We Hope for Better Things by Erin Bartels

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We Hope for Better Things

This is my first book review of the year and I'm not sure if I should read any more this year or not. I'm not sure I will find a book that will compete with this debut novel by Erin.

Set during the Civil War, the 1960's riot in Detroit and the current day, this is the story of three women who  needed to face up to their racial prejudice and see who they really are. In a day when there is so much talk about race and acceptance and all such things, Erin shines a light on some issues. She started this book before the string of highly publicized deaths of African-Americans by police officers and this book was "born out of my own struggle to comprehend the scope, understand the roots, and empathize with the victims of racism in America. It was an attempt to reckon with something that cannot be reconciled." Erin was also aware of the dangers of writing for a person of color as a white woman and she sought advice and critique from her African American friends and has tried to be as honest as possible.

The three women all confront racial issues in a different way, one in a very forbidden and ostracizing way, one in a relationship rending way and one in a way of exposing injustice done during the riots of the 60s. I don't want to say too much about the story because I don't want to give any spoilers. Let's just say that the story reeled me in pretty much from page one and I could have sat down and read it all in one setting. And yet there is so much grief and sadness in the book too: misplaced loyalties, forbidden love, severed relationships, loss and then finally redemption on several accounts. Can you tell I just loved the book?

I don't even want to go read another fiction right now because I'm afraid that no matter how good the book is, it won't compare to this and I will be doing the author a disservice, but I will read another one and I will try to compare it to itself and not another.

My only gripe with this book is I feel it left me hanging a bit. There were quite a few unanswered questions with the answers only hinted at and it left me wondering what the rest of the story was. What did happen to the modern day Elizabeth and a few other minor characters in the story as well? This way I am left to imagine what the possible endings could be.

I received this book from Revell and was not required to write a positive review.

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