
The Hopefuls
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $18.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Jorjeana Marie
-
By:
-
Jennifer Close
About this listen
A brilliantly funny novel about ambition and marriage from the best-selling author of Girls in White Dresses, The Hopefuls tells the story of a young wife who follows her husband and his political dreams to Washington, DC, a city of idealism, gossip, and complicated friendships among the young aspiring elite.
When Beth arrives in DC, she hates everything about it: the confusing traffic circles, the ubiquitous Ann Taylor suits, the humidity that descends each summer. At dinner parties, guests compare their security clearance levels. They leave their BlackBerrys on the table. They speak in acronyms. And once they realize Beth doesn't work in politics, they smile blandly and turn away.
Soon Beth and her husband, Matt, meet a charismatic White House staffer named Jimmy, and his wife, Ashleigh, and the four become inseparable, coordinating brunches, birthdays, and long weekends away. But as Jimmy's star rises higher and higher, the couples' friendship - and Beth's relationship with Matt - is threatened by jealousy, competition, and rumors.
A glorious send-up of young DC and a blazingly honest portrait of a marriage, this is the finest work yet by one of our most beloved writers.
©2016 Jennifer Close (P)2016 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Celebrants
- A Novel
- By: Steven Rowley
- Narrated by: Steven Rowley
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s been a minute—or five years—since Jordan Vargas last saw his college friends, and twenty-eight years since their graduation from Berkeley when their adult lives officially began. Now Jordan, Jordy, Naomi, Craig, and Marielle find themselves at the brink of a new decade, with all the responsibilities of adulthood, yet no closer to having their lives figured out. Though not for a lack of trying. Over the years they’ve reunited in Big Sur to honor a decades-old pact to throw each other living “funerals,” celebrations to remind themselves that life is worth living.
-
-
Just okay
- By kristine Barnes on 06-27-23
By: Steven Rowley
-
The Vaster Wilds
- A Novel
- By: Lauren Groff
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A servant girl escapes from a colonial settlement in the wilderness. She carries nothing with her but her wits, a few possessions, and the spark of god that burns hot within her. What she finds in this terra incognita is beyond the limits of her imagination and will bend her belief in everything that her own civilization has taught her.
-
-
Slow torture written too hastily
- By Jennifer on 09-23-23
By: Lauren Groff
-
The Five-Star Weekend
- By: Elin Hilderbrand
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 12 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hollis Shaw, creator of the popular food blog, Hungry with Hollis, is shocked when her heart surgeon husband, Matthew, is killed in a one-car accident on a snowy morning. The cracks in Hollis’s perfect life—her strained marriage and her complicated relationship with her daughter, Caroline—grow deeper. So when Hollis hears about something called a “Five-Star Weekend”—one woman organizes a trip for her best friend from each phase of her life: her teenage years, her twenties, her thirties, and midlife—she decides to host her own Five-Star Weekend on Nantucket.
-
-
Perfection
- By Pink Amy on 06-15-23
By: Elin Hilderbrand
-
The Half Moon
- A Novel
- By: Mary Beth Keane
- Narrated by: Norbert Leo Butz, Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Malcolm Gephardt, handsome and gregarious longtime bartender at the Half Moon, has always dreamed of owning a bar. When his boss finally retires, Malcolm stretches to buy the place. He sees unquantifiable magic and potential in the Half Moon and hopes to transform it into a bigger success, but struggles to stay afloat. His smart and confident wife, Jess, has devoted herself to her law career. After years of trying for a baby, she is facing the idea that motherhood may not be in the cards for her. Like Malcolm, she feels her youth beginning to slip away and wonders how to reshape her future.
