet Texans Jimmy (a charismatic co-worker of Matt's) and his trophy wife Ashleigh (also feeling completely out of place in DC). The four bond quickly and become inseparable: the men working their way up to prominence through five years of serving the Obama administration(s), the women providing their husbands (and each other) moral support to navigate DC and its clique-y/fake-y substrata.

Ms. Close, with a snarky sense of humor and a keen eye for her surroundings, provides a very realistic (yet lay person's) view of DC and the political process, and the toll it takes on married "politicos". ( The Hopefuls' obvious (to me) locus of comparison is Curtis Sittenfeld's fictional take on Laura Bush's life American Wife, though from an outsider's POV). For me, this was a solid four-star read throughout, although it hiccups a bit when Close moves the proceedings away from DC to Sugar Land, Texas, to follow Jimmy and Matt's circuitous ascent up the political ladder. (I see why she took the story there, but it didn't quite work for me, despite her best intentions). The misstep dampened slightly my enthusiasm for the book, but not enough to slam it (as many of my fellow Goodreaders have). Though her first two books don't really sound "up my alley", I'm sure I'll be reading more from Ms. Close in the years to come.

(Bonus: She totally sold me on Torchy's Tacos, a Texas taqueria chain. Never been, but damn I could sure devour some fried avocado or Dirty Sanchez tacos right now! yum!)

[Esil · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I was in the mood for something light, but engaging, and The Hopefuls did the trick. The Hopefuls is focused on Beth and Matt, who have recently moved to Washington DC for Matt's new job at the White House following Obama's election. Matt is very ambitious and Beth -- who's character narrates the story -- is an unconvinced outside observer. This gives Jennifer Close an excuse to write about the crew of young ambitious politicos who work in DC -- the same types who are so unflatteringly portrayed in Veep. The story itself is about Beth and Matt's relationship with another young couple, Jimmy and Ash, and the strains and complications of relationships based on the political ambitions of Matt and Jimmy and the dislocation of Beth and Ash. The strength of the book is the peek into the world it depicts -- a world fuelled more by young raw ambition rather than true dedication to political ideas and goals. Close's tone is good humoured, but there's a bite to the humour. The weakness is that the story does take on a bit too much of a predictable relationship focus turn toward the end, which ultimately deflated some of the book's strength for me. In her acknowledgments, Close suggests that the people she knows in DC are much kinder than the people depicted. This may well be true, but even from my limited Canadian experience, I suspect that there's a fair bit of truth to the world Close depicts.

The Hopefuls was written and published before the election this year. I suspect there is a whole different novel to be written about young Democrats in DC following this most recent election. I remember reading an article written by a reporter who described walking through the streets of DC around 2 am after the election, where all the houses were lit and people could be seen through the windows openly crying. Many hopes and jobs shattered...

Thanks to Robbie for enticing me with his excellent 3.5 star review. I landed in the same place, but am glad I took the lead.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. This is a weird book, because while there is something relate-able about Beth's ennui-go-with-the-flow-no-real-opinions personality, I also found it deeply frustrating. She is so passive. SO PASSIVE. I get that part of that is what the book is trying to get across - one of her friends tells her this point blank at the end. But she ever does anything to correct the things she spends the whole book complaining about. Her husband wants to leave NYC for DC, her fav city? Sure. He wants to take a job that'll be a substantial pay-cut? Ok. He wants to spend every Sunday at his family's for dinner but then still expects her to split holidays when she never sees her parents? All right. He wants to move to Texas to run a campaign? Why not. He turns into a total dickbag robot version of himself? Just sit there and take it.

Beth's relationship with Matt is the only thing in her life for most of the book - her whole world revolves around it. And it's hard to feel sorry for her in Texas because she spends the entire book telling you and showing you how great he is, how understanding. And you think...you know, if you opened your mouth even once to tell him what you wanted - if you even knew what you wanted - he might listen. I kept waiting for her to look at him in Texas and just say, "Ok, fine, you know what you can do this for a year I'm going home." Basically, I waned to give her a good shake and remind her that her life is her own and marriage doesn't mean she has to or gets to stop living it.

And then, at the end, to somehow make all of this make more sense, we get a random aside about her honeymoon - oh, Maybe Matt isn't all sunshine and roses. But, too late. It came way too late. Basically, the first 275 pages of this book are Beth complaining and being miserable and he last 30 have things happening. Only at the end? Nothing changes. Beth still has a life that revolves around Matt, only he's back to being nice again.

