The Best We Could Hope For Audiobook By Nicola Kraus cover art

The Best We Could Hope For

A Novel

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The Best We Could Hope For

By: Nicola Kraus
Narrated by: Helen Laser
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About this listen

From a #1 New York Times bestselling author comes a powerful novel about family, the weight of secrets, the choices we make, and the repercussions of the decisions made for us.

When Bunny Linden abandons her three children with her older sister, Jayne, in 1972, she knows Jayne will be the perfect mother. The mother Bunny, a teen runaway, could never be.

As months turn into years without word, Jayne and her husband, Rodger, a rising journalism star, strive to give the children the opportunity to flourish and feel loved. When Jayne and Rodger finally have a child of their own, a seemingly stable home is built. But then, after nearly a decade, Bunny resurfaces and sets a chain of events in motion that detonates all their lives.

As adults, their children try to reassemble the pieces and solve the mystery that has always haunted them. Who were their parents? What really happened between them? And who is ultimately to blame for the destruction? But will the answers they seek set them free—or lead to something far more damaging than anyone imagined?

©2025 by Nicola Kraus. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
City Life Family Life Genre Fiction Urban Women's Fiction
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Critic reviews

“An anguished investigation of the way memories can warp lives.”Kirkus Reviews

“The touchstones the book shares with Dylan Farrow’s life are bound to provoke conversation around this powerful, tragic tale.”Booklist

“Writing with grace and intelligence, Kraus explores the complex intersection of memory and loyalty in a sweeping story about a broken family and the women who knit together the remains. Perfect for book clubs.”—Sarah Pekkanen, #1 New York Times bestselling author of House of Glass

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Disjointed and depressing

The novel covers over 50 years with numerous POVs, too much for less than 8 hours. I feel like this was one of those novels that was more concerned with language than telling a cohesive story. So it was well written, I wasn't bored, but I also really didn't care much what happened to any of the characters because time was quickly advancing and POVs were always switching.

Also the audio wasn't great. It seemed like it was constantly fading in and out just enough to notice and to be annoying.

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