- Paperback: 448 pages
- Publisher: Myrmidon Books Ltd; 1 edition (4 April 2010)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1905802196
- ISBN-13: 978-1905802197
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.7 x 4.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 525,590 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Hope Against Hope
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
LONGLISTED FOR ROMANTIC NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2011 Stoical and industrious Carrie and carefree and vivacious May lose both home and livelihood when their Leeds pub is sold out from under them to make way for the coming of the railway. They head for Harrogate to find work and lodging in the spa town's burgeoning hotel trade. But the sisters fall prey to fraudsters and predators and are also driven apart by misunderstanding, pride and a mutual sense of betrayal and resentment. May's fate is a high-class brothel from which her escape leads only to hunger in the slums of Paris. Carrie becomes a virtual slave to the vicious hostess of a filthy boarding house and the victim of her vindictive son.Alex Sinclair, a bold and warm-spirited Scot, has eschewed the wishes of his father to become a railway engineer. His companion, Charles Hammond is the dissolute heir to a vast fortune, withheld from him by an overbearing mother and grasping stepfather. Charles bides his time as a physician, a profession for which he lacks both aptitude and enthusiasm. The futures of both men will become bound up with those of the two sisters.As time passes the sisters overcome their adversities: May becomes the most sought after dressmaker in Paris; Carrie, the proprietor of the most successful hotel in Harrogate. Feeling spurned by Carrie, Alex pours himself obsessively into new railway projects. Meanwhile, having been almost destroyed through gambling, drunkenness and self-loathing, Charles starts on the long and difficult road to redemption and fulfilment.Carrie and May have now been estranged for several years. There seems little hope of reconciliation or of either of them or finding love and lasting happiness. But this is 1848, the 'Year of Revolutions'. The streets of Paris erupt in bloody insurrection...while Alex Sinclair is commissioned to bring the railway to Harrogate.
About the Author
Sally Zigmond lives in North Yorkshire where much of Hope Against Hope is set. She has written professionally for eleven years, publishing several short stories and a novella: Chasing Angels. For several years she was commissioning editor for QWF, the literary short fiction magazine for women and is reviews editor for The Historical Novels Review.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Refreshingly exuberant,
By
This review is from: Hope Against Hope (Paperback)
A very absorbing story, meaty enough to keep me going for a good long time and full of characters I wanted to spend time with. Perfectly paced, Hope Against Hope becomes exuberantly fast-moving, covering all the human feelings - jealousy, anger, lust, love, betrayal, rivalry, despair and hope. Thoroughly recommended.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not great,
This review is from: Hope Against Hope (Paperback)
I enjoyed some aspects of this novel - it's a sweet, old-fashioned story and the central characters (two sisters) are likeable. But I found the writing very amateurish (for example, the two sisters tell each other how old they are for the reader's benefit!) and clunky, and the plot predictable, plodding and in places ridiculous. The deficiencies in the writing meant I was never quite able to suspend my disbelief and immerse myself in the characters' world - I was always aware that I was being told a story (badly!), rather than living it with the characters.The story rambled about all over the place, and went on far, far too long. There were some bits of the plot that were laughable. The two sisters at one point live minutes' walk from each other, but don't meet for weeks - not, at this stage, because they've fallen out, but because one of them is 'too busy' (in other words, purely for the sake of the plot!). The text was riddled with grammatical and typographical errors - it doesn't seem to have been properly edited, which is odd given that the cover and general look of the book are very nice. Style over substance?!
2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Skilful,
By
This review is from: Hope Against Hope (Paperback)
A fabulous, humongous book that will take you through every emotion you own, and a few you'd forgotten you have.Skilful, intricate story telling on a wide canvas. Highly recommended.
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