An English Estate in a Little Town Called 'Hope'

Patrick Melrose is now a little older, a little further away from the trauma of his childhood, and maybe a little wiser.  He's severely damaged, but he's beginning to recover. For the moment he’s past the worst of his substance abuse, and he’s primed to find a way to move his life in a positive direction.  He’s just not quite sure how to do it.

‘Above all, he wanted to stop being a child without using the cheap disguise of becoming a parent.’

Like the first two novels in the Patrick Melrose series, Edward St. Aubyn’s ‘Some Hope’ focuses on the events of a single day leading up to a particular event.  Here it’s an elaborate party to celebrate the birthday of an aristocratic friend, one who has his own share of problems.  Princess Margaret is an honored guest at the party, and St. Aubyn’s satirical and cynical pen is especially sharp here.  One guest, a young woman looking to find her way in aristocratic society remarks:

‘Looks didn’t last forever and she wasn’t ready for religion yet. Money was kind of a good compromise, staked up somewhere between cosmetics and eternity.’ 

Patrick says of the host:

‘There’s a blast of palpable stupidity that comes from our host, like opening the door of a sauna. The best way to contradict him is to let him speak.’

Patrick is beginning to come to terms with his deceased father.  His mother is another story:

‘His mother was really a good person, but like almost everybody she had found her compass spinning in the magnetic field of intimacy.’

It will require one more book (‘Mother’s Milk’) for Patrick to come to terms with his mother.

At any rate the social satire in ‘Some Hope’ is stunning and very entertaining indeed.  Here’s an exchange between a minor character (Johnny Hall) and Princess Margaret:

‘It must be funny having the same name as so many other people,’ she speculated.  ‘I suppose there are hundreds of John Halls up and down the country.’

‘It teaches one to look for distinction elsewhere and not rely on an accident of birth,’ said Johnny casually.

‘That’s where people go wrong,’ said the Princess, compressing her lips, ‘there is no accident in birth.’

And here’s another minor character expounding on Europeans and his efforts to fit in:

‘I love the French.  They’re treacherous, cunning, two-faced – I don’t have to make an effort there, I just fit in.  And further down in Italy, they’re cowards as well, so I get on even better.’

The writing is razor sharp and witty.  It’s comforting to see Patrick slowly finding his way to a more normal, productive life given the trauma of his childhood and the paralyzing 'advantages' of his birth.  St. Aubyn at his best. We really feel tremendous sympathy for this remarkably privileged young man.

I’m looking forward to the final two novels in the series.  Already a little sad that the end is in sight.