Love, Hope by Juliet Ann Conlin is a story about a girl who loved music ever since she first picked up a violin. She along with her best friend Janey dreamt of going to a music college and performing concerts worldwide together. Her life was good, with supporting and loving parents, her best friend, and her musical career. This changed when her Mom and Dad met with an accident while on their way to Hope's recital and died. The death left her broken and instead of going to college and starting her journey as a musician, she took the job of being a Mom to her teenage sister Autumn. To take care of her in the U.K and not letting her grandparents take her back to Australia with them, she skips her education and leaves her dream of being a violinist forever. she takes up a job at a local music shop to provide for Autumn.
Years passed and she is still working at the same shop while her best friend Janey graduated and got married, autumn finally got into medical school which she later graduated successfully. Everyone in her life moved on and did great in their life, while she is still stuck at the same job and the same life. Finally, she found an old man Arnold, to whom she writes letters after much persistence from her sister. She finds a friend in Arnold as they both love writing letters to one another. Will Arnold change Hope's life or will she be stuck in the grief brought to her after her parent's death.
Love, Hope is more or less an epistolary (i.e. written in the form of letters). Hope loves writing letters ever since she was a kid. She would write letters to her best friend Janey, and even when she grew up and found Facebook and email as a quicker option to communicate, she still preferred the old ways of putting pen to paper. The writing isn't in the traditional form and hence many people might find it difficult to read. I, on the other hand, loved the style.
Love, Hope is a story of loss and the pain that it brings. After losing her parents, Hope couldn't move on as quickly as others did. She kept her life on hold for way too long. While others around her succeeded in life, she is still stuck in the same job earning minimum wages and barely maintaining her bills. I would have to agree that everyone has a different pace at which they process grief and it's okay to take your own time. People expect you to be okay and move on, just because they did. But emotions aren't the same for all and the intensity to how much you are affected isn't the same for all. So the grieving period isn't the same for all.
Although the title is the protagonist's name, the story itself is about Hope. A hope for moving forward, for finding a ray of sunshine even amidst the darkest clouds. Hope found this in her pen-pal Arnold, who in-turns found it in her. Arnold was such a sweet character. He was so much like Hope: introverted, closed, in pain, and adamant. I loved how they shared their life with one another and how they tried to motivate each other to new challenges when even their closest friends and families failed. I guess it's easier to open up in front o a total stranger than someone you know. The friendship between Janey and Hope is beautiful as well. They look after each other through thick-n-thin. I found Hope's grandparents really cute and funny. From trying to use the technology (FB), to following astrologer/card-reader, they are the example of our parents/grandparents.
Love, Hope is a book about friendship, love, grief, happiness, pain, which basically defines 'Life'. I loved the book. It's a heart-warming read that brought out so many emotions.
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