I keep reading that this is a book for and about Millennials, but if it is, what the fuck is the author saying about them? Because Beth spends an entire book wandering aimlessly through her own life, with no passions or motivation or ambition, content to let people around her dictate where she ends up. She quietly judges everyone around her but never has the guts to say anything, even to stand up for herself. She just placidly accepts the problems she has to deal with and doesn't ever try to change them. And...that just doesn't scream millennial to me.

I don't know. I wanted to like this book, I did. Part of me thinks I'd like it better, find it more relate-able if it were from Matt's point of view - privileged kid being brought up to think he was special and wonderful and suddenly he's not getting everything he wanted right when he wants it and has a meltdown even as he works hard and fights for something.

I can see how this might appeal to a lot of people, but for me it was a slog.

[Jessica J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Jennifer Close’s last novel, The Smart One, and was actually kind of disappointed that it has a pretty low rating here on Goodreads. It's really good, it's timely, and it's insightful. That's why I was really excited to grab a copy of this from Penguin’s First to Read program. I had enough points for one book and it was either this or the new Maggie O’Farrell. Maggie’s already on hold at the library, so I quickly grabbed Jennifer.

I kinda wish I’d gone with my first instinct, though, and grabbed Maggie. This wasn’t a bad book, but it just didn’t shine for me.

This is a pitfalls-of-marriage novel set against the world of DC insiders. Our narrator, Beth, moves from New York to DC when her husband Matt gets a job in the Obama administration. She’s a little resentful, as she loved the world she’d created for herself in New York and she finds it hard to get her footing in DC. She doesn’t inhabit the obsessive political world that her husband inhabits and so she finds it hard to make friends. Eventually, she befriends another outsider named Ashleigh. Matt befriends Ashleigh’s husband Jimmy, and it seems like she’s finally found a fun little social network of her own. But as time goes by, Beth starts to realize new things about her husband, their marriage, and their friends—and she’s not so sure she likes all of it.

One thing that Close does well is set the scene. Because I work in publishing, I live in the cheaper Maryland ‘burbs and my job has nothing to do with that insider scene. So I actually rarely interact with the type of character that Close is describing here but damn if I didn’t recognize it and damn if it didn’t make me laugh. I loved her description of Snowmageddon, I loved recognizing the neighborhoods and the restaurants these characters inhabit. DC is an incredibly weird city with a culture unlike any other city. There’s plusses and minuses that come with that, but one thing’s for sure: it’s incredibly hard to develop legit friendships in this place, especially if you’re not part of that insider world. I really appreciated Beth’s struggle in that regard.

Unfortunately, though, I found the rest of Beth’s story pretty flat. This book never really rises above beach read and it doesn’t really have a lot of depth, either in the plot or the characters. It didn’t feel quite like we were building to anything specific or unique other than the kind of obvious marital tensions, and even that was a sloooooow build. It wasn’t boring, necessarily, just…flat.

I found Beth kind of frustrating because she was so damn passive, just kind of letting things happen to her without putting up any kind of resistance or effort in any direction. And there’s no growth or development to speak of. By the time the book ended, I felt like she was more or less in the exact same spot she’d started in. And none of the other characters—Matt, Ashleigh, Jimmy—ever became anything but a Type. The first-person narration here was done through a lens that was a little tooooo snarky, a little too lacking in empathy (Beth could be a little bitchy at times) and so I was never all that interested in them.

A pleasant enough way to spend a couple of days, The Hopefuls would be a great book for someone looking for something light and breezy but is likely to disappoint anyone who wants some heft and weight.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.
Ronald Reagan

I have to agree with old Ronnie. I’ve never been a terribly political person, I’m an informed voter and love my adopted country, but the political power sphere held little interest. Yet, having moved so close to DC some years ago, it’s hard not to become fascinated by the muck of politics, even from a distance. From time to time I've selected books that unmask this world of skullduggery, both fiction and non fiction, and admittedly my choices have been mostly satirical because it really is part theatre.

And so it is that I picked up The Hopefuls remaining ever optimistic that I’d find a light, fictional and humorous read and for the first part it held up. The author knows DC, the raw ambition, the eagerness for power, the city where everyone walks around with lanyards adorned with ID cards, the first question you’re asked is who do you work for and where discussing security clearances actually subs for dinner party conversation. This first half is a witty skewering of all the absurdity that is this town and when the female protagonist lands a job for a website that is like ‘Page Six and Politico had a baby that’s not quite right in the head’ you wonder how accurately this might resemble HuffPo.

