All the Hopeful Lovers

by William Nicholson

Belinda wistfully reflects how much better at sex she is now than when she was in her twenties. She's thought about taking a lover, but ultimately could never do that to her husband Tom. So imagine her despair when she discovers he's having an affair...

And what about Tom, and his lover Meg? It's not easy for them either. Alongside this knot of middle-aged lovers is a tangle of younger ones, as Belinda's flirty daughter Chloe tries to set up Jack with shy Alice, without realizing that Jack actually has a crush on her.

Nicholson casts an unflinching eye on men's attitude to sex, on women, love and family life. This is our own familiar world rendered pacy, funny, emotionally on the button and hugely entertaining.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published September 2, 2010

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

William Nicholson was born in 1948, and grew up in Sussex and Gloucestershire. His plays for television include Shadowlands and Life Story , both of which won the BAFTA Best Television Drama award in their year; other award-winners were Sweet As You Are and The March . In 1988 he received the Royal Television Society's Writer's Award. His first play, an adaptation of Shadowlands for the stage, was Evening Standard Best Play of 1990, and went on to a Tony Award winning run on Broadway. He was nominated for an Oscar for the screenplay of the film version, which was directed by Richard Attenborough and starred Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger.

Since then he has written more films - Sarafina, Nell, First Knight, Grey Owl , and Gladiator (as co-writer), for which he received a second Oscar nomination. He has written and directed his own film, Firelight ; and three further stage plays, Map of the Heart , Katherine Howard and The Retreat from Moscow , which ran for five months on Broadway and received three Tony Award nominations.

His novel for older children, The Wind Singer, won the Smarties Prize Gold Award on publication in 2000, and the Blue Peter Book of the Year Award in 2001. Its sequel, Slaves of the Mastery , was published in May 2001, and the final volume in the trilogy, Firesong , in May 2002. The trilogy has been sold in every major foreign market, from the US to China.

He is now at work on a new sequence of novels for older children, called The Noble Warriors . The first book, Seeker , was published in the UK in September 2005.The second book, Jango, in 2006 and the third book NOMAN, will be published in September 2007.

His novels for adults are The Society of Others (April 2004) and The Trial of True Love (April 2005).

He lives in Sussex with his wife Virginia and their three children.

from williamnicholson.co.uk

Reviews

[Hattie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book more than The Secret Intensity Of Everyday Life, though I'm almost annoyed that I do. This book is more problematic than the last one - there is too much "men want sex and women want relationships" in it which is never properly dealt with. Like, I don't argue that in general it's true, but there are two problems with that argument: 1) only in general, with about a million exceptions, whereas this book presents it as almost entirely black and white, and 2) that's all down to conditioning anyway, which the book never talks about when it so easily could because it follows every character's thought patterns so tenderly...

But actually, when I think about it, those problems really only lie in the Belinda/Tom storyline, so if I write that one off, I really like the book. Their daughter Chloe's story seems a little slut-shamey at times because I don't think I was ever pro Jack liking her, but I wonder how much of that is just because of how much I loved Alice...

because I really loved Alice. I loved her in the last book too. I love her family. I love her narrative. I connect with her so much. She made the whole book for me. If it were just the Alice story this book would be 5 stars, no question.

[Engemi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a William Nicholson groupie. He surprises you on every page with deep insight, just ever so lightly offered, and twist and turns which keep you thinking on the everyday small details, which after al makes up the total thread of our lives.
This novel is of course about love (isn't that what life is about?) but most issues around love, i.e. sex, desire, giving in to desire, not giving in, humbleness. arrogance, shyness, forwardness, etc, amongst the young and older characters with whom Nicholson populated this book. I haven't yet read far enough to know the outcome, and I do not want to rush the read, the language and thinking embedded in the beautiful prose is too soothing.
What is more, he has a filmmakers knack of painting pictures which the reader immediately recognize as his or her own
Go get a copy and see for yourself
* I have since finished this book, and after 3 months it is still with me and I feel thwarted for not being able to get something as fulfilling afa 'life' as according to art, is concerned. Nicholson is a wonderfully intuitive writer but also thoroughly integrated as a thinker. He writes books which feeds the reader's head and heart. I simply loved All the hopeful lovers and its wonderful characters as much as I loved The Trial of True Love.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Second in the Sussex Series and so a direct follow up to “Secret Intensity of Everyday Life” – set (as usual) over a week, this time just before Christmas 2008.

The key characters this time around are Laura/Henry/Jack and Carrie (the former now at University, the second a much stronger character this time) as well as Laura’s domineering elder sister Diana (and her husband Roddy), Liz and Alan (now married), their son Cass and Liz’s daughter Alice (who bought them together) as well as Liz’s ex-husband and Alice’s father Guy. Previously fringe characters include: Chloe (whose bullying of Alice as a schoolgirl was the catalyst for her and her Mum’s friendship with her then teacher Alan) and her parents Belinda and Tom; Alan’s sister Meg.

