Books That Provide Hope

[TallulahDoris]

Hi everyone, I’m looking for a book, journal etc that can help me during a difficult time. I’m currently undergoing tests for cancer and struggling to navigate the menopause. I feel a little bit lost and wondered if anyone could recommend something to read or journal please? Thanks 💐

'Gift from the sea' by Anne Morrow Lindbergh is a very pleasant read in my opinion. It's the author's musings on the different stages of women's lives and also on the benefits of being close to nature. It's a while since I read it but did so when I was rushing headlong into menopause and all that it can bring, good and bad. I don't know if it touches on illness.

One caveat: the author was the mother of the famous Lindbergh baby, who was kidnapped in the US in the 1930s. An awful case. I honestly can't remember if this is referred to in the book. If it was, I'm sure it would only have been briefly and certainly not in any detail.

I can't really think of any books that offer 'hope' exactly, but the books that cheer me up and make me want to go on with life are:

Patrick Fermor: A Time of Gifts (joyful, life-affirming, sees the positive in everyone and everything)

P. G. Wodehouse: Right Ho Jeeves (joyful, sublime language, and the kind humour that dissolves everything into silliness and laughter)

Dickens: David Copperfield (full of sadness and pain, but ends with love and forgiveness and happiness)

Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice (like Dickens, Austen is a classic for a reason – she never lets you down, no matter how many times you re-read her)

Brian Blessed: Absolute Pandemonium (if you can, listen to him read it on audio – booming and funny and utterly life-affirming)

Not perhaps 'hope' per se, but embracing the positive following the most awful experiences imaginable, might be:

Edith Eger's 'The Choice: Embrace the Possible'
Victor Frankl's 'Man's Search For Meaning'
Primo Levi's 'If This Is a Man' and 'The Truce'

Agree with PP about Patrick Leigh Fermor's "A time of gifts" and its life-affirming nature.
"A month in the country" by J L Carr is a short novel and a very gentle read. Like some of the other titles already mentioned, I'd say it's inspiring and calming, so hopeful in that way.