The second half, when the action moves to Houston, is where it fell apart for me. Yes, she does seem to want to show us the tedium of running a campaign, but in this effort, she stopped entertaining. Friendships and marriages start crumbling, the biting humor is gone and just like the female protagonist of the story, we are left to wonder why we left DC.

I’m giving it three stars because the humor in the first half was inspired, the outsiders point of view of both DC and her husband’s family (Kennedy-esque in their exuberance) made me want to quote to someone out loud. But for scathing satire and abject disgrace because it’s non-fiction, I recommend Mark Leibovich’s This Town: Two Parties and a Funeral. That was eye opening and it makes Reagan’s quote too true to dismiss and this other so aptly true.

I think the so called oldest profession has an honesty that is inordinately lacking in the political classes. Paromjit

[Prabhjot Kaur · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me start with appreciating the cover and the title. OMG I loved this cover when I first looked at it and the title of the book put a wide smile on my face because let's face it, we are all hopefuls in our own lives and this day and age requires hope to be your number one weapon as well to be your best friend. So naturally, I dived straight into it with the hope that this is going to be one great book. My hopes were shattered pretty quickly and I wasn't able to bring myself back to the top again throughout.

All the characters are so plain and stupid that instead of being The Hopefuls, they seemed like The Idiots to me. I just couldn't get into the story, In fact I'm not even sure what the story was. But I kept on reading with the hope that this would turn out to be great may be from the middle or even towards the end. Nope, nothing of the sort happened. I think the author was going for one thing but lost her hope towards that plot and she gave us this.

Absolutely boring, no depth to the characters (even the first layer was missing) and missing/confusing storyline (not sure whether it was missing or it was to confuse us).


"When a friendship ends, people don't always give it the same amount of thought that they do relationships ... most of the time, friendships end in a different way - slowly, and without declarations. Usually people don't really notice until a friend has been gone for a while and then they just say they grew apart, or their lives became too different.”
― I did love this quote from the book and therefore giving it an extra star.

2 stars

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this for many reasons including the writing style, the believable (if not always likable) characters, the timing with the upcoming election, and that it's set in DC (where I lived/worked out of college). I was not surprised to see that the author's husband worked on the Obama campaign. It's written with such immediacy and believability it almost feels like a memoir at times. (I am not a Washington insider, have never worked in politics, so I say that from an outsider's perspective. Nevertheless, I bought it fully.) I love, love, loved living in DC and one of the closing lines about what I consider my adopted city brought tears to my eyes: "And then there's the way that people come here, earnest and full of dreams, believing they can make a difference." Yes, YES! I was not there for politics, but that sums up what I loved about the vibe of the city. I began my career (and, really, my adult life) in DC quite "earnest and full of dreams." And it was wonderful.

[Lori · Rating 1 out of 5]

"The Hopefuls"--or the more accurate subtitle: "Privileged People Bitching About EVERYTHING."

I tried to like this book; I wanted to. I stuck with it to the end because I wanted to understand, something, about these people and their motivations. The book is well written and the first half in Washington DC moves at a brisk clip, but finally, the characters just ruined it.

These have to be the most annoying, unappealing and unsympathetic protagonists I have encountered in a long time. Ultimately, I just could not get past them. Beth, (our narrator) seems to have one favorite word--"hate": she hates Washington, the people, the climate, the food, the traffic, the lack of appropriate bodegas/grocery stores, the fashion...one entire page early on is simply a rant of what she "hates." Later this includes most of her in laws, co workers, children...you name it. She is snarky and self absorbed, calls others out for their judgments but fails to see it in her herself. She is jealous of others--what they have, what she doesn't have. She says she is a "normal" and "simple" girl from Wisconsin but only all things NYC will suit her. At one point Beth is chastised by a friend who tells her she must get motivated and stop letting things happen TO her--and that sums up Beth's character for me entirely: she drifts along, "hating" and being miserable but doing nothing to make her life better or to change the circumstances.

Does she love Matt? I never got a clear picture of this marriage. Beth even considers she got married as a result of terrorism--after 9/11 all her friends fell into relationships so she did as well. I finished and still had no real clue if this was a marriage of love or convenience. I still had no idea if Beth learned anything or was just going to keep drifting along, complaining about most everything.

Her whining went on and on to the point I could not tolerate her.