The key early plot developments are Chloe deciding to match make between Alice and Jack (who initially thinks Chloe is interested in him) and Belinda discovering to her horror that Tom is having an affair with Meg.

This book is far weaker than The Secret Intensity of Everyday Life. Like Adventures in Modern Marriage it really only has one very repetitive theme – in this case a rather cliched view of the apparent differences between what men and women seek to gain from a physical relationship (and the amount of emotional investment associated with it). Further there is a rather far-fetched series of interactions between the characters and a series of rather strange plot lines.

[Henry · Rating 2 out of 5]

would this work as a standalone novel I wonder?
Bit uneven actually. great in places - when Nicholson gets it right he's spot on; skewering some aspect of human nature. His 'love makes us beautiful" theme is lovely. also how he writes as a parent about children is very emotional.
but the 'men from Mars women from Venus' stuff is so, so old. so old.
mostly this was narrated by the shits in the story, Wanker Guy and fat adulterer Tom; but it seemed to expand to a theme when the women: poor dowdy low self-esteem Meg and sexy slut Chloe also only ever fucked cos, y'know they just needed someone to love.
too many characters gave the book a soap opera feel - some of the extra plot worked: the arty theme ('the loss, the loss' echoes of Marlow's horror) was excellent and linked beautifully with the 'beauty is love is truth' theme (actually partially excellent - old cantankerous Armitage smashing plates and painting Carrie was brilliant; the modern artist Jo was under developed) . but the Norman Bates violinist plumber belonged in a whole different book (maybe Psycho? remember the violins? you must remember the shower, yes?). And Roddy finding God - too much. too many characters meant too many under developed or undeveloped storylines.
what really, really let this book down was that sometimes the dialogue was actually atrocious - reminiscent of an article in Cosmo or something (my friend Patrick - an architect - says. ..)
I'm a Sussex man and I found the locality really off putting - except the unlovely Seaford bit which was fuck funny.
However his fans love this, they follow the series and (rather touchingly) ask him when he's going to return to minor characters again. Maybe I shouldn't see this as a book but as a chapter in the Sussex books by Nicholson.
Nicholson has said that he doesn't really do modernist nonlinear stories, but I felt that this was what was missing for me. I liked his time constraint - all the action happening over 7 days; but I would have liked some more adventurous plotting: tell it backwards maybe?

[Samuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

ALL THE HOPEFUL LOVERS takes place in 2008, eight years after we encountered the unforgettable middle class world of Sussex in England. And once again, this is a gripping novel for the reader in me who loves exploring the inner lives of other people in ordinary circumstances. The major themes have changed. This time, it is about desire of every kind that all lead to love.

In many ways, this series of novels by William Nicholson reads like a literary, middle England version of a Paul Thomas Anderson movie. The narrative takes a multi-protagonist approach. And what gives a novel about everyday joys and sorrows is the cinematic approach that the co-writer of GLADIATOR brings.

I would recommend ALL THE HOPEFUL LOVERS to anyone who loves great English prose with a gossip-ravenous mind!

I just cant' wait to read the third book in this addictive series, THE GOLDEN HOUR.

[Katie C1990 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't really get into this book. I found it really all over the place and couldn't get lost in it like I like to when reading a book. I found that there was too much going on with too many people and I couldn't understand the jump between scenes and characters. I could only read a few chapters at a time as I found myself getting bored and lost interest really quickly.

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I decided to read this book for the lone reason that it is me on the cover! It is very wishy-washy, not really my cup of tea at all. But if you like light fiction with lots of characters and complex relationships, then definitely give it a try.

[Natalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Under the name "I Could Love You". It seems like they're the same book. I loved it.

[Sara Saunders · Rating 3 out of 5]

A delightful quick read drawing you into life in a fictional village in Sussex. Following middle aged love affairs, young love and the angst of teenagers and growing old. Surprisingly addictive, but gentle and rather enjoyable! This was the second in a trilogy set 8 years after the first novel. Not a prerequisite to have read the first.

[Yuliya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Не ми допадна слабото и непълно разгръщане на някои сюжетни линии. Отделно, този начин на представяне на героите - поетапно, на час по лъжичка, също. Не блести с кой знае какъв сюжет, нямаше и нещо от самото повествование, което да ме грабне. По-скоро очаквах повече, много повече от книгата.

[Michael Lynes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Falls away

Starts really well picking up from the first novel but loses momentum about two thirds in. Very uneven; some beautiful passages and some ridiculous and cliched writing. Far too many characters and very little plot. Not as good as the first.

