Before reading this book, I had never heard the phrase "kissed her/his teeth" I'm still not sure what it is, but this family does a lot of it. I'm just picturing this group of people sitting around sucking air through their teeth while they argue with each other.

That is all I have got from this book.

What a great debut novel from Jendella Benson. This is a story of a family from Nigeria that move to England. Bad luck seems to follow them and Mom and Dad are trying to make a better way for their children. Glory moves to America and while in America her baby brother is arrested and has a trial and sent to jail. Hope remains in America through it all feeling it is better for the family. Then comes a call in the middle of the night. Dad has passed away suddenly and Glory is needed home. Glory quits her job and returns to England and the family.. While going through Dad's paperwork Glory is shocked to see a picture of Hope that she has never seen before. The story is now a mystery as what happened to Hope and why will no one talk about her. I love the history of London at that time and was shocked at some events. Glory is a little self centered and she upsets her family but in the end the family comes together as most families do. I liked this novel and look forward to more stories from Jendella Benson.

Hope and Glory were twin sisters and Glory assumed her twin died when they were little. When Glory returns home to London after her father dies she uncovers some photos her Mom had hidden that made her start questioning what she knew. This book was a slow start for me but eventually you catch up on the complex family dynamics that is the main undercurrent of this novel. Glory’s return home and digging into her family’s secrets disrupts the family dynamics. I didn’t not like the contrived romance and many of that characters but the story picked up a bit at the end.

Hope and Glory is a wonderful book! It is perfect for discussion at book clubs or coffee dates with friends & family. It is thought-provoking, heartfelt, and memorable.

Glory returns to London from her life in Los Angeles after her father dies suddenly. She discovers that her family has fallen apart with a brother in prison, a sister with a troubled marriage, and a mother near the breaking point with grief. She decides to stay in London to help her Nigerian immigrant family and uncovers some long-held secrets. She searches for information about her sister Hope, who she believes had died when they were small children.. This character-driven drama provides good depictions of family dynamics and Nigerian immigrant culture. Glory’s search to uncover these family secrets is a compelling read.

A gripping story that gives you just enough information about each character to keep you reading. I appreciated learning about the culture and the adjustments Nigerian immigrants would have made to settle in London.

This one was like two different books for me. I enjoyed the character of Glory and her family background as well as how this Nigerian immigrant family lived in London. When Glory returns to London from LA after her father's death, she has a lot of family dynamics to sort out. This is actually the part of the novel I enjoyed the most.
Halfway though a long-held family mystery is revealed and Glory must make peace with it. There was also a romance thrown in that I felt didn't really belong in the same book. Overall, it was an okay read for me, but never really grew into something I looked forward to picking up and reading,

Hope and Glory by Jendella Benson is a family drama. Glory returns home to London for her father’s funeral to find her family in shambles. They have been through a lot and seem resentful that Glory has not been home and supportive. As she rejoins her family, Glory begins to unravel secrets that some would rather keep in the past.

I enjoyed the story overall and found it to be a quick read. I struggled a little with some of the characters—Glory needed to listen to others more, her family’s weird refusal to talk, about anything, and her boyfriend acted very oddly, in my opinion. I did like how the story kind of came together at the end.

3.5/5

**Thank you to William Morrow for the advanced copy!

I haven't seen this book around bookstagram much and I am surprised because it is a great family drama.

Our MC has been away and when she goes home for her father's funeral she finds that her family is kind of splintered and not doing well. So You go on the journey with her of discovering the issues and trying to solve them.

As with all family dramas there are ups and downs and that's what make them great. I would definitely recommend this one.

Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

The extremely quick rundown: Glory returns to London after the death of her father and discovers a family secret that isn’t really quite a secret.

My thoughts: Glory’s ass is exhausting 😐. And annoying. Somehow, a bit likeable. Ok, sometimes she is. But, she and the family dynamics are relatable. We all know a Glory, a Faith, etc., or one of them is or was us at one point.

The synopsis of the book intrigued me but the execution fell short. The story picked up around the 45% mark, and when it got realllyyy good and interesting, the book was over. I was like, is this it? What about…?!

Was I the only one thinking Julian was up to something? The man would just disappear or show up on the corner, getting out of vans! Lol!

In short, it’s a pretty good read that left me wanting more. I enjoyed reading about Nigerian traditions and also how in the end, the family came together.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC to read and review 📖.

#HopeandGlory #arc #netgalley

I received an early read of this book and read it on my Kindle. Hope and Glory is the story of a Nigerian family who immigrated to England. The story opens with the death of their father and Glory's return to England from living in Los Angeles. Glory discovers that much has changed since she has been away. Her sister, Faith, has been assuming many family roles and protecting her mother from many things.

While searching for information about her deceased twin, Hope, Glory discovers a well-hidden family secret.

Through the story, Glory uncovers the family secret relating to Hope and works to mend a family who has experienced many hardships.

It's fascinating to see how similar a Nigerian family living in London is to a Chinese family living in the U.S. The family secrets, culture clashes, and pressures felt by the second generation are pervasive throughout the book. I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptions of Nigerian dishes and Yoruba sayings, making the book much more of an authentic representation. The quippy British humor was also very entertaining, and I learned many unique phrases in the process, such as "kissing teeth."

