Hope

A Novel

By: Andrew Ridker

Narrated by: Rob Shapiro

A New York Times Editors' Choice

A Boston Globe, Forward, and Times of Israel Best Book of the Year

“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.

©2023 Andrew Ridker (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Riotous. . . . Franzen-esque. . . . Hilarious . . . impeccably written. . . . His comic assurance . . . is reminiscent of Meg Wolitzer. . . . Ridker[’s] characters make mistakes, but they pay the price, recover and grow. . . . [T]hey soldier on and try not to lose hope. Just as we hold ours that this talented writer will keep gifting us with his intelligent, bighearted, spew-your-gefilte-fish-funny novels."—Cathi Hanauer, The New York Times Book Review

“Absorbing . . . a vivid depiction of modern American life. . . . The novel is at once propulsive and immersive, powered by one tragicomic episode after another, right up until its final tension-filled paragraph. . . . A writer with this much talent can take his readers anywhere.”—Malcolm Forbes, The Washington Post

“A comedy of (bad) manners—the tale of a secular Jewish family in Brookline who undermine their own prosperity and happiness with a slew of bad decisions. . . . Engaging reading. . . . As these characters struggle over money and love—what other plots are there? — they stumble, fall, and gradually, tentatively, begin to right themselves.”—The Boston Globe

“This comic novel, about a year of crisis for an affluent Jewish family, opens with a dinner party at which each guest is served a meal representing a different socioeconomic background. According to the hostess, Deborah, the matriarch, the purpose of this exercise is ‘to replicate, in a controlled environment, the lottery of birth.’ Yet the control of the family’s own environment becomes a problem after Deborah’s husband, Scott, is caught falsifying data in a clinical trial. . . . Ridker’s tone remains light even as his characters struggle to correct course. Writing about psychiatry’s new interest in the ‘transgenerational transmission of trauma’ in his medical-school application, the son wonders, ‘Who knows what else our parents have unwittingly passed on?’”—The New Yorker

A modern story of privilege

Andrew Ridker elegantly exposes the modern family for their privilege. The idiosyncrasies of the Greenspan family and their community are highlighted in subtle but powerful contrast to their “charitable works” as well as their searches for meaning in a fast-paced world.

A compelling read that leaves you rooting for hope

In "Hope," we traverse the perilous fall from grace of a Jewish family, enthralling readers with tales both somber and hopeful. Given the uncanny parallels to the author's own life — a Jewish family of four hailing from the same town, with a patriarch practicing cardiology — it's hard to dismiss the whisper of autobiographical undertones. One can only wish that in the realm of reality, the author's real-life counterparts, particularly the cardiologist father, possess a more commendable heartbeat of trustworthiness and charisma. A compelling read that leaves you rooting for hope, even in the darkest of times.

Loved every minute of it!

Such a fabulous story about an ostensibly perfect family. Everyone is actually a mess but they’re all pretty decent people. The mother in law alone is worth the listen.
The narrator is excellent,

A well written, rich, modern novel.

Andrew Ridker has written an intelligent, timely, well-plotted novel with characters I wanted to discover. I took one star away from the story as the themes here are fairly quotidian, and a little more drama wouldn’t have hurt. Despite that, I really enjoyed the writing, and admired his ability to capture dialogue from different points of view, no mean feat.

The audio was impeccably done.
Pacing, intonation and inflection spot on.

Slice of life--upper middle class northeast family

Intimate view into a successful family's internal wranglings with one another and themselves. It is filled with first-world problems.

Very good

This was touted as a very funny book.
I found parts of it humorous but not laugh out loud funny, maybe because I listened to it as opposed to reading it.
Still I enjoyed it very much.

Family evolution

Seemingly perfect family is riddled with dysfunction. Each family member eventually finds a path to self actualization. I got it. This book is engaging and well written, but travels a path to nowhere. When it ended, it left me with a very heartfelt so what.

Not long enough

I simply loved this and craved more. It reminded me of Franzen’s “Freedom” which I also could read or listen to forever. I’ll be tuned in to whatever this author writes.

All over the map

Good writing but I had difficulty staying focused on the story. Appreciate the topics introduced but too many! Also back and forth in time added to the confusion. I was left hanging.