I tried so hard to get into this book but despite all my efforts I’m afraid that none of the main characters were credible or came alive.

There was so much descriptive narrative which slowed down the storyline which meant that unusually I was unable to finish the book.

With well-developed characters who are realistic and easily envisaged, this is a beautifully told and often heart-wrenching story about a family dealing with both their past and their heritage. Those issues keep coming back to affect them today and the question - for all of us - is how do you deal with them and the message - again for all of us - is that you cannot deal with them alone.

This was a slow burner of a novel, it took me a while to get into it. We follow the various inhabitants of a country estate over a long weekend as they prepare for the funeral of the patriarch Phillip. They are joined by guests and family members, but ‘Albion’ has a small cast and we get to know them intimately. The setting too plays its part and, while characters seek escape by immersing themselves in the rewilded country estate, tensions boil over and arrival of Clara, who may be Phillip’s illegitimate daughter, adds a further discomforting element to the mix. Whilst working on a small scale, Anna Hope tackles big issues relating to ‘the twisted creed and brutality of the ruling class’ and the need to tackle historical injustices face on. ‘Albion’ went from being mildly interesting to enthralling and I would wholeheartedly recommend it.

After the death of their father Philip, the Brooke family gather for the funeral. Each of the three siblings wants their hearts desire. For Frannie, the eldest, it is to continue The Albion Project, a rewilding scheme that she and Philip have established with great passion. The house and all one thousand acres have been bequeathed to Frannie, but brother Milo wants his share of the land to build The Clearing, a retreat for psilocybin therapy that Milo is convinced cured him of his many addictions. Then there is Isa, married to Hari, with two children. Good job, devoted husband and happy children, Isa should be content with her lot, but there is always the pull of Jack, a worker on the estate with whom she shares a past, both distant and more recent. Emotions and thoughts bubble away as they do at times in families, but the undercurrents are swiftly laid aside by the arrival of Clara and what she has to reveal.

This family saga leaves me in two minds. Yes, beautifully written, if a little wordy (why use one one when three will do), with well developed characters. It is slow, but the author gently releases the story in a cleverly woven plot.

Unfortunately the characters are so well written I found it hard to like any of them. Egotistical, self pitying and entitled in spades, it’s only Frannie’s quest for the rewilding that is at all pleasant about any of them. The arrival of Clara does cause a stir, as it should, but she is a woman with a saying for every occasion and a story to drop into conversation at will, so basically a know it all!

There are weighty issues throughout the book, dealt with empathy and compassion. Jack summed it up with “Go far back and every family has done terrible things.” And Clara’s “It’s about acknowledgment”.

A book with a message. We must all do better.

Thank you NetGalley and Fig Tree.

Albion by Anna Hope is a novel centred around a wealthy English family and their huge family estate. Following the death of their father, the family gather for his funeral at the house. Frannie, the eldest daughter and inheritor of the property wants to continue the rewilding that her and her father were passionate about, Milo wishes to create an exclusive healing centre and Isa returns from her teaching job to see her first love, Jack, who lived and worked on the estate.

I would describe this novel as a slow burn but each character is intriguing and it is easy to follow the different points of view through the distinct narration. Whilst the climax may be predictable, I thought it dealt well with the themes of money and power and found it to be a book I was always keen to get back to.

Albion spans five days as the Brooke family bury the man who has wielded so much influence over their lives. Frannie and her father established the Albion Project a decade ago, rewilding the Sussex estate as a contribution to a better future for all. Philip had a reputation for partying, hosting the legendary Teddy Bears’ Picnic, a free festival where he met both his wife Grace and his best friend Ned who has been camped out in the estate’s woodland ever since. Before his death, Philip had promised his son enough land to establish a centre for the psilocybin therapy Milo believed had cured his addiction. While Frannie and Milo wrangle over the estate’s precarious finances the daughter of one of Philip’s many lovers has decided to attend his funeral, about to drop a bombshell.
Anna Hope takes her time unfolding this absorbing story of a supremely dysfunctional family, exploring class, privilege, climate change and colonialism; weighty themes but she avoids bludgeoning her readers by deftly weaving her message about the foundation of wealth and where it comes from through an absorbing story, studded with some beautiful descriptions of the natural world. Her characters aren't monstrous – Philip was as scarred by his own childhood as his offspring have been by theirs – but they are blind to their history and its implications. It’s an impressive, ambitious novel, unafraid to tackle important issues while engaging readers in an engrossing story. I found the ending a bit too neat and tidy, but it does leave readers with hope.

3.5 ✨

I was very pleased to see there was a new Anna Hopebook, and immediately picked this one up.
Set in the most fraught of times, a family funeral.
It has a fairly small cast, in terms of the family, and a few estate workers, but there's plenty of high emotions running.
I enjoyed the talk of the rewilding.
A few surprises for me and the characters on the way, but amongst that were what felt like genuine moments of connection.

The Brooke siblings return to the familial estate for the funeral of the patriarch, Philip, who appears to be a fairly odious and entitled man.

The story addresses the complexity of the family relationships to each other, and to the two men who work the estate and the daughter of the woman that Philip left them for for a number of years. Each of the characters, whilst initially seeming quite one dimensional - Grace, the mother is emotionally unavailable, Frannie, the eldest daughter is seemingly defined by her sense of responsibility to the estate and rewinding project, etc. but they each, through a carefully winding story arc develop into intriguing individuals each carrying their own scars from their father’s behaviour.

There is a wonderful constant theme of the rewilding of the family estate driven by Philip and Frannie, showing even the worst people are not all bad!

I enjoyed this gentle story that ably carried weighty themes.