Hope and Glory

A Novel

By: Jendella Benson

Narrated by: Kelechi Okafor

Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

One of the year’s most anticipated by Marie Claire, Essence, Debutiful, & Goodreads

A brilliant debut by a British-Nigerian author—a heartfelt family drama that will delight book club readers and fans of books like The Girl with the Louding Voice and Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows.

“Jendella Benson has drawn such a compelling world. The book and the characters stayed with me long after I'd turned the final pages!” —Candice Carty-Williams, bestselling author of Queenie

Glory Akindele returns to London from her seemingly glamorous life in LA to mourn the sudden death of her father, only to find her previously close family has fallen apart in her absence. Her brother, Victor, is in jail and won’t speak to her because she didn’t come home for his trial. Her older sister, Faith, once a busy career woman, appears to have lost her independence and ambition, and is instead channeling her energies into holding together a perfect suburban family. Worst of all, their mother, Celeste, is headed toward a breakdown after the death of her husband and the shame of her son’s incarceration.

Rather than returning to America, Glory decides to stay and try to bring them all together again. It’s a tall order given that Glory’s life isn’t exactly working out according to plan either, and she’s acutely aware that she’s not so sure who she is and what she wants.

A chance reunion with a man she’d known in her teens—the perceptive but elusive Julian—gives her the courage to start questioning why her respectable but obsessively private Nigerian immigrant family is the way it is. But then Glory’s questioning unearths a massive secret that shatters the family’s fragile peace—and she risks losing everyone she deeply cares about in her pursuit of the truth and a reunited family.

"Filled with unexpected, but earned, twists, Hope and Glory balances moments of rich humor and devastating profundity...deeply authentic." —Kirkus Reviews

"A sumptuous and satisfying meditation on family and the meaning of home.” —Publishers Weekly

©2022 Jendella Benson (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

Great story and performance

Was looking for a new author / book and wasn't disappointed! Great story I could empathise with ; a credible MC (who's neck I constantly wanted to wring!) ; didn't like the abrupt ending though - only because it didn't fit into my dislike of 'unfinished' endings (this is supposed to be fiction, so stoeies should be neatly tied off, otherwise I'd read non-fiction!)
However, it does not detract from the story and I can't wait to see what is next. The narrator (Kelechi Okafor) did an amazing job. The accents and 'tone' were on point.

Well Written

I appreciate the way each character is well developed. Able to associate to people and situations realistically; even down to the way Glory touches a pet peeve in me. p

I loved this story!

I enjoyed the caring and believable attention in rendering very painful topics of African Diaspora life.

Aspiring tale of loss and love and Hope

I really enjoyed this book.
I would not listen twice.
I would consider listening to other reads by this author.
Narration was good.

Held my interest

I’m white in USA, so can’t speak 100% to the accuracy of cultural representations of Nigerians in England. But I can say that the representations seemed authentic. Good and moving story line. Well developed characters and character relationships. A few stumbles by narrator, but overall pleasing - especially with the lilt of Nigerian voices.

Great book, ending left me wanting more

Great story and performance all around. Very relatable themes around family, finding your purpose, relationships, etc. Not a big fan of the ending, it abruptly ended in a bit of an awkward place. But overall good book, would recommend!

It was good book!

Loved the book and the narrator as well. I did not want the book to end.

Wonderful

Enthralling, easy to follow, beautifully performed (and I’m picky about narrators) surprising, and heart wrenching. I finished it in a day and a half. What a wonderful story.

Secrets beget lies...

Secrets should never be a tool used in families. Glory flies back to London after the death of her father, knowing something was missing in her life, but not being sure exactly what that something was. Upon careful researching via family, family friends, photos and instinct she is able to find out exactly what her parents had been hiding for years. Once the secret is revealed and it all comes to a head, Glory has to determine if she can put the family back together or if she will be ostracized, again.

loved this one!

Families are complicated and this novel is written in such a way to truly show those complications and nuances. I was quite impressed.