Absolutely heart-breaking. One of the best books I’ve ever read

A British version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Moving. Fascinating

An unsentimental and affecting story

Compelling, elegant and insightful.

In this deeply moving book, Hope reminds us that behind everyone’s facade lies something waiting to be rent free

An original, brilliant, evocative novel

A heartbreaking story of how love can flourish in the darkest of times

Part social commentary, part mystery and part dangerous liaison, this poignant story casts an unflinching gaze at the historic treatment of mental health disorders.

Such a magnificent setting definitely demands a story that delivers, all guns blazing. It does, and then some . . . Fiction at it’s finest.

Beautiful

An exquisite love story

A terrifying, moving and uplifting story

A poignant against-the-odds love story

Tender . . . Hope is the emotion that unspools the delicate connections between these brilliantly drawn characters

The Ballroom is a beautifully wrought novel, a tender, heartbreaking and insightful exploration of the longings that survive in the most inhospitable environments.

Magnificent…a luminary of historical fiction…writing history from the margins, the personal stories behind the era, she delivers profound, poignant stories that stir the emotions.

All the intensity and lyricism of Hope’s debut, Wake

The Ballroom confirms her as a novelist of immense power...Exquisitely good. Sensitive, engrossing and highly recommended

The Ballroom is a beautiful, gripping, heart-wrenching, thought-provoking book. I was so enthralled, I read it in an evening, unwilling to put it down.

An atmospheric and thought provoking love story

An absorbing read from beginning to end . . . I'm already excited to see what Anna Hope does next.

This novel is at once romantic, thought-provoking and extremely poignant, with a rich narrative and an ending that moved me to tears

Gripping final chapters ramp up the suspense towards a hearth-wrenching conclusion ...explores the tensions and trials of the human condition with grace and insight.

Absolutely fantastic . . . I'm in real awe of her writing.

A romantic and fulfilling story, beautifully told. Isabelle writes with a humorous eye, and the evocative poignancy of her writing brought Holly's story vividly to life. I was hooked from first word until final page and was left with tears on my face and an urgent need for a holiday!

A mysterious legacy, family secrets and slow-burning romance - My Map of You's the next best thing to a one-way ticket to Zakynthos, the Greek island that makes a perfect setting

Witty and big-hearted . . . leaves you smiling for days

For those unable to jet off to a Spanish island this summer, reading The Vacationers may be the next-best thing. . . . [A] gorgeously written novel . . . When I turned the last page, I felt as I often do when a vacation is over: grateful for the trip and mourning its end

Delicious . . . richly riveting . . . The Vacationers offers all the delights of a fluffy, read-it-with-sunglasses-on-the-beach read, made substantial by the exceptional wit, insight, intelligence and talents of its author

I loved The Vacationers; funny and poignant and beautifully observed

Straub's novel is cast from the same mould as the likes of Liza Klaussmann's Tigers in Red Weather and Maggie Shipstead's Seating Arrangements . . . The Vacationers is a holiday read in every way with a gently witty narrative that slips down as easily as a beachside cocktail

Emma Straub is a gorgeous and witty storyteller

Intimate, epic, beautifully observed

Witty and big-hearted ... leaves you smiling for days

Charming and absorbing

Funny, poignant and beautifully observed