Some Hope is the third book in the Patrick Melrose series, and although Patrick is completely drug-free in this book, he can’t get over the boredom. I read this book with more enthusiasm than the second book, Bad News, in terms of its similarity in style to the first book, Never Mind. As soon as I finish this post, I will move on to the fourth book, which brought great fame to the author since the fourth book was nominated for the Man Booker prize.
Some Hope tells the story of a big party Patrick will attend in the English countryside and the attendees of this party. Describing just a few days or a few events in his books, St. Aubyn manages to fit the whole world in these short moments. In Some Hope, we examine the people and their effects on Patrick through the party that will take place in the countryside.
Some of the characters in the first book appeared at this party, and that they went back to the past with Patrick and remembered some moments. These parts impressed me a little too much. It is because no one knows about Patrick’s repeated rape by his father, and everyone who sees Patrick tells him how much they miss him.
Apart from this issue, I can say that the change of those who were not born into this rich environment but somehow entered into it was interesting. One sees that happiness is not directly proportional to wealth or power. The most important part of this book is that Patrick shares his childhood experiences with his best friend, Johnny. I had waited for this moment like a growing avalanche and finally saw ‘some hope’ for Patrick. Even though I want to write more about Some Hope, I always feel like it will be incomplete. Wonderful series!
Other books in the Patrick Melrose Series
Some Hope, Patrick Melrose 3
Some Hope is the third of Edward St Aubyn’s semi-autobiographical series, The Patrick Melrose Novels, filmed for Sky Atlantic and starring Benedict Cumberbatch as aristocratic addict, Patrick.
Patrick Melrose, cleaned-up and world-weary, is a reluctant guest at a glittering party deep in the English countryside. Amid a crowd of flitting social dragonflies, he finds his search for redemption and capacity for forgiveness challenged by his observation of the cruelties around him. Armed with his biting wit and a newly fashioned openness, can Patrick, who has been to the furthest limits of experience and back again, find release from the savageries of his childhood?
This title was originally published, along with Never Mind and Bad News, as part of a three book omnibus, also called Some Hope.
Edward St. Aubyn
Edward St Aubyn (born 14 January 1960) is an English author and journalist. He is the author of eight novels, including notably the semi-autobiographical Patrick Melrose novels. In 2006, Mother’s Milk was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
Edward St Aubyn was born in 1960 in London, England, into an upper-class family. He is the son of Roger Geoffrey St Aubyn (1906–1985), a former soldier and a surgeon, and his second wife, Lorna Mackintosh (1929–2005). On his paternal side, he is a great-great grandson of Sir Edward St Aubyn, 1st Baronet, and great-nephew of The 1st Baron St Levan.
On his maternal side, he is a grandson of Captain Alastair William Mackintosh of the Seaforth Highlanders (briefly married to Constance Talmadge 1926–1927), and Lela Emery (later Duchess of Talleyrand). Through the latter he is a great-grandson of American businessman John Josiah Emery, Sr., and a great-nephew of John J. Emery, Jr. and Audrey Emery (wife of Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia).
His father was first married to Sophie Helene Freifrau von Puthon of Schloss Mirabell in Salzburg, whom he divorced in 1957. St Aubyn has two half-sisters by his father’s first marriage, and an elder sister, Alexandra. He grew up in London and France, where his family had houses. He has described an unhappy childhood in which he was repeatedly raped by his sexually abusive father from the ages of 5 to 8, with the complicity of his mother.
St Aubyn attended Westminster School and in 1979 went on to read English at Keble College, Oxford. Although at the time a heroin addict, he graduated, but with a pass, the lowest possible class of degree. He entered psychotherapy at the age of 25 and subsequently became a professional writer.
From 1987 to 1990, he was married to the author Nicola Shulman, now The Marchioness of Normanby. St Aubyn has a son, Lucian St Aubyn, by Jane Longman, daughter of Lady Elizabeth Longman and Mark Longman, and a daughter, Eleanor St Aubyn by another previous relationship, and lives in London.
Five of St Aubyn’s novels, Never Mind, Bad News, Some Hope, Mother’s Milk, and At Last, form The Patrick Melrose Novels, the first four of which were republished in a single volume in 2012, in anticipation of the fifth. They are based on the author’s own life, growing up in a highly dysfunctional upper-class English family, dealing with abuse at the hands of his father, the deaths of both parents, alcoholism, heroin addiction and recovery, and marriage and parenthood.
The books have been hailed as a powerful exploration of how emotional health can be carved out of childhood adversity. Mother’s Milk was made into a feature film released in 2011. The screenplay was written by St Aubyn and director Gerald Fox. It stars Jack Davenport, Adrian Dunbar, Diana Quick, and Margaret Tyzack in her last performance.
In 2018 a five-part television series, Patrick Melrose was broadcast, a joint production of Showtime and Sky Atlantic. Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Patrick Melrose (with the young Patrick played by Sebastian Maltz), with each episode based on a different novel in the series. The series premiered on Showtime on 12 May 2018 to favourable reviews.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
