A deeply moving, life-affirming novel about residents in a small Connecticut town facing everyday fears and desires—a lost love, a stalled career, a diagnosis—that pulls at the heartstrings and provides hope, for readers of Olive Kitteridge.

In the small city of Wharton, Connecticut, lives are beginning to unravel. A husband betrays his wife. A son struggles with addiction. A widow misses her late spouse. At the heart of these interlinking stories is one couple: Freddie and Greg Tyler.

Greg has just been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a brutal form of cancer. He intends to handle this the way he has faced everything else: through grit and determination. But can Greg successfully overcome his illness? How will Freddie and their daughter cope if he doesn’t? How do the other residents of Wharton learn to live with loss, and find happiness again?

An emotionally powerful debut that immerses the reader into a community of friends, family, and neighbors, A Little Hope celebrates the importance of small moments of connection and the ways that love and forgiveness can help us survive even the most difficult of life’s challenges.

"In the small city of Wharton, Connecticut, lives are beginning to unravel. A woman loses the love of her life. A son struggles with addiction. A widow misses her late spouse. A husband betrays his wife. At the heart of these interlinking stories is one couple: Freddie and Greg Tyler. Greg has just been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a brutal form of cancer. He has never been dependent or weak, and wants to overcome this the way he has succeeded at everything else: through grit and determination"--

"A Little Hope is a quietly powerful portrait of small-town life, about how the private worries and dreams of a set of characters intersect, told with wisdom and tenderness."
—Mary Beth Keane, author of Ask Again, Yes

"I can't promise you won't cry, but I can promise deft, minimalist prose, flesh-and-blood characters you'll want to hug, and a love story for the ages. With A Little Hope, Ethan Joella establishes himself as an unforgettable new voice."
—Diana Spechler, author of Who by Fire and Skinny