A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE
“Riotous. . . . Hilarious . . . impeccably written . . . . Intelligent, bighearted, spew-your-gefilte-fish-funny.” —The New York Times Book Review
“A writer with this much talent can take his readers anywhere.” —The Washington Post
“Painfully funny. . . . This rivals Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s Fleishman is in Trouble in its pitch-perfect portrayal of Jewish American life.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A comedy of (bad) manners. . . . Engaging.” —The Boston Globe
A hilarious and heartfelt novel about a seemingly perfect family in an era of waning American optimism, from the acclaimed author of The Altruists
The year is 2013 and the Greenspans are the envy of Brookline, Massachusetts, an idyllic (and idealistic) suburb west of Boston. Scott Greenspan is a successful physician with his own cardiology practice. His wife, Deb, is a pillar of the community who spends her free time helping resettle refugees. Their daughter, Maya, works at a distinguished New York publishing house and their son, Gideon, is preparing to follow in his father’s footsteps.They are an exceptional family from an exceptional place, living in exceptional times.
But when Scott is caught falsifying blood samples at work, he sets in motion a series of scandals that threatens to shatter his family. Deb leaves him for a female power broker; Maya rekindles a hazardous affair from her youth; and Gideon drops out of college to go on a dangerous journey that will put his principles to the test.
From Brookline to Berlin to the battlefields of Syria, Hope follows the Greenspans over the course of one tumultuous year as they question, and compromise, the values that have shaped their lives. But in the midst of their disillusionment, they’ll discover their own capacity for resilience, connection, and, ultimately, hope.
Genre: Literary Fiction
“Riotous. . . . Hilarious . . . impeccably written . . . . Intelligent, bighearted, spew-your-gefilte-fish-funny.” —The New York Times Book Review
“A writer with this much talent can take his readers anywhere.” —The Washington Post
“Painfully funny. . . . This rivals Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s Fleishman is in Trouble in its pitch-perfect portrayal of Jewish American life.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A comedy of (bad) manners. . . . Engaging.” —The Boston Globe
A hilarious and heartfelt novel about a seemingly perfect family in an era of waning American optimism, from the acclaimed author of The Altruists
The year is 2013 and the Greenspans are the envy of Brookline, Massachusetts, an idyllic (and idealistic) suburb west of Boston. Scott Greenspan is a successful physician with his own cardiology practice. His wife, Deb, is a pillar of the community who spends her free time helping resettle refugees. Their daughter, Maya, works at a distinguished New York publishing house and their son, Gideon, is preparing to follow in his father’s footsteps.They are an exceptional family from an exceptional place, living in exceptional times.
But when Scott is caught falsifying blood samples at work, he sets in motion a series of scandals that threatens to shatter his family. Deb leaves him for a female power broker; Maya rekindles a hazardous affair from her youth; and Gideon drops out of college to go on a dangerous journey that will put his principles to the test.
From Brookline to Berlin to the battlefields of Syria, Hope follows the Greenspans over the course of one tumultuous year as they question, and compromise, the values that have shaped their lives. But in the midst of their disillusionment, they’ll discover their own capacity for resilience, connection, and, ultimately, hope.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"Few writers working today can be called 'laugh-out-loud hilarious' without hyperbole. With Andrew Ridker, it's no exaggeration. Ridker sees his characters with utter clarity, even as they make mistakes and grope for unreachable futures. This fidelity to life - to flawed humanity - is the source of the humor in his work, ultimately, and what makes his novels not just entertaining, but profound and moving. Hope is a wise, deeply funny book about the American dream and all its delusions and false summits." - Lee Cole
"A brilliantly perceptive portrait of an American Jewish family, aching for connection and meaning, while everything they hoped for themselves is falling apart. Andrew Ridker's ability to capture the subtle and intimate, while simultaneously widening the lens to observe his characters in the greater historical moment, is astonishing. He's also one of the funniest writers I've ever read." - Hanna Halperin
"This is a novel full of hope and heartbreak, just like life. If a novel is meant to tell us what it means to be alive, then Hope tells what it means to live and love in the contemporary moment. Andrew Ridker is remarkably observant, equal parts ruthlessness and compassion. One of the triumphs of the book is that no one is denied their humanity. Amidst the downsizing of hope in evidence everywhere, this witty novel's main gift is its large-hearted humanism." - Amitava Kumar
"In Hope, Andrew Ridker reinvigorates the family novel with wit and grace. Roaming fluidly across a broad canvas, Ridker finds the humanity in each of his characters, even (especially!) at their most exasperating and self-destructive. It was such a pleasure to spend time with a book of such warmth and intelligence." - Andrew Martin
"Hope shows us a family in freefall in the Obama-era suburbs and asks us to imagine the component parts of redemption. Leaping from nonmonogamy to research scammery, from Jewishness to Big Publishing, from filial love to filial hatred, Ridker has given us a delightful novel: capacious, mordant, bustling, and wise." - Sarah Thankam Mathews
"A funny, incisive, and keen novel of family, citizenship, and the fundamental American promise. . . . Sweeping yet intimate. Ridker's distinctive talent is his eye for both realism and comedy." - Sanjena Sathian
"Andrew Ridker has once again proven himself an incredibly talented writer of our generation. His brilliant, funny, and heartfelt second novel, Hope, reminds us that while we all have to follow our own paths, family will almost always be there. I love this novel." - De'Shawn Charles Winslow
"A brilliantly perceptive portrait of an American Jewish family, aching for connection and meaning, while everything they hoped for themselves is falling apart. Andrew Ridker's ability to capture the subtle and intimate, while simultaneously widening the lens to observe his characters in the greater historical moment, is astonishing. He's also one of the funniest writers I've ever read." - Hanna Halperin
"This is a novel full of hope and heartbreak, just like life. If a novel is meant to tell us what it means to be alive, then Hope tells what it means to live and love in the contemporary moment. Andrew Ridker is remarkably observant, equal parts ruthlessness and compassion. One of the triumphs of the book is that no one is denied their humanity. Amidst the downsizing of hope in evidence everywhere, this witty novel's main gift is its large-hearted humanism." - Amitava Kumar
"In Hope, Andrew Ridker reinvigorates the family novel with wit and grace. Roaming fluidly across a broad canvas, Ridker finds the humanity in each of his characters, even (especially!) at their most exasperating and self-destructive. It was such a pleasure to spend time with a book of such warmth and intelligence." - Andrew Martin
"Hope shows us a family in freefall in the Obama-era suburbs and asks us to imagine the component parts of redemption. Leaping from nonmonogamy to research scammery, from Jewishness to Big Publishing, from filial love to filial hatred, Ridker has given us a delightful novel: capacious, mordant, bustling, and wise." - Sarah Thankam Mathews
"A funny, incisive, and keen novel of family, citizenship, and the fundamental American promise. . . . Sweeping yet intimate. Ridker's distinctive talent is his eye for both realism and comedy." - Sanjena Sathian
"Andrew Ridker has once again proven himself an incredibly talented writer of our generation. His brilliant, funny, and heartfelt second novel, Hope, reminds us that while we all have to follow our own paths, family will almost always be there. I love this novel." - De'Shawn Charles Winslow
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