Her husband, Matt, and their toxic friendship with Ash and Jimmy offered me no resolutions, either. We can see the problems with Ash and Jimmy coming long before the final conflict, and Matt becomes as infuriating as Beth. While criticizing Beth for her inert nature, Matt's controlling and competitive nature pushes his agenda on her and everyone around him. When the plot moves to TX the action bogs down, becomes quite predictable and their superior attitude over all things Southern becomes an additional, grating, element.

I tried to give them all the benefit of the doubt--they are young; most are grossly ambitious, and caught in webs of political backstabbing and chaos. I tried to consider that, perhaps, I was supposed to be leery of them all. Was I supposed to come away seeing these people as shallow whiners who were living in an equally shallow, politics-soaked, environment?

I don't know. What I do know is that I couldn't find any sympathy for any of them, and all I wanted to do was slap the snot out of all them, tell them to grow the hell up and most of all, to stop whining, bitching, and moaning.

Maybe I took it too seriously for a beach read-romp. But I was disappointed that as I hard as I tried I still walked away never really seeing if anybody learned anything; if anyone will change in anyway. All I clearly understood is that I disliked all these people so immensely that I could not like the novel.

[Foteini Fp · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ας μου γίνει το πάθημα μάθημα ώστε όταν ψάχνω ένα χαλαρό ανάγνωσμα για τις πολύ ζεστές μέρες να δίνω περισσότερη προσοχή στην περίληψη. Για παράδειγμα: "When Beth arrives in Washington, D.C., she hates everything about it: the confusing traffic circles, the ubiquitous Ann Taylor suits, the humidity that descends each summer." Και πράγματι σιχαίνεται τα πάντα σε σημείο που ο χαρακτήρας της μοιάζει με ένα μαύρο σύννεφο που πλανιέται πάνω από κάθε σελίδα δημιουργώντας σου την εντύπωση ότι έχεις να κάνεις με ένα ιδιότροπο πεντάχρονο κοριτσάκι που πεινάει και δεν έχει κοιμηθεί αρκετά. Ουσιαστικά δεν της λείπει τίποτα. (Privileged people problems).
Επιπροσθέτως το βιβλιαράκι αυτό είναι ένας ύμνος στον Ομπάμα και τη γυναίκα του. Καλός, χρυσός ο Ομπάμα αλλά αν σε κάθε σελίδα διαβαζεις έναν ύμνο στο πρόσωπό του θα τον βαρεθείς στο τέλος. (Το πολύ Κύριε Ελέησον...)
Συνοψίζοντας, η Μπεθ μισεί τα πάντα και αγαπά το ζεύγος Ομπάμα. Κι αν ξεκινήσεις ένα drinking game κατά το οποίο θα πίνεις ένα σφηνάκι κάθε φορά που θα μισεί κάτι ή που θα εξυμνεί τον Ομπάμα θα έχεις γίνει κουδούνι στις δέκα πρώτες σελίδες.
Αστεράκια δύο γιατί όσο κακό κι αν είναι δεν θεωρώ ότι του αξίζουν λιγότερα, έχει εξάλλου ένα πολύ όμορφο εξώφυλλο, έναν ιδιαίτερα αισιόδοξο τίτλο και ένα περιεχόμενο που θα μπορούσε να σε μεθύσει σε δύο λεπτά.

[Lisa (NY) · Rating 4 out of 5]

[3.5] Written with a light touch, The Hopefuls chronicles a young couple's marriage after moving to Washington D.C. I enjoyed the insider view of the Washington D.C. political world and Obama campaigns. Around the middle it stalled, and the details of Beth's unhappy passivity grew tiresome. But it picked up again towards the end and overall it was a good diverting read.

[Ijeoma · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Hopefuls did two things for me:
1. It got me out of a reading slump
2. Gave me insight into the political scene

What did it not do:
1. Move me, emotionally
2. Provide a plot that went somewhere

Though this novel did not receive high reviews, I elected to read it anyway, because the synopsis was enticing and I needed a read that could recharge my reading course.

The Hopefuls is about a couple (Matt and Beth Kelly) who relocate to Washington, DC in order to help Matt, who is hopeful about advancing in the political scene. Along their journey, they meet another couple that help introduce them to the DC way of life and the political scene. Without giving away too much, the relationship between the couples begins to change, which is fueled by jealousy, resentment, and distrust. This downturn was pretty obvious once the second couple was introduced. I mean, I smelled it from a mile away.

