A beautifully written book about families in a small town and how they handle sadness and loss. Greg and his wife are devastated by his diagnosis of myeloma a very aggressive type of cancer. Alex and his wife Kay are suffering through the loss of a child. The author has done a great job of connecting these and others in their town in ways that help each other. This is a sad book but also drives home the point that with help and love life can be so much better for us all. A great little read I recommend for anyone who likes this genre.
Thanks to Net Galley for allowing me to read this amazing arc for my honest review.

I really liked this book a lot. I loved how all the stories are linked together, everyone is from the same town in Connecticut, they all know each other and are associated in many ways. Ethan Joella is a truly masterful writer who is in complete control of his prose. He avoids clichés and sentimentality, completely drawing us in to the world inhabited by his cast of ordinary characters whose trials, tribulations, triumphs, disasters and ups & downs form the experiences of regular people.

I adored this book, very insightful. I love a book that gets inside its characters' heads, with internal dialogue. Makes you realise that even with people we know, we don't really know them at all. What an amazing debut! Ethan Joella writes about ordinary life (and death) in such an extraordinary way. All. The. Stars.

A Little Hope by Ethan Joella is a very highly recommended drama of interlinking stories set the small city of Wharton, Connecticut over the span of ten months.

Greg Tyler, 39, has just been diagnosed with multiple myeloma and now he and his wife, Freddie, must find a way to deal with his illness and the treatments while caring for their 7 year-old daughter. The other stories about people in or from Wharton all touch the life of the Tyler's in some way. Greg's boss, Alex, loss his son years ago and subsequently had an affair and daughter. A widow, Darcy, grieves for her late spouse while her son struggles with addiction. A wedding is being planned and we learn about several of the people involved. People are dealing with life, uncertainty, loss, and grief all while being connected through their community.

A Little Hope is a beautifully written collection of stories that work together to depict quiet, ordinary lives in a small town. The stories do return to characters and continue following their experiences. Joella presents glimpses into the lives of people in this community and opens up a window into their feelings, thoughts, struggles, and doubts. It is reminiscent of real life in the depiction of each of the characters and their private emotions as they quietly react to and process the events around them. These are ordinary individuals and this emotionally powerful debut allows us into their inner lives.

While about different individuals, the stories all work together to create a sensitive portrait of a community through the inner lives of these people. It is a strong debut novel that has an emotional intensity even though many of the character's reactions are outwardly restrained as they deal with their struggles privately. They find a way to forgive and love, or at least accept their circumstances, in order to move on while handling the many challenges even a normal life encompasses. This is an excellent novel!

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Scribner.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Edelweiss, Google Books, and Amazon.

”Life, this up and down life. What a gift, isn’t it?”

A Little Hope, the debut novel from Ethan Joella, offers glimpses the individual stories of an ensemble-cast of characters whose lives are subtly intertwined. Each character in the book has faced significant loss and pain, manifested and dealt with in very different ways, and it is through their shared connections and experiences that they manage to cope with their unique challenges.

”She thinks of the courage, win or lose, it takes to live. She wants to be more courageous.”

Cancer, loss, depression, substance abuse, stillbirth, betrayal, grief. The devastation embroidered throughout Joella’s writing is so thick it chokes you, his characters’ pain so visceral you can feel it in your gut as you read.

”What do you do with hurt? All this hurt.”

Joella’s characters are simple people, their lives ordinary and commonplace. They could be anyone, from anywhere, and that’s the beauty of this story. Their grief is anyone’s and everyone’s grief, and that makes A Little Hope incredibly relatable and authentic.

”How did people survive these things? He wondered that all the time.”

Who among us hasn’t experienced a heartbreak that never healed quite right, or felt ill-equipped for the daunting set of circumstances that life has doled out? Who hasn’t held back tears that threatened to spill out and ruin a show of strength? Who hasn’t dreamed of more—more skill, more confidence, more honesty, more time? Who hasn’t needed a little hope of their own now and then?

”You never know. You never know what can break you. What you can fix, what you can stand up to. You never know what time will do, what will defeat or surprise you. You never know.”

Joella reminds the reader of the responsibility we have, as the living, to really live, for those we’ve loved and lost, who cannot; of the truth that it is only love, love for ourselves and for the people we invite into our lives, that can help to heal our deepest wounds.

”If you’re lucky enough to have someone like this, you never let them go. You love them back, fully.”

