Review: Expectation by Anna Hope

What happened to the women we were supposed to become?

Hannah, Cate and Lissa are young, vibrant and inseparable. Living on the edge of a common in East London, their shared world is ablaze with art and activism, romance and revelry - and the promise of everything to come. They are electric. They are the best of friends.

Ten years on, they are not where they hoped to be. Amidst flailing careers and faltering marriages, each hungers for what the others have. And each wrestles with the same question: what does it take to lead a meaningful life?

The most razor-sharp and heartbreaking novel of the year, EXPECTATION is a novel about finding your way: as a mother, a daughter, a wife, a rebel.

Review: Wow this book blew me away, I had left this book for a little while because there was a lot of hype surrounding it and I didn’t want that to affect my reading of this novel. But boy was that hype worth it?! I loved the idea of expectation in all its forms and how it is explored here. I like the idea that we place expectations on ourselves, on others and also the idea of when a woman should and shouldn’t be ‘expecting’.

I loved getting to meet Hannah, Cate and Lissa. They have been friends forever and each wants what the other has. Life is not quite where they expected it would be and each of these women experiences that in a different way, I really had a soft spot for Cate and her new role in motherhood. I really felt for her at every moment and I feel like I warmed to her story just a little more than the other 2. 

I also really loved the structure of this book. I loved a flashback and even though I listened to this one on audio. It was always very clear what was a flashback and what was bringing us back to the present day. The flashbacks gave tantalizing moments in these women’s lives, we get to see two friends away from the third, relationships past and past misdemeanors that all make up what each of these characters are today. 

This plot was so intricately woven, I feel like if I read this one again today I would discover even more about each of these women and there would be new revelations for me to find. I also really annoyed the London setting for the main part of this novel. London becomes a bit of a fourth character bolstering the women when they need it up also adding to the urgency of their quest to meet their own expectations. Highly recommended. 

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