The only thing I would say is the saving grace for this novel is Jennifer Close does a great job of engaging the reader in the world of her characters. She did a good job researching the fundamentals of managing a campaign and working with staff in the White House. Often, I felt privied to "behind the scenes" classified information.

The storyline moved, but it did not build or go anywhere. To that, I would say, there was a lack of growth even for the characters. Again, without given away too much, I found myself wondering what could I take away from this novel, except that it was interesting and entertaining. But I will leave you to judge.

[Sarah at Sarah's Bookshelves · Rating 4 out of 5]

While The Hopefuls is set in the political world, it’s not a book about politics. Rather, it’s a book about marriage and friendship set against the backdrop of politics. Beth finds D.C. an odd and unwelcoming place until she and Matt meet the Dillons, another couple who will become their best friends. Beth is an accessible and relatable narrator and her witty commentary about the douche-y D.C. politicos had me chuckling. Maybe it was her pop culture references (including one about Friday Night Lights!) or her propensity to point out D.C. traits I would also find annoying or the fact that she and Matt’s time in NYC coincided with mine, but I felt like she was speaking my language. The Hopefuls also tackles themes that resonated with me: making new friends as adults (and navigating the boundaries of said friendships), the nosiness of small towns, and trying to find your footing in a new place.

"Here’s what I still hate about DC: the way that nothing is permanent, the feeling that everything and everyone you know, could (and does) wash away every four or eight years. All of these important people, so ingrained in the city—you can’t imagine that this place could exist without them. But one day they’re gone and everything keeps moving just the same. Who can get their footing in a place like this? It feels like quicksand to me."

My only complaint was that the ending wrapped things up a little too nicely, yet didn’t. The question of where the characters end up was answered, but some large issues that figured prominently in the storyline and certainly should have impacted the outcome of the book were left unexplored. Despite the unsatisfying ending, I thoroughly enjoyed the ride (which, as I discussed here, is generally more important to me anyway) and highly recommend The Hopefuls as a light, relatable summer read.

Visit my blog, www.sarahsbookshelves.com, for more reviews.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Based on the premise of this title, I was expecting a gossipy, salacious read but as I began reading I quickly found that this wasn't going to be the case and I was OK with that. I enjoyed the start of this story; the author began a smart novel that had me captivated in the inner machinations of the Obama campaign and in the professional political culture of Washington D.C. However I soon lost interest as the story moved forward without really taking the characters anywhere. The protagonist, Beth, was dull and the Dillon's who were introduced as charming and enigmatic became characterized, inconsistent, and just unbelievable. The story had promise but I was left pretty unsatisfied

[Leslie Ann (lalasbookishlife) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one! At times it seemed to drag and parts of it probably could have been left out and made the book a little more fast paced, but it was an interesting read! I would have been happier with more of a plot... It sort of read like it was just a glimpse into the characters' everyday lives for the 4+ years the book spans over. I loved the ending though! It wasn't abrupt and I felt like everything that happened was dealt with and not left to wonder.

[Fyrephoenix · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a boring read....reading this was slightly more entertaining than watching paint dry. I wanted to either shake Beth or push her off a cliff, along with her self absorbed husband. What was the point of this story?

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, I just wanted MORE here. I wanted this book to focus and really be about something. It could have been an expose of Washington politics. It could have been an exploration of a political marriage. It just could have been SOMETHING. Instead, what I got was a thinly written set of characters who I knew nothing about, not really. Beth, our narrator, is so bland and I never really understood if she actually liked her husband Matt or if he was just convenient. Who is Ash? Why Colleen? Why are there so many characters and so many asides that lead nowhere? Jennifer Close writes these quick snippets of things that lead nowhere. You keep waiting for her endless descriptions to be important.

The first chapter or two are pretty fun though. I'll give her that.

[Nadia]

An entertaining read - especially in light of the recent election and for those of us who live in the bedroom communities of Washington DC. The main character is a NYC transplant and she has the same shock at the cleanliness of the DC Metro that I experienced when I first ventured south. There's a no eating/drinking policy for the DC Metro. (Would that solve NYC's rat problem? I doubt a nuclear fallout would solve NYC's rat problem but I digress...)

It's also the timeless story of a couple trying to understand that negotiation and compromise are part of the politics of a relationship.

[Mari · Rating 2 out of 5]

First let me say I have enjoyed Closes's previous novels and could have liked this book BUT... I couldn't wait for this book to end.