[Chris Waterford · Rating 2 out of 5]

A novel full of my favourite themes---relationships, affairs, betrayals and redemption---but the writing was so, so ordinary---like a Big Mac in a fine dining restaurant. In the end, I gave up on it half-way. DNF.
5.5/10

[ShellsReads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Following a number of individual love interest stories which all started out in hopeful fashion but had varying outcomes – more pithy less frothy than I expected and executed in his customary fine style. It’s a quick easy entertaining read , nothing too taxing, nothing too irritating but ultimately fairly forgettable.

[dawn wilkes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Complicated - too many characters and I got lost in it. I could not finish it and had to give up half way

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable and emotionally satisfying, All The Hopeful Lovers is a set of variations on an age-old theme. A large cast of inter-connected characters struggle with their emotional lives and find themselves caught between twin poles of idealism and compromise.

Young, old and middle-aged, they weave in and out of each other's lives, some impeded by selfishness, others by honesty; some gifted with good-looks, others with sensitivity, some borne aloft on confidence, others crippled by self-consciousness, all in search of love.

It's a challenging narrative structure - so many plot-lines, so many different solutions to the same essential problems. What carries the novel forward is the acute observation of human nature and the authenticity of the characters. These feel like real people, their weaknesses and strengths are familiar to us all.

Nicholson is always looking for the truth about the individual under the chaos of impulse and he finds that truth in the small details. As one of his characters, an elderly artist whose portraits have long ceased to be fashionable, observes, "You paint what you see and what you feel. I can see you but I can't feel what you feel, I can only feel what I feel. So I latch on to the little clues I get from your face that take me to my own feelings."

[Hollie]

This was a really good book, my only criticism is that the way it is written meant that sometimes I got confused about the characters. Some of the characters got a chapter or two at a time devoted entirely to them and then it would move on to someone else, but with the amount of people in the book sometimes I had read about 3 or 4 chapters and then it would go back to person number 1 and I couldn't remember who they were. All the characters are connected by the end of the book which was really nice, as throughout the book I was wondering why one set of characters was actually included, as all it did was confuse the story, but it did all tie up in the end.

This was a story of Belinda (the main character)finding out that her husband is having an affair and the following seven days in her life. There are some funny parts of the book and it is a good story, I just wish it hadn't been quite so complicated and was an easier read.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant!! Ignore the first chapter because it´s rubbish but the rest is superb (that is if you like books about ordinary people and their lives in relation to each other). It became especially cool when I realised there were characters that featured in one of his other books The Secret Intensity of Everyday life .

The reflections of peoples inner thoughts are really good. Examples of this are Tom the plastic surgeon thinking about his patients and how he views them.

The reason it gets five stars are deeply personal this aside another aspect in its favor was to be walking some of the same Streets as the characters. Eariler in the day of reading it I had been walking down Oxford St in London and had coffee in Charlotte Place just like Chloe did!!

Cried at the end - I really like this Author when he writes this genre.

[Shobha · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I weren't running away from something I don't want to think about, there is no way I'd have read as much of this book as I did. Way too many people and till chapter 11 at least no character has come up again. Can't keep track of all these ppl and their sex lives or non-existent sex lives.

Okay so it gets calmer and a little less fluffy after chapter 11. So it's upped to a 3.

[Bronwyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again I loved this book and have been saving it since Christmas as a treat. I was not disappointed, in fact I read it in one day - his books are just wonderful and he just gets people (male, female, young and not so young).

[Ros Earl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't read loads, but this one kept me going and I wanted to get to the end. It was about women's stories interwoven with each other. I couldn't empathise with anyone and didn't really get emotionally involved with their stories but definitely an enjoyable lightweight book.

[Maggie Donaldson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, just as good as the first one in the trilogy, 'The Intensity of Everyday Life'. I just love Nicholson and am seriously having to ration my reading so I don't run out. This was a sad and bitter-sweet novel, I felt, and very moving in parts.

[Victoria Shepherd · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's rare that a title so perfectly encapsulates the entirety of a book, but that is exactly what this book does. Deftly switching from story to story, the beautifully intertwined narratives leave you feeling...hopeful (and richly satisfied).

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Belinda finds out her husband is having an affair. In the days the book is set it looks at her life and the life of those around her.

This book was quite good and interesting but I found I could only read a few chapters at a time because otherwise I got bored with it.

[Pat Stearman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The children from Secret Intensity are now at Uni, Alice's mum has married her teacher and they have a 6 year old son.... I enjoyed following another few days in the lives of these characters. Just have to read Golden Hour now....

[Claire Bailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really wishy washy. Too much going on with too many people. I lost interest more than once.

[Sarah Harkness · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it just as fast as the first of the trilogy

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this greet story so much better then the ones I've read by the writer and it was just so interesting.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this,even more than book 1, following the lives of some of the characters in the previous book and meeting new ones.

[Isaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

did not want it to end,

[Smangele Belebesi · Rating 3 out of 5]

socially spot on....