The story centers around Glory, who has returned to London for her father's funeral and encounters tumultuous family dynamics with her sister and mother. She also works to rekindle her relationship with her brother, who she wasn't there to support during his trial. Glory also starts looking into what happened to her twin sister, Hope, who she thought had passed away when she was young. This book captures the essence of families in all of their messy, complicated, but loving glory.

I hope there will be another book to follow this one I loved the story and the characters. Was a little slow to start but once you got in it it was a good quick read. Great book all around!

This book was was just okay for me. It was hard to not compare it to Black Cake. Similar death of a parent, long lost sibling. I thought Black Cake did a better job of keeping the reader intrigued with the back story. Hope and Glory didn't leave that much of an impression on me. I found it very hard to find sympathy for the main character. She at times was very childish and unlikeable. You wanted to root for her, but she made it hard to do so. I like how the book wrapped up though.

The death of the Akindele family patriarch unveils the turmoil within the family. Glory, the middle daughter, returns to London hoping to find the happiness that she lacks in her seemingly glamorous life in LA. Instead, she realizes that her family members are struggling as much as she is. Can she help her fractured family start over?

This heavy read focuses on family dynamics, secrets, perceptions of your parents as an adult, and reconciliation. It is a beautifully written story, but it dragged for me. I could relate to the struggles of the various family members, but never felt a genuine connection to any of them. I enjoyed learning more about Nigerian culture and food through this Nigerian-British family. The book ends on a positive, hopeful note, but I would have liked to know a little more about what happened next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I love family dramas and this one has plenty!

Glory returns home to London from LA when her father unexpectedly dies. While there, she uncovers a long lost family secret.

This book examines family roles and dynamics, the idea of coming home, loss, and life choices. Understanding generational and cultural differences is important for all of us. This book lets us watch Glory and she learns more about herself and her family.

An impressive, emotional debut!

After the death of her father, Glory returns to England and starts poking at the skeletons in her family's closet much to the chagrin of her mother and older sister.

Hope and Glory is the story of a Nigerian family where the loss of its patriarch unleashes the fractures and the distance that exists between its members.
Glory is the middle child and has left the bosom of the family looking for her happiness. But the death of her beloved father brings her back to London from LA. She decides to look after her mother and moves back to her old home. What ensues after that forms the book that is Hope and Glory. There is mystery, sadness and happiness at the end.
I have mixed feelings about this book. The book hardly picks up the pace and when it does, it ends abruptly. Glory was very unlikable for me. Her character was very difficult to understand. She decides to suddenly fix everything but at the same time she complains or finds issues with everyone in her family. I loved the Nigerian traditions that the author has woven in the book.
Thank you NetGalley , William Morrow and HarperCollins for this book.
Triggers: Panic Attacks, Mentions of Self Harm, Child Abandonment

I wanted to like this book more than I did. The premise is very interesting; young Nigerian-English woman returns home from abroad after her father dies and discovers a big family secret. However, the execution left me wanting more. The plot moved very slowly until then end, which felt rushed. I also greatly disliked the main character, so much so that I really couldn’t care less what happened to her. I guess it’s the mark of good writing that made me dislike a fictional person so much. I found Glory to be immature and self centered. I think I would have enjoyed the book more if it had been told from the point of view of one of the other minor characters, like Faith or even Celeste. I think the best part of this novel is the glimpses of Nigerian culture it gives to the reader, as well as its portrayal of the reality of life in London for Black people.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book is really wonderful. I thought Benson did such an amazing job for a debut novel. Hope and Glory is a complex novel about family dynamics, coming to terms with grief, and facing your own failings and flaws while trying to heal yourself. I thought Glory was such a dynamic and interesting character. She is by no means perfect, but we get to see those flaws. Benson does an amazing job and not holding any punches from Glory, but showing that Glory is often reactive and can't see her own flaws in the moment. You root for her while side eyeing her in the way she acts and sometimes treats people.

But Benson also does an amazing job at showing you Glory's perspective outright. We see through her lens, so we really agree with her until she unlearns a lot of things. We are being led through the story just like she is, growing with her. There are tons of complex trauma and emotions in this book. Family pride, shame, secrets, and the lens of first generation immigrant Nigerian children. Benson looks at these straight on while crafting a story of true hope and healing. It felt contrived in parts, but that wasn't to say that it didn't handle the real things very well. I wanted to find out what happened next and always had a hard time putting it down. The discussion of how immigrant children were treated growing up, and how England treated them and the complex emotions of how Black people are treated in the present, were all there and ready to be looked at.

The one failing of the book was the romance for me. It almost felt like a story that wasn't necessary when considering the overall parts. I was more interested in Glory reaching out to old friends, and did feel like the misgivings were on both sides. They could have dealt with a lot of their issues with simple conversations. I understood why they didn't, but felt like the complex emotions of the other stories were more relevant to the novel than their story was. I wasn't as interested and it felt a bit silly to have this happening right after the death of Glory's father. Overall, it was the only large issue I had with the novel. Definitely a book to pick up.