HOPE AGAINST HOPE
Little Island Books, 2020
SHORTLISTED, IRISH BOOKS AWARDS
SHORTLISTED, CHILDREN’S BOOKS IRELAND AWARDS
It is 1921. Ireland has been at war with Britain for two years.
Communities are torn apart by bitter hatred – and now a hard border.
Helen’s Hope in Belfast is a hostel for girls, a feminist and non-sectarian space. Stella refuses to use the work of her girls to make political symbols, but her resistance leads eventually to a violent attack on the hostel.
Nothing could be more apposite at this moment than a novel about how hard borders and political division drive wedges into the hearts of communities.
'I devoured this book in one furious reading session. Funny, moving and full of wisdom, Hope Against Hope shows Sheena Wilkinson is a writer at the top of her game.' Jan Carson, winner of the EU Prize for Literature 2019
'Sheena Wilkinson’s third historical novel, Hope Against Hope… could not be more relevant in today’s post-Brexit Northern Ireland.' Justine Carbery, Irish Independent
'Set in a women’s hostel in a newly-partitioned island, Wilkinson again presents motivated believable female characters in entirely convincing historical conditions, taking control of their own lives and impacting on others’. The writer is an Arts Council Major Artist and has a formidable narrative gift and an acute sense of historical justice.' Belfast Telegraph
'Ideal for thoughtful teenage readers and adults alike.' Sarah Webb, Irish Independent