Expectation Anna Hope - Blog Tour and review

I jumped at the chance to join the blog tour for the latest book by Anna Hope as I absolutely adore her previous books, both historical novels, Hope and the stunning Ballroom. This lady is without doubt an exceptionally talented and accomplished author with the ability to create a world into which you are gently immersed then suddenly drowning in emotion.

Expectation couldn’t be more different in style and setting to both this authors previous books and I must admit I was a little wary of the genre change, historical fiction being a theme I am reluctant to relinquish.

This is edgy women’s contemporary fiction, with a modern day setting and themes of female ambitions and friendship. The author will gather a whole new following with this book. Featuring twenty and thirty-something girls written with depth and feeling. Youthful and contemporary the book centres around feelings of dissatisfaction when life never goes quite to plan and opportunities are missed. It explores what people will do to try and put things right, dealing with envy, loss and a sense of self failure.

Expectation is woven around the lives of three women, Hanna, Kate and Lissa and moves back and forth between their lives when they were students, sharing a flat in London with a world of opportunity spread before them and moves forward 10 years to the present day when they are all dissatisfied thirty somethings

All 3 women are dissatisfied with where life and their choices have taken them. It is true to life, in that so many of us follow routes expected of us, make poor decisions and end up feeling “this isn’t the life I should be living” It’s easy to let this feeling overwhelm you especially when you see other people seem to have what you wanted. In these circumstances it’s easy to feel resentment and envy towards others who we perceive have done better than we have and often these are those closest to us, friends.

The 3 young women back in their twenties, studying at University, have pretty clear ideas of where they want to be in ten years and they all make every effort to be successful in their life choices, sometimes quite ruthlessly but things never go quite as planned and there is a lot of truth in the old adage be careful what you wish for, as even when you get it, things may not be what you hoped for.

When they are young I didn’t think I would be able to relate to any particular girl, but as they mature I felt a deeper empathy with one in particular which meant I connected with her story most. I think there is at least one of them who you will think I have felt exactly like that.

Present day again and each young woman sees at least one of her friends has something which she herself has missed out on. The women drift apart and back together, always friends but not always happy with each other. Resentments and jealousy create tension and ambition gets in the way clouding their judgement. Yes ladies this is life!! and we are allowed to vicariously live the lives of failing actress Lissa, bewildered and dissatisfied Wife and Mother Cate and Hanna desperate for a baby of her own.

There are a lot of dark and sad events in the book, interspersed with some lighter and wryly humorous moments. It is above all a testament to the ups and downs of relationships, female friendship, the roles women are expected to play in society and the pressure put on them to conform to society’s ideals of womanhood. It’s topical and current with loads of tension and emotion which I think would make a great tv drama.

The Blurb

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?


EXPECTATION is a novel of the highs and lows of friendship – how it can dip, dive and rise again. It is also about finding your way: as a mother, a daughter, a wife, a rebel. Most of all, it explores that liminal space between expectation and reality, the place – full of dreams, desires and pain – in which we all live our lives.

The Author

ANNA HOPE studied at Oxford University and RADA. 

Her contemporary fiction debut, Expectation, explores themes of love, lust, motherhood, and feminism, while asking the greater question of what defines a generation.

She lives in Sussex with her husband and young daughter