Books to make you hopeful for the future

The start of a new year often brings with it a natural pause, a time for reflection on the months that have passed and anticipation of what lies ahead. It’s in these moments of stillness that fiction can offer something profound – a powerful way to imagine a better future. In a world increasingly marked by uncertainty and challenge, books can remind us that we’re not alone, and that hope can emerge even in the most difficult of circumstances.
This list offers a slice of literary comfort and invites you to embrace the idea that, no matter how hard the journey, a new beginning is always within reach.

Orbital by Samantha Harvey
2024 Booker winner Orbital offers a glimmer of hope just when it’s needed. Set aboard the International Space Station, the novel charts the lives of six astronauts and cosmonauts as they navigate their existence far from home. Harvey writes movingly and poetically of the earth rotating below, weaving moments of shared humanity against the awe-inspiring perspective of our planet from above. Orbital transcends borders, examining the fragility of human life while celebrating our collective aspirations.
 
The Overstory by Richard Powers
A group of strangers are summoned by the natural world to save it from catastrophe before it’s too late. They are drawn together with a shared purpose, connected by the trees that witness and shape their lives. The book is ambitious in scope, as Powers uses the forest to bind and punctuate his narrative and provides an impassioned call to action to protect the environment and ecosystems around us.
 
While We Were Dreaming by Clemens Meyer, translated by Katy Derbyshire
Set in the aftermath of German reunification, the novel captures the tumultuous lives of a group of friends growing up in Leipzig after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Here, the teenagers navigate the chaos of adolescence, clinging to their friendship as a lifeline against the backdrop of economic and political upheaval. Meyer portrays their moments of rebellion, vulnerability, and desire for a better future, drawing readers into a world where hope flickers even in the shadows of despair and a reminder of the power of shared dreams and the possibility of renewal amid uncertainty.
 
The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris
Harris transports us to the Reconstruction-era U.S. South, where two brothers, newly freed from enslavement, find themselves cast out into the world – penniless, starving and afraid. A chance meeting with a white landowner offers possibility as he extends a gesture of compassion, employing them on his farm. As trust builds between the men, the town’s inhabitants react with hostility, testing the fragile alliance they’ve built together.  It’s here the novel paints a vision of hope, one that advocates for the bridging of divides to foster a more inclusive and compassionate future.
 
How to Build a Boat by Elaine Feeney
Inspired by the author’s own son, the novel follows Jamie, a teenager with a passion for the colour red, patterns, and Edgar Allan Poe. His dream? To construct a Perpetual Motion Machine and connect with his late mother, Noelle, who died when he was born. When Jamie moves to a new school, he faces challenges but also find unexpected allies in two teachers. Together they build not just a boat but a sense of community. Feeney shows that by working together, we can weather any storm.
 
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
One of the biggest selling novels in history, Martel offers a timeless story of survival against the odds. It follows Pi Molitor who ends up stranded on a lifeboat after a shipwreck when his family embark on a voyage aboard a Japanese freighter to North America. Accompanied only by a crew of wild animals: a hyena, an orangutan, a zebra, and a tiger, Pi lies adrift for 277 days on the open seas. Interspersed with flashbacks and symbolism, his journey is testament to endurance and faith in the most challenging of circumstances. 
 
James by Percival Everett
The novel delivers a bold, fresh take on Mark Twain’s classic Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim, a black enslaved man who accompanies Huck on their journey down the Mississippi River in 1861. Everett explores Jim’s inner world – his struggles, dreams, fierce intelligence and love for his family – in the face of dehumanizing cruelty, and confronts American’s legacy of slavery. This poignant storytelling demonstrates how resilience can endure amidst oppression and reclaims James’s identity in the process.
 
Pearl by Sian Hughes
Hughes reimagines the medieval poem of the same name to craft a memorable story of love, loss, and rediscovery. The novel follows Marianne as she grapples with the disappearance of her mother in childhood, clinging to fragmented memories, all while attempting to untangle curried family secrets that she believes will take her closer to the truth. When Marianne stumbles across the 14th century poem, it provides a moment of solace and offers a path toward healing through her continued search. Hughes’s lyrical prose and emotional depth combine to create a meditation on grief that, despite moments of sadness, also creates a moving reflection on the healing power of love.
 
When the world is filled with chaos and confusion, it’s important for me to start the new year with books that offer a reminder that new beginnings are possible, even in the most challenging of circumstances.
 And in the meantime, happy reading!
Joni

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