-
-
It's a Teachable Story
- By Olivia McKenzie on 05-13-23
By: Mary Beth Keane
-
Don't Forget to Write
- A Novel
- By: Sara Goodman Confino
- Narrated by: Helen Laser
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Marilyn Kleinman is caught making out with the rabbi’s son in front of the whole congregation, her parents ship her off to her great-aunt Ada for the summer. If anyone can save their daughter’s reputation, it’s Philadelphia’s strict premier matchmaker. Either that or Marilyn can kiss college goodbye. To Marilyn’s surprise, Ada’s not the humorless septuagenarian her mother described. Not with that platinum-blonde hair, Hermès scarf, and Cadillac convertible. She’s sharp, straight-talking, takes her job very seriously, and abides by her own rules…mostly.
-
-
So good!
- By Kristin on 09-07-23
-
Happy Place
- By: Emily Henry
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college—they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now—for reasons they’re still not discussing—they don’t. They broke up five months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.
-
-
Not for me
- By Yj on 04-27-23
By: Emily Henry
-
The Celebrants
- A Novel
- By: Steven Rowley
- Narrated by: Steven Rowley
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s been a minute—or five years—since Jordan Vargas last saw his college friends, and twenty-eight years since their graduation from Berkeley when their adult lives officially began. Now Jordan, Jordy, Naomi, Craig, and Marielle find themselves at the brink of a new decade, with all the responsibilities of adulthood, yet no closer to having their lives figured out. Though not for a lack of trying. Over the years they’ve reunited in Big Sur to honor a decades-old pact to throw each other living “funerals,” celebrations to remind themselves that life is worth living.
-
-
Just okay
- By kristine Barnes on 06-27-23
By: Steven Rowley
-
The Vaster Wilds
- A Novel
- By: Lauren Groff
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A servant girl escapes from a colonial settlement in the wilderness. She carries nothing with her but her wits, a few possessions, and the spark of god that burns hot within her. What she finds in this terra incognita is beyond the limits of her imagination and will bend her belief in everything that her own civilization has taught her.
-
-
Slow torture written too hastily
- By Jennifer on 09-23-23
By: Lauren Groff
-
The Five-Star Weekend
- By: Elin Hilderbrand
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 12 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hollis Shaw, creator of the popular food blog, Hungry with Hollis, is shocked when her heart surgeon husband, Matthew, is killed in a one-car accident on a snowy morning. The cracks in Hollis’s perfect life—her strained marriage and her complicated relationship with her daughter, Caroline—grow deeper. So when Hollis hears about something called a “Five-Star Weekend”—one woman organizes a trip for her best friend from each phase of her life: her teenage years, her twenties, her thirties, and midlife—she decides to host her own Five-Star Weekend on Nantucket.
-
-
Perfection
- By Pink Amy on 06-15-23
By: Elin Hilderbrand
-
The Half Moon
- A Novel
- By: Mary Beth Keane
- Narrated by: Norbert Leo Butz, Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Malcolm Gephardt, handsome and gregarious longtime bartender at the Half Moon, has always dreamed of owning a bar. When his boss finally retires, Malcolm stretches to buy the place. He sees unquantifiable magic and potential in the Half Moon and hopes to transform it into a bigger success, but struggles to stay afloat. His smart and confident wife, Jess, has devoted herself to her law career. After years of trying for a baby, she is facing the idea that motherhood may not be in the cards for her. Like Malcolm, she feels her youth beginning to slip away and wonders how to reshape her future.
-
-
It's a Teachable Story
- By Olivia McKenzie on 05-13-23
By: Mary Beth Keane
-
Don't Forget to Write
- A Novel
- By: Sara Goodman Confino
- Narrated by: Helen Laser
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Marilyn Kleinman is caught making out with the rabbi’s son in front of the whole congregation, her parents ship her off to her great-aunt Ada for the summer. If anyone can save their daughter’s reputation, it’s Philadelphia’s strict premier matchmaker. Either that or Marilyn can kiss college goodbye. To Marilyn’s surprise, Ada’s not the humorless septuagenarian her mother described. Not with that platinum-blonde hair, Hermès scarf, and Cadillac convertible. She’s sharp, straight-talking, takes her job very seriously, and abides by her own rules…mostly.
