Hope Farm

Peggy Frew's second novel, Hope Farm, recounts the life of thirteen year old Silver and her mother, Ishtar, as they move into a hippie community, Hope Farm. The year is 1985 and for all of Silver's life she has lived in a succession of ashrams or communes, each time hoping for a better life. Hope Farm promises new opportunities but the actuality is that it is a run down farm populated by an assortment of adults and their problems.

Although Silver does make some friends in this new environment she struggles living in this largely adult world and learns the need to fend for herself. The story is told from Silver's viewpoint interspersed with pages written by Ishtar recounting events of the thirteen years to this time.

Initially I found it difficult to become involved with this web of relationships, or non-relationships, but eventually I came to a stage where I wanted to discover what happened next.

Hope Farm - The Stella Prize (nomination 2016)