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Albion

3.8(98)
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About the book

FROM THE AUTHOR OF EXPECTATION
AS HEARD ON BBC RADIO 4

'Hope breathes fresh thinking into the dusty corners and overgrown hedges of the English country house dilemma' The Times

'Superb ... Anna Hope engages, head-on, with some of the most urgent and challenging issues facing the world today, and transforms them into spellbinding family drama' Jonathan Coe

'Beautiful . . . As provocative as it is tender' Miranda Cowley Heller, author of The Paper Palace

The Brooke family are gathering in their eighteenth-century ancestral home - twenty bedrooms of carved Sussex sandstone - to bury Philip: husband, father and the blinding sun around which they have all orbited for as long as they can remember.

Frannie, inheritor of a thousand acres of English countryside, has dreams of rewilding and returning the estate to nature: a last line of defence against the coming climate catastrophe. Milo envisages a treetop haven for the super-rich where, under the influence of psychedelic drugs, a new ruling class will be reborn. Each believes their father has given them his blessing, setting them on a collision course with each other.

Isa has long suspected that her father thought only of himself, and hopes to seek out her childhood love, who still lives on the estate, to discover whether it is her feelings for him that are creating the fault lines in her marriage.

And then there is Clara, who arrives in their midst from America, shrouded in secrets and bearing a truth that will fracture all the dreams on which they've built their lives.

'The English country house novel reimagined for our times ... Exceptionally well-drawn' Claire Fuller, author of Unsettled Ground

'A book that asks important questions about legacy - familial, historical and global - and which seeks to answer them with delicate insight and beautiful prose' Elizabeth Day

'Wise and beautiful, with amazing nature writing to boot' India Knight

'Albion balances the reality of who the English were against the hope of who we might become' Richard Beard, author of The Day That Went Missing

Editions (4)

ISBN9780241698426
PublisherPenguin Books Ltd
Publication Date05/01/25
Pages368

Reviews & Ratings

98 ratings

22 reviews

3.8

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  • theagri
    theagri

    778 Followers

    2.5

    Ein großes Erbe, das die Steuern aufzufressen Drogen, drei Geschwister, nur eine erbt, schwierige Charaktere, Liebe, Missgunst, Träume. Und das alles auf einem landschaftlich besonderen Gut in England. Die Renaturierung ist ein wichtiges Thema bezüglich des Erbes. Später kommen noch andere Themen hinzu, die zwar angesprochen, aber nicht ausgewogen erzählt wurden. Jeder Charakter hat Wünsche, Bedürfnisse die sehr sperrig sind. Eigentlich ein Stoff für eine richtig spannende und interessante Familiengeschichte. Doch leider habe ich keinen guten Zugang bekommen. Die Charaktere empfand ich als unsympathisch, exentrisch unnahbar. Mal einander zugewandt, dann wieder so unterschiedlich und kalt. Und manche Handlung konnte ich schlecht nachvollziehen. Die Erzählung sprang hin und her, schwierig nachvollziehbar und oberflächlich. Für mich passte vieles nicht. Zu viele Themen, zu sperrige Personen, unnachvollziehbare Handlungen und Wendungen. Der Schreibstil lag mir nicht, da hat mir der Lesefluss gefehlt. Die teilweise groben Ausdrücke haben mich immer wieder gestört. Auch wenn es in den Zusammenhang oder zu der Person passte, hat es mir nicht gefallen. Ein Buch, das für meinen Geschmack zu viel gewollt hat und in dem zu viel nicht "rund" war.

    Oct 21, 2025

  • benjischwenki
    benjischwenki

    905 Followers

    3.5

    Die Thematik des Romans ist sehr interessant. Ich mag Familiengeschichten,die über mehrere Generationen berichten und alte Geheimnisse aufdecken. So war es auch hier. Die historischen Hintergründe waren sehr informativ für mich, es gab auch einige sympathische Protagonisten... jedoch blieben viele Personen fremd und unnahbar bzw. sogar unsympathisch. Manche Handlungen waren unverständlich und wenig nachvollziehbar. Es gab auch einige Längen, so dass ich nicht wirklich gepackt von dem Buch wurde. Die Zukunftsvisionen fand ich dann wieder gelungen. Gut zu lesen, aber keine absolute Leseempfehlung von mir.

    Feb 12, 2026

  • ex_libris_j
    ex_libris_j

    139 Followers

    3.5

    ⭐️⭐️⭐️,5 stars

    The Brooke family gathers at their eighteenth-century estate to bury Philip — husband, father, and the force they all revolved around. But with his death comes the unraveling of long-kept tensions and competing dreams for the future of their vast land. Frannie dreams of returning the estate to nature, seeing it as a last line of defence against the coming climate crisis. Milo imagines a luxury treetop retreat for the elite, shaped by psychedelic experiences. Both are convinced their father supported their vision, putting them directly at odds with each other. Meanwhile, Isa is forced to confront her past — and the cracks in her marriage — when she reconnects with her childhood love. And then Clara arrives from America, carrying secrets that threaten to shatter everything the family thought they knew — about Philip, about the estate and about themselves. ✨ My opinion: This was my first book by the author and I liked her writing style. The different perspectives worked well and I especially enjoyed Rowan’s chapters. Seeing things from a child’s point of view was really refreshing, since we’ve all been out of that mindset for a long time 🤭 I have to admit that I didn’t find most of the characters very likeable. Apart from Rowan and maybe Clara, I didn’t really care about the rest, which made their fate a bit unimportant to me 😅 The topics in the book are current and clearly shown, which I appreciated. It also reads very smoothly. There aren’t traditional chapters, only sections when the perspective changes, and the whole story takes place over five days, which is clearly marked in the book. Overall, a good and interesting read with a writing style I enjoyed ☺️ Deutsche Übersetzung: Wo wir uns treffen - Anna Hope

    ⭐️⭐️⭐️,5 stars

    Nov 24, 2025

3 of 22 reviews

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