-
-
So good!
- By Kristin on 09-07-23
-
Happy Place
- By: Emily Henry
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college—they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now—for reasons they’re still not discussing—they don’t. They broke up five months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.
-
-
Not for me
- By Yj on 04-27-23
By: Emily Henry
-
The Latecomer
- A Novel
- By: Jean Hanff Korelitz
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 16 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Latecomer follows the story of the wealthy, New York City-based Oppenheimer family, from the first meeting of parents Salo and Johanna, under tragic circumstances, to their triplets born during the early days of IVF. As children, the three siblings—Harrison, Lewyn, and Sally—feel no strong familial bond and cannot wait to go their separate ways, even as their father becomes more distanced and their mother more desperate. When the triplets leave for college, Johanna, faced with being truly alone, makes the decision to have a fourth child.
-
-
Conservatives and religious are the villains
- By Ashley on 09-01-22
-
Same Time Next Summer
- By: Annabel Monaghan
- Narrated by: Dan Bittner, Brittany Pressley
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sam’s life is on track. She has the perfect doctor fiancé, Jack (his strict routines are a good thing, really), a great job in Manhattan (unless they fire her), and is about to tour a wedding venue near her family’s Long Island beach house. Everything should go to plan, yet the minute she arrives, Sam senses something is off. Wyatt is here. Her Wyatt. But there’s no reason for a thirty-year-old engaged woman to feel panicked around the guy who broke her heart when she was seventeen. Right?
-
-
Super quick read
- By cad on 09-16-23
By: Annabel Monaghan
-
Barefoot
- A Novel
- By: Elin Hilderbrand
- Narrated by: Rachael Warren
- Length: 16 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From marriage, infidelity, and the mayhem of motherhood to scandal, tragedy, and illness - three women seek peace and comfort in Nantucket as they cope with life's challenges. Three women - burdened with small children, unwieldy straw hats, and some obvious emotional issues - tumble onto the Nantucket airport tarmac one hot June day. Vicki is trying to sort through the news that she has a serious illness. Her sister, Brenda, has just left her job after being caught in an affair with a student. And their friend Melanie, after seven failed in vitro attempts, is pregnant at last.
-
-
OMG...spoiler alert:
- By Abby Mamacos on 10-09-17
By: Elin Hilderbrand
-
The Villa
- A Novel
- By: Rachel Hawkins
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan, Kimberly M. Wetherell, Shiromi Arserio
- Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable. But by their 30s, their bond has been strained by the demands of their adult lives. So when Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend.
-
-
like Gillian Flynn's version of Eat pray love
- By Patricia on 01-04-23
By: Rachel Hawkins
-
Bad Summer People
- A Novel
- By: Emma Rosenblum
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jen Weinstein and Lauren Parker rule the town of Salcombe, Fire Island every summer. They hold sway on the beach and the tennis court, and are adept at manipulating people to get what they want. Their husbands, Sam and Jason, have summered together on the island since childhood, despite lifelong grudges and numerous secrets. Their one single friend, Rachel Woolf, is looking to meet her match, whether he’s the tennis pro. But even with plenty to gossip about, this season starts out as quietly as any other. Until a body is discovered, face down, off the side of the boardwalk.
-
-
Not a thriller, not a mystery
- By Anonymous User on 05-25-23
By: Emma Rosenblum
-
The Rachel Incident
- A Novel
- By: Caroline O'Donoghue
- Narrated by: Tara Flynn
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rachel is a student working at a bookstore when she meets James, and it’s love at first sight. Effervescent and insistently heterosexual, James soon invites Rachel to be his roommate and the two begin a friendship that changes the course of both their lives forever. Together, they run riot through the streets of Cork city, trying to maintain a bohemian existence while the threat of the financial crash looms before them.
