The year is 1921. Ireland has been at war for two years. Communities are torn apart by bitter hatred – and now a hard border splits the island.

In Belfast, Helen’s Hope hostel is a progessive space where young women live and work together – a haven of tolerance and diversity in a fractured city. But some people hate Helen’s Hope and its values.

Another pitch-perfect historical novel from the prize-winning author of Star by Star.

‘Funny, moving and full of wisdom, Hope Against Hope shows Sheena Wilkinson is a writer at the top of her game.’ — Jan Carson, author of The Fire Starters, winner of the EU Prize for Literature 2019

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"Ideal for thoughtful teenage readers and adults alike."

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"Wilkinson effortlessly weaves an emotive tale set in a tumultuous time, a skill which makes her latest novel for teens stand out from the crowd."

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"The school story appreciation also enables an historically accurate framework for contemplating alternative sexual orientations...It’s an incredibly satisfying treatment of the topic, one of many “issues” touched upon in a moving, clever novel that expertly depicts how the big political concerns of the day impact on individual lives."

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"Set in a women's hostel in a newly-partitioned island, Wilkinson again presents motivated believable female characters in entirely convincing historical conditions, taking control of their own lives and impacting on others'. The writer is an Arts Council Major Artist and has a formidable narrative gift and an acute sense of historical justice."

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"Stands out for its empathetic exploration of living through a watershed historical moment."

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"Give to readers who love historical fiction and are eager for an engaging story." 

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"Entertaining, vivid, and sympathetic." 

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"Exceptionally well written with a thoroughly young reader friendly treatment of such sensitive issues as war, discrimination, hatred, survival and reconciliation, "Hope Against Hope" by Irish author Sheena Wilkinson is especially and unreservedly recommended as an addition to elementary school, middle school, and community library historical fiction collections for children ages 10-14."