The Ballroom

A heartbreaking story of how love can flourish in the darkest of times

Cathy Rentzenbrink, The Bookseller

A poignant against-the-odds love story

Glamour

Beautiful

Stylist

An original, brilliant, evocative novel

Chris Cleave

A terrifying, moving and uplifting story

February Hot Read, Woman and Home

Tender . . . Hope is the emotion that unspools the delicate connections between these brilliantly drawn characters

Psychologies Magazine

An exquisite love story

Good Housekeeping

Part social commentary, part mystery and part dangerous liaison, this poignant story casts an unflinching gaze at the historic treatment of mental health disorders.

Financial Times

Compelling, elegant and insightful.

Observer

The Ballroom is a beautifully wrought novel, a tender, heartbreaking and insightful exploration of the longings that survive in the most inhospitable environments.

Sunday Express 5/5 stars

A British version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Moving. Fascinating

Times

An unsentimental and affecting story

Sunday Times

Magnificent…a luminary of historical fiction…writing history from the margins, the personal stories behind the era, she delivers profound, poignant stories that stir the emotions.

Press Association

All the intensity and lyricism of Hope’s debut, Wake

Daily Mail

The Ballroom confirms her as a novelist of immense power...Exquisitely good. Sensitive, engrossing and highly recommended

Metro

The Ballroom is a beautiful, gripping, heart-wrenching, thought-provoking book. I was so enthralled, I read it in an evening, unwilling to put it down.

thewritesofwoman.wordpress.com

An atmospheric and thought provoking love story

bookslifeandeverything.blogspot.co.uk

An absorbing read from beginning to end . . . I'm already excited to see what Anna Hope does next.

thetattooedbook.blogspot.co.uk

This novel is at once romantic, thought-provoking and extremely poignant, with a rich narrative and an ending that moved me to tears

culturefly.co.uk

In this deeply moving book, Hope reminds us that behind everyone’s facade lies something waiting to be rent free

Irish Times

Such a magnificent setting definitely demands a story that delivers, all guns blazing. It does, and then some . . . Fiction at it’s finest.

Irish Independent

Absolutely heart-breaking. One of the best books I’ve ever read

Dinah Jefferies, author of THE TEA-PLANTER'S WIFE

Gripping final chapters ramp up the suspense towards a hearth-wrenching conclusion ...explores the tensions and trials of the human condition with grace and insight.

New York Times

Absolutely fantastic . . . I'm in real awe of her writing.

Elizabeth Macneal, author of THE DOLL FACTORY