The Choir On Hope Street

‘I loved every minute of this fantastic story!’ Christie Barlow It’s time to face the music...

A magical debut about an enchanted house that offers refuge to women in their time of need Distraught that her academic career has stalled, Alba is walking through her hometown of Cambridge, England, when she finds herself in front of a house she’s never seen before, 11 Hope Street. A beautiful older woman named Peggy greets her and invites her to stay, on the house’s usual conditions: she has ninety-nine nights to turn her life around. With nothing left to lose, Alba takes a chance and moves in. She soon discovers that this is no ordinary house. Past residents have included Virginia Woolf and Dorothy Parker, who, after receiving the assistance they needed, hung around to help newcomers—literally, in talking portraits on the wall. As she escapes into this new world, Alba begins a journey that will heal her wounds—and maybe even save her life. Filled with a colorful and unforgettable cast of literary figures, The House at the End of Hope Street is a charming, whimsical novel of hope and feminine wisdom that is sure to appeal to fans of Jasper Fforde and especially Sarah Addison Allen.

‘A must-read of the summer!’ Jenny Oliver, bestselling author of The Summer House by the Sea 'Happy, hopeful and joyously life-affirming. Exactly the book we need right now.' Cathy Bramley Life is about to change forever...

“In this one-of-a-kind celebration of singing with others, I’d call her pitch nearly perfect.”—The Atlantic For Stacy Horn, regardless of what is going on in the world or her life, singing in an amateur choir—the Choral Society of Grace Church in New York—never fails to take her to a place where hope reigns and everything good is possible. She’s not particularly religious, and her voice is not exceptional (so she says), but like the 32.5 million other chorus members throughout this country, singing makes her happy. Horn brings us along as she sings some of the greatest music humanity has ever produced, delves into the dramatic stories of conductors and composers, unearths the fascinating history of group singing, and explores remarkable discoveries from the new science of singing, including all the unexpected health benefits. Imperfect Harmony is the story of one woman who has found joy and strength in the weekly ritual of singing and in the irresistible power of song.

USA TODAY BESTSELLER! "One adorably British odd couple . . . Charming." — People “An exquisitely poignant tale of life, friendship and facing death . . . heart-breaking yet ultimately uplifting . . Everyone should read this book.” — Ruth Hogan, author of Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel Infused with the emotional power of Me Before You and the irresistible charm of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and Be Frank with Me, a moving and joyous novel about an elderly woman ready to embrace death and the little girl who reminds her what it means to live. It's never too late to start living. Eudora Honeysett is done with this noisy, moronic world—all of it. She has witnessed the indignities and suffering of old age and has lived a full life. At eighty-five, she isn’t going to leave things to chance. Her end will be on her terms. With one call to a clinic in Switzerland, a plan is set in motion. Then she meets ten-year-old Rose Trewidney, a whirling, pint-sized rainbow of sparkling cheer. All Eudora wants is to be left alone to set her affairs in order. Instead, she finds herself embarking on a series of adventures with the irrepressible Rose and their affable neighbor, the recently widowed Stanley—afternoon tea, shopping sprees, trips to the beach, birthday celebrations, pizza parties. While the trio of unlikely BFFs grow closer and anxiously await the arrival of Rose’s new baby sister, Eudora is reminded of her own childhood—of losing her father during World War II and the devastating impact it had on her entire family. In reflecting on her past, Eudora realizes she must come to terms with what lies ahead. But now that her joy for life has been rekindled, how can she possibly say goodbye?

Hope Street may be just an ordinary terraced street in Leeds, but it's the world to Maggie Fish. And when her father returns home from the war the whole family looks forward to happier times. But then Maggie's mother dies giving birth to a little boy, leaving Johnnie Fish a bitter widower. He can never look at his son without remembering that this child caused his wife's death. By contrast, Maggie can do no wrong in her father's eyes and he pushes her forward to sing at Hope Street Working Men's Club. Fifteen-year-old Maggie has her first taste of show-business - and she wants more. With the help of Charlie Chipperfield, a talented piano-player, new vaudeville act - Fish and Chipperfield - is born. But the clubs in Yorkshire only offer them a limited audience and musical tastes are changing. It may spell the end for their double act, but for Maggie the road to fame and fortune is only just the beginning . . .

This is the story of a family which has always lived in the heart of one of the traditional working class communities of the North. Originally immigrants from Ireland in the mid-nineteenth century, their saga, their triumphs and tragedies unfolded in the cobbled streets, working men's cottages and terraced houses of Horwich, near Manchester. They worked in the cotton mills and on the railways. Like most families at the time, they were good socialists and trade unionists. They also attended the local Spiritualist church. Spiritualism was free-thinking, modern and progressive too and went hand in hand with socialism. The family living on Hope Street North had problems every family has - and worse. Marriages broke up and they had more than their fair share of loss and heartbreak. Within the working class in those days there were many - now forgotten - class distinctions which caused painful rifts between the family. There was a violent bully too and an eviction which left a mother and her children wandering the streets penniless and homeless. A young girl was run over and killed by a horse and cart and another died of diptheria. An unmarried woman bound her abdomen tightly to disguise her pregnancy, and as a result her child was born with deformed legs. As a young woman, that child went on to elope with her lover and they both committed suicide. She died as she was born: in shame. The book that would become Hope Street started when Pamela Young felt compelled to write about her mother's childhood, of seeing things - spirits, angels - that other people couldn't see. Vivid memories of their family life came flooding back: coal dusk glistening on her father's scalp as he came home from work, the old army coats used as bedding and the dresser with doors missing because they'd been chopped up as firewood when times were hard. And swirling in and around these very vivid, often earthy memories of life in Hope Street were memories of the extraordinary spiritual phenomena that took place there. On one occasion a silver ball sped around the room. On another her father, asking for proof, was picked up by a spirit guide and lifted up into the air as light as a feather. Pamela would once see her mother engulfed in a cloud of ectoplasm and twice her mother gradually, and starting from her head down, disappeared before her eyes. But it was after her own marriage had broken up and her mother had died, when Pamela was in the depths of despair, that she found her own spiritual gift. Guided by the spirit of her mother, she began to fully understand the great project her mother had initiated.

Sometimes having it all isn’t enough... Emma has everything she’s ever wanted. Her boyfriend’s just proposed and her career has finally taken off. And so what if her latest client just happens to be downright gorgeous? She’s getting married. Isn’t she?