The Hope Family Calendar, Mike Gayle
The Hope Family Calendar, Mike Gayle
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
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The Hope Family Calendar

Author: Mike Gayle

Narrator: David Morley Hale

Unabridged: 10 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/16/2016


Synopsis

Tom Hope is broken. Ever since his wife Laura died he hasn't been the same man, and definitely not the same father. Luckily however, his mother-in-law Linda is there to pick up the pieces and look after his two struggling daughters, Evie and Lola.

But Tom getting arrested on the first anniversary of his wife's death is the last straw for Linda.

She decides on drastic action, and in a final attempt to make Tom reconnect with his daughters, Linda leaves for Australia. Now, with two fast-maturing girls on his hands, Tom has to learn how to accept his responsibilities and navigate the newly discovered world of single fatherhood - starting immediately.

While Linda finds her journey brings more than she bargained for, Tom suddenly has only himself to rely on.
Will he fall back into grief or finally step up and be the father his girls need?

Bittersweet, funny and sad, THE HOPE FAMILY CALENDAR is a novel about grief, love and family.

(P)2016 Hodder & Stoughton

About Mike Gayle

MIKE GAYLE was born and raised in Birmingham. After graduating from Salford University with a degree in Sociology, he moved to London to pursue a career in journalism and worked as a features editor and agony uncle. He has written for a variety of publications including The Sunday Times, the Guardian and Cosmopolitan. Mike became a full-time novelist in 1997 following the publication of his Sunday Times top ten bestseller My Legendary Girlfriend, which was hailed by the Independent as 'full of belly laughs and painfully acute observations', and by The Times as 'a funny, frank account of a hopeless romantic'. Since then he has written eighteen novels, including The Man I Think I Know, selected as a World Book Night title, and Half A World Away, selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club. His books have been translated into more than thirty languages. In 2021, Mike was the recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Romantic Novelists' Association.He lives in Birmingham with his wife, kids and greyhound.You can find him online at mikegayle.co.uk and on Twitter @mikegayle.


Reviews

Goodreads review by AdiTurbo on September 11, 2016

As many have already commented, this book is missing something. I think it may be a little more "darkness" or going deeper into grief and loss. Everything is very sweet in this novel, everyone goes through a developmental "arc", everything is very proper and predictable. You know that everyone is go......more

Goodreads review by Agi on June 13, 2016

As a huge Mike Gayle's fan I am always over the moon when I hear that he's going to release a new book. I've read all of his novels and I've quickly fell in love with the author's writing style, his bittersweet but also down - to - earth and so close to life stories, and from the very first book tha......more

Goodreads review by Charlotte on January 19, 2019

A very sad and emotional book with a lovely ending 😊......more


Quotes

I didn't move a muscle for a whole afternoon in my eagerness to finish this book. Gayle writes with such warmth and wisdom about the human condition, at the same time creating a page-turner in this charming family tale which centres so movingly around unbearable loss. His easy, confident writing style draws you in to become another member of the Hope family and share with them the - often humorous - ups and downs of learning to live again after bereavement. Neither Tom nor Linda - the main characters - are perfect, but both are endearingly real. I highly recommend this novel - I know it will stay with me for a long time.

The Hope Family Calendar is the most heart-wrenching novel I've read this year...With a style similar to David Nicholls, Gayle's writing is incisive, lyrical and very beautiful...It's impossible not to fall in love with the Hope family. Irish Independent

An emotional and surprisingly funny story you'll want to read in one sitting. Fabulous

A delightfully easy and poignant read. Closer

Praise for Mike Gayle :

Wise, witty and wonderful . . . a triumph!

Not just readable, fresh and witty, but sophisticated in execution . . . funny but also poignant. Independent on Sunday on TURNING THIRTY

A funny and frank account of a hopeless romantic. The Times on MY LEGENDARY GIRLFRIEND

Mike Gayle has carved a whole new niche out of the male confessional novel. Evening Standard on WISH YOU WERE HERE

Unique, funny and full of drama . . . Genius!