Victoria Ferrante

Hope: a Novel Victoria Ferrante

As a nurse hands Christina Borysowki her newborn daughter, joy? lls the new mother's heart. With wonder, she lovingly admires the baby she has named Hope. Her body tingles with excitement and fear. Hours later, Hope's eyes finally open to reveal spectacular turquoise irises. At that moment, she has no idea that months later, the sparkle and life will abandon those beautiful eyes, the gaze will turn inward, and Hope will lose all interest in the world. Years later, things cannot get any worse for Christina Borysowski and her profoundly autistic daughter. With Hope destined for a future that promises nothing but bleakness, isolation, and likely institutionalization, Christina is already well aware she is paddling alone against the strong tides of prejudice, misunderstanding, and fear. To compound matters, there is much more at stake than just Hope's well-being. Christina is barely hanging on. In a desperate quest to find peace for both Hope and herself, Christina is left with an agonizing choice that will deter-mine the future for both of them. In this eye-opening and poignant story about autism and its tragic human cost, one woman takes an unimaginable journey through hopelessness to discover an intense love that drives her to make the unthinkable a reality.