Kate Brandt

Hope for the Worst starts off in 1980’s NYC with 25-year-old Ellie Adkins working as a secretary at the Urban Research Center. This is a coming-of-age novel told in epistolary form through Ellie’s journal entries. There is something intimate about this style of storytelling that draws the reader in.

Ellie begins an affair with a 59-year-old man named Calvin. He considers himself a spiritual teacher and has a group following him. I found Calvin instantly unlikable with several red flags, show more which Ellie didn’t seem to notice. I was surprised Ellie would give Calvin the time of day but given the insights he shared and his spiritual teachings she finds this appealing. Ellie has this deep rooted need to matter to Calvin. Ellie’s friend Cass convinces her to climb Mount Everest with her with a group called New Heights.

I found that Hope for the Worst had a bit of a slow start, but once Ellie went abroad I was glued to the pages. Author Kate Brandt masterfully brings both the 1980’s NYC and the Tibetan settings to life. This is certainly an armchair travel kind of novel. This is also a coming-of-age story and I was curious to see what would become of Ellie. The writing reads like poetry at times and I loved that.

Hope for the Worst is a story about awakenings, travel, life and learning and I enjoyed it. Special thanks to Kate Brandt for my review copy. show less