Albion - by Anna Hope (Paperback)

About the Book

"A finely crafted, propulsive, and nuanced story of family, inheritance, and accountability that shakes the country house novel to its foundations from the internationally acclaimed author of Expectation. The Brookes are gathering in their eighteenth-century ancestral home-twenty bedrooms of carved Sussex sandstone-to bury their patriarch, Philip. Father, grandfather, husband, landowner, one-time hippy, long-time philanderer, Philip was the blinding sun around which the family has orbited their entire lives. Eldest daughter Frannie, inheritor of a thousand acres of English countryside, mother to a daughter whose future she fears for, dreams of rewilding and returning the estate to nature: a last line of defense against the coming climate catastrophe. Her brother Milo envisages a treetop haven for the super-rich where, under the influence of psychedelic drugs, a new ruling class will be reborn to create a better world. Each believes their father has given them his blessing and are set on a collision course with the other. Isa, Philip's estranged youngest child, only hopes to reconnect with her childhood love who still lives on the estate, to discover if her feelings for him are creating the fault lines in her marriage. Grace, bruised and diminished after fifty years in a loveless marriage, is at a crossroads, wondering whether she may finally have the strength to choose between freedom and duty. And then there is Clara, who arrives from America, shrouded in secrets and bearing a truth that will fracture the dreams on which they've built their lives. Beautifully layered and utterly compelling, Anna Hope's multigenerational saga is a bold, brilliant, and deeply contemporary examination of family dynamics, colonial legacies, and class, set agaiinst the backdrop of the climate crisis"--

Book Synopsis

"Albion explores the complexities of family, trauma, nature, human nature, landscape and escape in language that is as provocative as it is tender."--Miranda Cowley Heller, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Paper Palace

A finely crafted, propulsive, and nuanced story of family, inheritance, and accountability that shakes the country house novel to its foundations from the internationally acclaimed author of Expectation.

The Brooke family are gathering in their eighteenth-century ancestral home--twenty bedrooms of carved Sussex sandstone--to bury Philip: husband, father, and the blinding sun around which they have orbited their entire lives.

Eldest daughter Frannie, inheritor of a thousand acres of English countryside, has dreams of rewilding and returning the estate to nature: a last line of defense against the coming climate catastrophe. Her brother Milo envisages a treetop haven for the super-rich where, under the influence of psychedelic drugs, a new ruling class will be reborn. Each believes their father has given them his blessing, setting them on a collision course with each other.

Isa, Philip's estranged youngest child, only hopes to reconnect with her childhood love who still lives on the estate, to discover whether it is her feelings for him that are creating the fault lines in her marriage.

And then there is Clara, who arrives in their midst from America, shrouded in secrets and bearing a truth that will fracture all the dreams on which they've built their lives.

Beautifully layered and utterly compelling, Anna Hope's multigenerational saga is a bold, brilliant, and deeply contemporary examination of family dynamics, colonial legacies, and class, set against the backdrop of the climate crisis.

Review Quotes

"Raises questions regarding our obligations to the environment and accountability for ancestors' crimes . . . . Albion is (Hope's) finest to date . . . . Albion is a welcome addition to the body of literature centred around inherited wealth, ancestral homes, and difficult family dynamics." - Irish Times

'"At once a sumptuous family drama and state-of-the-nation novel, it's a triumphant read from the author of the much-raved-about Expectation." - The i

"A sensitively-written family saga that encapsulates the state of society today." - The Herald

"A tour de force of a book. I love how Anna Hope weaves big ideas seamlessly into a compelling plot. It's such a fine balance to strike and she does it so skilfully."

- Roxy Dunn, author of As Young As This

"The funeral of an English aristocrat sets the scene for a battle over inheritance, in an ambitious tale of empire and historical privilege." - The Guardian (UK)

"An engaging story wrapped around crucial contemporary issues, resulting in a rich, satisfying read." - Booklist

"Over four days, Hope turns these seemingly self-indulged, trope figures into relatable, believable characters, filling in backstories and defining relationships, all bolstered by a richly realized supporting cast . . . . This is an engaging story wrapped around crucial contemporary issues, resulting in a rich, satisfying read." - Booklist

"Albion is that most English of institutions, the pastoral country house gone to seed as family money has slowly been spent over the centuries, and North's novel is in the tradition of Ian McEwan's Atonement, Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited, or Kazuo Ishiguro's Remains of the Day in using the stolid form of the country house with its manicured gardens and restrictive hedges as a means of examining the British class system." - 3 Quarks Daily

"Hope takes her time unfolding this absorbing story of a supremely dysfunctional family, exploring class, privilege, climate change, colonialism and responsibility for the future and the past . . . . Hope avoids bludgeoning her readers with these weighty themes, deftly weaving her message about the foundation of wealth and where it comes from through an engrossing narrative studded with some beautiful descriptions of the natural world." - A Life in Books

"Beautifully told . . . .Powerful and compelling, Albion is a remarkable story. Highly recommended." - Fresh Fiction

"Hope wrangles her large cast with aplomb as she probes issues of class and stewardship. This gratifies." - Publishers Weekly

"The climax is well worth the wait--a big, fat, old-fashioned dinner gone wrong, with dramatic speeches and shocking revelations . . . . Hope breathes fresh thinking into the dusty corners and overgrown hedges of the English country house dilemma--without telling the reader what to think. It meant that I closed Albion with a delicious sense of uncertainty." - The Times (UK)

"If Succession and Downton Abbey had a baby, it might look something like this novel about a wealthy family facing an uncertain future . . . . Privilege has its own problems, and this engaging novel brings them to life." - Kirkus Reviews

"Succession but set on a huge estate in Sussex . . . . An intense slow-burner of a family drama about inheritance and accountability." - Good Housekeeping (UK)

"At once a sumptuous family drama and state-of-the-nation novel, it's a triumphant read." - The iPaper

"Albion is exquisitely put together, with a tight structure and richly drawn characters." - Literary Review

"A superb, deftly woven novel . . . Anna Hope engages, head-on, with some of the most urgent and challenging issues facing the world today, and transforms them into spellbinding family drama." - Jonathan Coe, author of Mr. Wilder & Me

"A book that asks important questions about legacy--familial, historical and global--and which seeks to answer them with delicate insight and beautiful prose." - Elizabeth Day, author of Friendaholic and Magpie

" There are shades of both Succession and Saltburn at play here, with Albion promising more of the emotional acuity that Anna Hope wielded so well in 2019's Expectation." - Independent (UK), "The Best Books to Look out for in 2025"

"This book, its fascinating characters, steady paced plot, and haunting prose will stay with you long after reading." - Cosmopolitan (UK)

"Anna Hope plunges us straight into the claustrophobic world of a family turned inside out by the death of the deeply flawed patriarch, and propels us towards a devastating conclusion. Compelling." - Kirsty Wark

"A compassionate, immersive novel that intelligently navigates historical pride and guilt, and the echo of history that resonates powerfully through the lives of Anna Hope's compelling contemporary characters. Albion balances the reality of who the English were against the hope of who we might become." - Richard Beard, author of Sad Little Men

"Anna Hope's beautiful new novel Albion explores the complexities of family, trauma, nature, human nature, landscape and escape in language that is as provocative as it is tender." - Miranda Cowley Heller, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Paper Palace

"The English country house novel re-imagined for our times: an exceptionally well-drawn portrait of a battling family, which also astutely wrestles with the issues around rewilding, inheritance, and colonialism." - Claire Fuller, author of The Memory of Animals and Unsettled Ground