A Little Hope reminded me of A Man Called Ove. Not necessarily its plot, but its themes, narrative style, and depth of emotion. Ethan Joella is an American version of Fredrik Backman, with his perfectly-imperfect characters and his effortless wisdom, and he has captured my heart with his heart-wrenching debut novel. An absolutely stunning story that I will never forget.

——

A huge thank you to Ethan Joella, Scribner, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A great debut from Ethan Joella. An unforgettable cast of characters that are loosely connected. The story follows one year as their lives intertwine through friendship, loss, hope, and sorrow. Thank you NetGalley for an arc e-copy.

699. That's the population of the small town, village really, I grew up in. This is why I was interested in reading A Little Hope by Ethan Joella, which is set in the small town of Wharton, Connecticut. It delivered. Many thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for making the book available to me.

This evocative little book isn't full of fancy prose or rollercoaster thrills, probably much like the small town it's about. Reading it felt like going home. Although the tone of the story is often melancholic, nostalgic, and wistful, I would still say the title is apt. The numerous three-dimensional narrators, changing with each chapter, are going through life, rolling with the punches, some harder to take than others, some metaphorical and some literal. What they experience reminds the reader that sometimes just a little hope will get one through to whatever comes next, and what's next may be a bright, sunny day during one's favorite season. Or, if one prefers rain and/or clouds, it might be a cloudy day. Whatever. The point is a little hope helps endure life's difficulties.

Some readers will not care for the often heavy feeling that pervades the pages. Others won't like how the narrator changes with every chapter. However, keep in mind, critics, each narrator is fully developed and super well-rounded. One can sense exactly what they are feeling and will begin to feel it oneself, in one's very core. As for the sadness and heaviness, one must push through, as one does during these times in life. Feel a little hope for Greg, for Freddie, for Ginger, Alex, Kay, Darcy, and Iris. Yes, all of these separate characters and more, but they are each interconnected with one another in different ways. This added authenticity to the small-town story, for this is exactly how a small town is. Everyone knows everyone in one way or another, and life, as ever, continues to move forward.

This book is for the reader who enjoys books that hit one right in the feels and/or books with three-dimensional characters whose lives all twine together like a beautifully braided rope bracelet. It's also for readers who enjoy checking out debut authors. This is an outstanding debut.

I know I am in a minority here, but this book just didn’t work for me. So much loss and so much focusing on the unresolved mourning process. We’ve all had grief in our lives and have had to deal with it in our own ways. Yes, there was hope expressed, but the overriding tone is melancholy. Maybe it is for this reason that the characters seemed all one dimensional to me.

I did feel the author did a good job intertwining the lives of the characters and the small observations of life were poignant. Some critiques have likened this book to works by Elizabeth Strout. Perhaps the minute details and views of life were similar, but, for me, this just didn’t compare to her writing


I will stretch my rating to four stars, but….

A Little Hope tells the stories of a group of interconnected people in the town of Wharton, Connecticut. Most of the characters are struggling--with grief, illness, addiction, and past choices. Their humanity comes through in these struggles, as well in their interactions with each other.

This is a story about a small town and it’s residents. It spans over several character dealing with grief, loss, disappointment, love, addiction and most importantly hope. I was not ready for how emotional this book was. A few times I had to stop and just take a breather before diving back in. However, even though it was heart wrenching it was still hopeful. Everybody processes grief differently and some made choices that frustrated me, but overall it showed that they were real and flawed. A Little Hope is not only the title, but what you feel at the end of this amazing debut from Ethan Joella.

Star rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.5 stars. A beautifully written and emotional debut novel! it provides great introspective into the several characters who inhabit a small Connecticut town, all of whom are dealing with various aspects of life in a realistic way, one which should be familiar to — and should often tug at the heartstrings of — any reader. These are all normal people living normal lives that any reader should appreciate. Although presented in a series of vignettes that may seem a bit disjointed, the novel really falls together as you move through the it (and it has a few surprises along the way here and there). This would definitely be a great book club read!.

I really wanted to like this book. It just wasn't for me. The plot ended up being melodramatic and corny. I was hoping for a heart-tugging family drama, and it felt more like a soap opera instead. Parts of this book were lovely, but overall - I just didn't like the vibe and tone of this book. Such a shame.

Ethan Joella's debut novel, A Little Hope, is about several characters and their painful experiences with loss, grief, disappointment, and addiction. Despite these challenges, the characters find ways to connect with one another and maintain a sense of hope and community.

