Hope Was Here

Hope was tiny when she was born and her mom couldn't cope; Hope's mom gave Hope to Hope's aunt to raise. Hope's aunt, Addie, is a fantastic cook but she and Hope are always moving.

The one thing Hope's mom gave Hope of use to her was the secrets of waitressing. Hope and Addie suffer at the hands of a con artist and are on the move again, this time to the café of a man with cancer. The man with cancer turns out to be another Atticus Finch, but with political thoughts, and Hope becomes caught up in his campaign for mayor against a villainous long time mayor.

I liked this story more and more with every page I read. The aunt...the mom...the café owner...the cook at the café...Hope herself...all were scrumptious characters.

Summary: The title character, Hope, lives with her aunt Addie, who is a restaurant cook. When the restaurant that Addie works for in New York City closes down, she takes a job at a diner in Wisconsin. Hope is reluctant to go, but, when she gets to her new home, she is greeted by a few friendly faces and some unexpectedly exciting happenings.

The Good:
–Descriptions of food, both as delicious but also as something that connects people
–Fun fast-paced “in the weeds” waitressing scenes, portraying service work as complex
–Positive if simplistic/idealistic representation of young people participating in local politics

The Bad:
–Braverman...I mean the name, of course, the age gap between he and Hope placing him above and her below 18, mainly the fact that for the first chunk of the book, he's just always angry, and then when he and Hope start dating a switch abruptly flips and he inexplicably and immediately turns supportive and affectionate
–More broadly, none of the characters are dimensional and often readers are provided little information about what is motivating anyone. Hope is cool but you can almost distill her character into her work ethic and pain surrounding parental abandonment

The Oblique:
–Seems to lay claim to some piece of America during some point in history, but not particularly relatable or even distinct in that depiction
–That being said, I first read this book years ago and thus it has a certain nostalgia factor for me personally