Hope for the Worst

Hope for the Worst is a novel that speaks to our moment. It is concerned with the largest questions: how do we live? how not to suffer? how to be where we are? In all seasons the narrator names the world as it passes before her, vibrant, reverberating in time. But by the end of this remarkable story the narrator not only takes us to where she is. By her patient chronicling she allows us to see our own lives with new eyes. Kathleen Hill, author of She Read to Us in the Late Afternoons What an extraordinary book Kate Brandt has written. Hope for the Worst is a tale of high ideas and high longing, with an untrustworthy guru and New York in its most desperate years. I loved the wild turns the story takes in the Himalayan edges of Asia, and the dangers the writing leads us through. It's a riveting book that will make its mark on all readers. Joan Silber, author of The Secrets of Happiness and Improvement In her startling, sensual novel Hope for the Worst, Kate Brandt embarks on a thrilling journey into the heart of Buddhist thought on pain, truth, and desire. Her hero is searching for wisdom while on a perilous journey of self-discovery, but as a deceptive teacher attempts to shape her and control her, she risks losing herself in the quest. With a thoughtful, sensitive eye for detail, Brandt makes the pressing questions of female spirituality, and the place of women in contemporary Buddhism, feel vital. This story will pull you deep into the thorny beauty of American Buddhism - and leave you wondering and moved. Blair Hurley, author of The Devoted In exquisite prose, Brandt's novel pulses with vivid observations of what we do in the search for love. I was gripped by deeply wounded and philosophical Ellie Adkins, an insomniac, as she navigates an uneven power balance with her lovers in 1980s New York City and Tibet. Capturing the twists and turns in Ellie's quest for healing, the novel is structured in lyrical journal entries and letters. This is a novel with many lessons for living, rendered in beautiful form. Jimin Han, author of The Apology and A Small Revolution Kate Brandt's extraordinary novel, Hope for the Worst, is just the kind of book I love - intimate and finely observed, yet chock-full of big ideas and profound questions. We fall in love with her unforgettable young narrator, Ellie, who, new to New York City, struggles with loneliness, depression and a hunger for meaning. With a wry eye, Brandt draws a vivid portrait of the snake-oil guru who preys on that vulnerability with the promise of deeper truth. We follow Ellie across the globe in her effort to escape her obsession and find her own truth. I could not put this book down. I look forward to reading it again and again. Deborah Zoe Laufer, playwright, End Days and Be Here Now