I enjoyed this novel and read it in just a few days. I appreciated the cast of characters that Joella created and found myself especially invested in the stories of missed opportunities and missed connections. That really tapped into a dormant emotion for me, and posed some reflective questions on what could have been. I appreciated the nuanced way that Joella explored that theme, among several others. At times, I was unsatisfied with the character development (namely the relationship between Luke and his mother, Ginger's near perfection, and Greg's never-failing grit despite intense difficulty), but I still enjoyed the characters and the questions and thoughts their experiences raised. While the setting was specific, it felt like any town suburban America, and I could see the everyday, extraordinary people who show tenacity and thoughtfulness, who search for meaningful connection and lift others up. It was lovely and tender and reading it felt like a warm cup of tea.

This is a book that I would share with my mother, who isn't much of a reader. I'm confident she would love it. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I know others will, too.

I also think this would make a great book club selection.
Premise
n the small city of Wharton, Connecticut, lives are beginning to unravel. A husband betrays his wife. A son struggles with addiction. A widow misses her late spouse. At the heart of these interlinking stories is one couple: Freddie and Greg Tyler.

Greg has just been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a brutal form of cancer. He intends to handle this the way he has faced everything else: through grit and determination. But can Greg successfully overcome his illness? How will Freddie and their daughter cope if he doesn’t? How do the other residents of Wharton learn to live with loss, and find happiness again?
It was really neat how the different stories entertwined between the different memebers of the community. It teaches readers that everyone is going through something in there lives but through human connection and understanding we could al feel a bit less alone.

I really enjoyed this book by first time author Ethan Joella! This book about family, love and lost has all the feels. The character in this story are interwoven with their own heartache and happiness. A wonderful read! Thanks to #netgalley for the read!

"She has learned from his dying that there is much she can do. She has also learned some things are unfixable. Which is this?"

This book takes place in the small town of Wharton, Connecticut and moves around different characters who are connected to each other, some loosely, some tightly. It tackles a lot of life events like cancer, addiction, suicide, loneliness, and more.

The characters are so real in this quiet and lovely book that it reminded me of both Anne Tyler's novels and Olive Kitteridge. It's a similar feeling of getting more and more attached these ordinary characters who are experiencing ordinary and tough life situations and they are so real that you can't help but feel their feelings alongside them.

"Good for them, Freddie thinks. Good for them. She could write an essay about forgiving Greg for anything if it meant they could get to Alex and Kay’s age. She could get over any single thing—an affair, a gambling problem. Two affairs even. She never felt that way before, but now she knows, without hesitation, she could get past anything. She could forgive Greg for a whole list of things, except dying."

I loved every single second I spent with this book. I cannot recommend it enough.

with gratitude to Scribner, netgalley and edelweiss for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

I really wanted to like this one, but I feel like it was just all over the place. Don’t get me wrong, it was sad and everyone’s story in the book was worth reading, but for me it was just all over the place and I couldn’t keep track of everyone.

A LITTLE HOPE is one of the most moving, most eloquent books I have read about grief and hope in decades. This superb novel reminded me so much of when I first discovered Anne Tyler and read her masterpiece on grief THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST. The heart and soul in this extraordinary novel took my breath away. I cried repeatedly. I LOVE EVERY ONE OF THESE CHARACTERS!!! Bravo, Ethan Joella.

A Little Hope is such a unique novel. Each chapter is told from the perspective of a citizen of a small community in Connecticut, yet they all blend together. This novel reminds us all that no one is immune to the trials in life; illness, loneliness, addictions, grief, and the list goes on. In the end though, there is always hope. This book will pull you in and keep you turning the pages. Thanks to author Ethan Joella, publisher Scribner, and to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book for an honest review.

This is a beautiful book about love and hope. It's written as a series of connected stories about a number of people living in a small town in Connecticut. It's a quiet book about ordinary people dealing with ordinary challenges and how their lives are intertwined in extraordinary ways. Great setting, great characters. Really lovely.

A stunning debut novel of small-town life, with characters you will fall in love with. A community, a family, their lives, and the one moment where their lives will change forever. Stories of love, loss, grief, and finally hope.

In the small town of Wharton, Connecticut, lives are spinning out of control. A husband betrays his wife, a mother loses a child, a son struggles with his addictions. A young woman laments the loss of the love of her life, and a widow struggles without her spouse, In the midst of this community we meet Greg and Freddie Tyler.

Greg has just been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, He is determined to beat it against all odds, But can he beat the illness? How will Freddie and their young daughter cope if he does not? How will all the other residents of the community learn to live with loss, and will they find happiness again?

A powerful story of love. forgiveness, and survival