Hope Became the Enemy

by Julie M. Hammond

Hope Became The Enemy is the story of a young independent English woman, Josie. Looking for excitement and adventure, Josie decides on a career change and moves to Turkey to teach English. As she slowly falls in love with her new life, she takes the reader on an exciting journey across Turkey, and through her eyes they learn about the cultures and traditions of this exotic country. Josie quickly finds that living in a patriarchal country is very different to the life she knew in the west.

By chance, while she is on holiday with friends on the west coast, she meets the tall, charismatic Bechir. Their relationship is rocky and has its ups and downs but a couple of years later, she accepts a proposal of marriage and soon falls pregnant with their first child. She settles down to live happily ever after with the man that she loves.

All too late she discovers that she is married to a malignant narcissist and is isolated from friends and family. Trapped in a cycle of abuse, apology, and forgiveness, she knows she must leave. But how?

332 pages, Paperback

Published April 26, 2022

Reviews

[Jill Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a multifaceted book and I read it in the span of a day. Trigger warning: domestic violence. The novel begins after Josie becomes recently divorced and independently wants to travel to Turkey to have a fulfilling career as an English teacher. Her time starts out filled with laughter and friendship with many colleagues. Josie meets Bechir unexpectedly when on vacation with friends, and they immediately hit it off. Soon enough, Bechir starts exhibiting red flags and #narcissisticbehavior to the point that Josie’s life is endangered! The story is told from Josie’s point of view, and the writer is very descriptive about the culture, location and local cuisine. I wanted to try a lot of the foods mentioned! The storytelling was very well-written, but often times I would become frustrated with Josie for continuing to return to this abusive relationship. It is also very difficult once children are involved in a country where women have less societal rights- and Josie did not want to endanger her children. This book included a lot of accurate #nonfiction knowledge about #domesticviolenceawareness and targeting #redflags in potential abusers. I rate Hope Becomes the Enemy 4/5 stars.

[Paula Nisan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book that I couldn’t put down. I think I identified with Josie at the beginning as I have also worked overseas. I loved the cultural aspects of the book; getting to know Turkey and the food. I was totally invested in Bechir and Josie’s romance and what happened after their marriage was a complete shock. I was completely unaware of the malignant narcissist’s personality and learned a lot. Obviously a lot of research went into this book and it was a lovely mix of fact and fiction.

[Lauren pavey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has been a joy to read even though it has been such a heartbreaking one.

It is the perfect holiday read though and I only wish I had been laying by a pool on turkey reading it! although the Turkish tea I had to drink certainly did help set the scene.

This for the most part was a beautiful yet heartbreaking tale. It felt very very personal and Josie became a complete person for me. It felt like I was reading something very very intimate, almost as if I was reading someone’s diary.

I do feel that there was so much plot and content that this would have worked fantastically as two books as I would have loved a little more dialogue and detail.
As there was so much content I found I got a little confused at times and had to reread sections .

I came away from this book with so many questions as I really loved the character Josie, I wanted to know more about her life before turkey and what happened when the book finished. I think also knowing more about her first relationship and her life in England may have shaped the decisions she would later go on to make.

I found I wanted to shake Josie at times as there were so many warning signs but it’s easy to say from outsider and so hard when inside the relationship and the author conveyed that perfectly .

It was easy and enjoyable to read even given the heartbreaking dark plot and I really want to read more from the author !!

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A believable insight into the relationship pressures and abuse faced by a modern European woman, married to a deeply flawed individual, whilst living in a patriarchal society. An illuminating, occasionally funny, and often shocking story of survival. A good read!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hope became the enemy by Julie M Hammond.

Thank you for letting me be a part Cranthorpe Millner Bookstagram Tour. Thank you for sending me a copy of the book for free in exchange for promotion.
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Synopsis:

Hope Became The Enemy is the story of a young independent woman, Josie. Looking for excitement and adventure, Josie decides on a career change and moves to Turkey to teach English. As she slowly falls in love with her new life, she takes the reader on an exciting journey across Turkey, and through her eyes they learn about the cultures and traditions of this exotic country. While on holiday she meets the tall, charismatic Bechir. But all to late she discovers that she is married to a malignant narcissist and she knows she must leave. But How?

My thoughts

The way the Author has described Turkey in this book has made me want to go for a holiday, it sounds like a beautiful country it is so well written.
When first reading this book I was hooked very quickly and the story flowed so well that it made me want to keep reading about Jodie’s new adventure. I was laughing out loud about some of the mistakes she made when learning Turkish.
But as the story progressed it started to get darker, some of the cultural differences started to show the dark side of living in a strange country.
The book tackles the domestic abuse of women within the country and the way the law and people accept it.
I found I had so many different emotions during this book, parts of it I loved and parts made me angry. Go out and buy this book as it really makes you think.
I will be looking out for more Julie M Hammond works in the future.

[Holly Hammond · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a compelling story that takes the reader through a rollercoaster journey. It's the kind of book I picked up and couldn't put down. The perfect companion for a trip, day in the garden or cozied up on a Sunday! It also touches on a lot of important issues from a very real and human perspective which brings the story to life. A must read!

[Sue Birley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am new to matters Turkish and it was very good to read about its geography, culture and cuisine. Not so good to read about the attitudes towards women. I felt the signs were there early on and she was surely old enough not to be so naïve. Why on earth did she marry him? How easy that is to see with hindsight. She is not the first to think she could knock the spots off the leopard and once she had children to consider it all became so much more difficult.

This is an exciting and well-told story, really thought-provoking. The tension in the last few pages is very well crafted – I found myself holding my breath and looking over my shoulder. Read it to see how long it takes to breathe again…

Although Turkey sounds beautiful, unlike some other reviewers I don’t have a yen to go there, mainly because it is so patriarchal. I think I’m very conservative and don’t want to go much further afield than France which is, after all, just next-door!

How is the next book going, Julie?

[Lousbookstuff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting insight into domestic abuse, narcassism and life and culture in Turkey. I was rooting to Josie all the way through. The abuse was slow to build up and reached a terrifying climax. My heart was pounding as Josie plotted her escape from her Turkish husband. A real eye opener and something very different to what I would normally read.