Hoping for Hope

Product Description During the week of her fiftieth birthday, Lydia "Liddy" Claver loses her job, learns that her husband is having an affair, and unexpectedly discovers that she is pregnant, forcing her to embark on a journey of self-discovery that starts with sadness and confusion, but ends with hope and happiness. 25,000 first printing. From Publishers Weekly First-time British novelist Clare attempts a "feel good" book for women approaching 50 who find their lives have lost some zip. Unfortunately, this British soap opera for the perimenopausal set elicits wonder at the author's ability to cobble together so many cliched, over-the-top characters in need of a good self-help book. Lydia "Liddy" Claver has had a bad week. Fired from her adult education job teaching jewelry making, she also discovers that her husband, Martin, is having an affair with their friend Fay. Even worse, her gynecologist informs her that at age 49, Liddy is six months pregnant. Since Liddy and Martin haven't had sex in five years, the baby is undoubtedly the result of a brief affair she had with a 20-something student. Liddy, a "big" woman, had no idea she was pregnant and now it's too late to have an abortion. Before she has a chance to tell her family the news, Liddy delivers the child prematurely while visiting her beloved lesbian great-aunt Cleo in Cornwall. With baby Hope and the truth finally out, Martin stomps off angrily to Fay. First-born daughter Laura, predictably controlling, decides it's best for everyone if she raises Hope as her own daughter. Middle child Miranda, a bulimic workaholic, wants the baby to save her marriage to Richard, who wants children desperately, to her dismay. The youngest, gay son Alex, wants the baby so he can avoid making any career choice at all. Add to the mix a pushy, aristocratic mother-in-law and a dash of naughty sex, and there's something here for everyone in search of a light read, although gracefully aging women might hope for something less messy.Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal With her light, deft touch, British first novelist Clare scarcely prepares the reader for the extent of dysfunction in her fictional family. Almost 50, Liddy Claver is preparing for menopause, not motherhood, when she learns that she is seven months pregnant the result of a fling with a man half her age. Telling husband Martin is a problem, since they haven't slept together for five years, but she soon discovers that Martin is having an affair of his own. Liddy keeps her pregnancy secret, confiding only in two dear friends and her beloved elderly aunt, whom she is visiting when she prematurely delivers her daughter, Hope. The shock of discovering Liddy's secret is followed by Liddy's three adult children vying to raise the newborn Laura to compensate for a recent miscarriage, Miranda to keep the lover who wants children, and gay Alex to be a parent. All is resolved in the short final chapter, narrated by Hope ten years later. Despite a certain disconnection between tone and content, this novel is likely to hold readers with its appealing protagonist and relentless activity and to find a place in popular fiction collections. Michele Leber, Fairfax Cty. P.L., VACopyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. About the Author Lucy Clare is married, over fifty, and the mother of four grown children.Hoping for Hope is her first novel.