The main character is so unhappy, from page one to the last chapter. It put a shadow over the book for me. If the author wanted me to shake Beth at times for being passive... job well done.

This book will make for a good book discussion.

Have you read this book? I'm curious to know how Beth read for you.

[Rissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an interesting view on working/campaigning for a future president but a little to democratic for me at times. It was a cute contemporary and an enjoyable story.

[disco · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main couple in this book - Beth and Matt - are probably the most basic "normal" couple that you could imagine. I found myself hating their relationship and swearing that if I was ever involved in something like theirs, I would take off running. The author's description and inside look at working in politics had all desired elements. A topic I usually find uninteresting, I couldn't get enough of. Beth was relate-able, charming, and it felt like I knew her, but I wanted to rescue her from her marriage. Overall I never wanted this book to end, but it felt like there wasn't much left to tell. They were a normal everyday couple, doing normal everyday things. It was written so well but the privilege game was STRONG in this one. They didn't really* have to worry about money, food, jobs, or their future. It would have been nice to see this nice, white, straight couple struggle a bit more. ;)

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book held a poignancy for me. That isn't because I've ever been involved with politics, but because I have vivid memories of several "couples" friendships that were of a certain time and place in our lives, and that faded away so gradually that it happened before we noticed.
Granted, the world the Dillons and Kellys lived in was more intense, more dramatic, than mine, and there was never a "moment" that broke apart the relationship. It was the fading away of the closeness, the sense of nostalgia and regret for those previous golden times, that I picked up on at the end of the novel that made me like it so much.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like 3.5. I loved the first 80% of the book - especially with all the references to some of my favorite DC haunts. The last 20% took a turn that I had trouble buying into but ultimately was satisfied with the outcome.

[rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Jennifer Close. She writes fresh, funny books about female characters that never seem too inclined to the flat relationship/domestic bliss fantasy that turns me off from women's fiction in general sometimes.

That said, I wasn't sure how I felt about The Hopefuls for most of its length, since a.) it is the story of how two marriages -- the candidate's and his campaign manager's -- are affected by political ambitions and campaigning over the years, and little else, and b.) it's told in passive voice, the events of the story taking place over five years which are now past for its narrator & wife of the campaign manager, Beth. So there is a tendency for the writing to indeed come off as flat, sometimes.

But I really liked the direction Close chose for the story in its final quarter, so I'm rounding up to four stars. I liked her quiet insights: the way that men who are sleazy sometimes reveal their sleaziness only subtly, and you at first doubt your intuition that it's there. The way marriage is essentially a contract we sign with certain expectations of who the other person will be. The way idealism and optimism fade after years of work.

The Hopefuls opens on Obama's campaign, election, and presidency; it's the career starting point for both men in the book's key marriages. Having read it in the two week stretch to the next president-elect, I liked that the book is both literally about the way many of us were enamored with the Obamas in 2008, but is also about idealism fatigue, which might be an accurate way of describing how we ended up where we are now. As I read, I felt a real nostalgia for happier times (does anyone else remember crying at the TV in 2009 because of how much they just love each other?!). This book is truly relevant to this moment in US history, for better or worse. (Let's be real, we all know it's worse.)

[Courtney · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wimp marries Slightly Ambitious Man. Wimp moves with SAM to DC to work for the White House. Wimp complains for 100+ pages about missing New York and hating DC. Wimp does bare minimum in life and complains about that too.

Wimp and SAM meet their new BFF couple. DC Utopia achieved. Lots of things are insinuated - nothing actually happens.

BFF's move to Texas. Wimp and SAM follow to help with a campaign. Wimp complains and does LITERALLY nothing for another 200 pages and then wonders why no one respects or cares about her. It's quite the quandary.

Wimp continues to sponge off of everyone and until the wimpiest cheating scene ever takes place. Wimp whimpers back to DC and waits for SAM to forgive her. He does. They move to the suburbs.

Fin.

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

What makes a book good? Is it likable characters? Some imitation of life that resonates with us? The feeling of living vicariously through the characters? I'm really wondering, and not being long winded here. Because I would say I don't know enough about DC to find the endless bellyaching about it to be interesting. I wouldn't necessarily say I found any of the characters likable (in fact, she's so damn passive that I forgot the main character's name for about 2 chapters). And yet I was interested in what they'd do, interested in this strange world the author constructed. So make of that what you will--this kept me turning the pages for three stars of a good time.