-
-
Best narration
- By LG on 01-12-24
-
Nora Goes Off Script
- By: Annabel Monaghan
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nora Hamilton knows the formula for love better than anyone. As a romance channel screenwriter, it’s her job. But when her too-good-to work husband leaves her and their two kids, Nora turns her marriage’s collapse into cash and writes the best script of her life. No one is more surprised than her when it’s picked up for the big screen and set to film on location at her 100-year-old-home. When former Sexiest Man Alive, Leo Vance, is cast as her ne’er do well husband Nora’s life will never be the same.
-
-
Not enough smut for me
- By Anonymous User on 07-26-23
By: Annabel Monaghan
-
Gone Girl
- A Novel
- By: Gillian Flynn
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan, Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 19 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge.
-
-
Demented, twisted, sick and I loved it!
- By Theodore on 01-20-13
By: Gillian Flynn
-
The Wife Between Us
- By: Greer Hendricks, Sarah Pekkanen
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When you listen to this audiobook, you will make many assumptions. You will assume you are listening to a story about a jealous ex-wife. You will assume she is obsessed with her replacement - a beautiful, younger woman who is about to marry the man they both love. You will assume you know the anatomy of this tangled love triangle. Assume nothing. Twisted and deliciously chilling, The Wife Between Us exposes the secret complexities of an enviable marriage - and the dangerous truths we ignore in the name of love.
-
-
Ignore the reviews that claim it's confusing...
- By Claudia H on 01-12-18
By: Greer Hendricks, and others
-
Truly Madly Guilty
- By: Liane Moriarty
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 17 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sam and Clementine have a wonderful, albeit, busy life: they have two little girls, Sam has just started a new dream job, and Clementine, a cellist, is busy preparing for the audition of a lifetime. If there’s anything they can count on, it’s each other. Clementine and Erika are each other’s oldest friends. A single look between them can convey an entire conversation. But theirs is a complicated relationship, so when Erika mentions a last minute invitation to a barbecue with her neighbors, Tiffany and Vid, Clementine and Sam don’t hesitate.
-
-
seriously, stop analyzing and enjoy the ride
- By patty mastracco on 08-01-16
By: Liane Moriarty
-
Two by Two
- By: Nicholas Sparks
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At 32 Russell Green has it all: a stunning wife, a lovable six-year-old daughter, a successful career as an advertising executive, and an expansive home in Charlotte. He is living the dream, and his marriage to the bewitching Vivian is the center of that. But underneath the shiny surface of this perfect existence, fault lines are beginning to appear, and no one is more surprised than Russ when he finds every aspect of the life he took for granted turned upside down.
-
-
I Am Stunned At The Good Reviews!
- By Wendi on 10-17-16
By: Nicholas Sparks
-
The Hypnotist's Love Story
- By: Liane Moriarty
- Narrated by: Tamara Lovatt Smith
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ellen O’Farrell is a professional hypnotherapist who works out of the eccentric beachfront home she inherited from her grandparents. It’s a nice life, except for her tumultuous relationship history. She’s stoic about it, but at this point, Ellen wouldn’t mind a lasting one. When she meets Patrick, she’s optimistic. He’s attractive, single, employed, and best of all, he seems to like her back. Then comes that dreaded moment: He thinks they should have a talk. Braced for the worst, Ellen is pleasantly surprised.
-
-
a twisted love story...so interesting!
- By S on 01-23-13
By: Liane Moriarty
Critic reviews
What listeners say about The Hopefuls
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lee
- 05-23-20
a fun and cute story
loved the story - a little of an unexpected ending. I will probably read again.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ainsley
- 08-08-16
Meh
This book feels like a whole lot of nothing until the final few chapters. The main character, Beth, is negative, judgemental, and passive, making it difficult to like her or really care about what happens. She seems determined to dislike everything about DC, and though she resents her husbands career motivations, she doesn't seem to have any herself. Rather, she's one of those people who seems to just let things happen to her, and complains the whole time. Beth and her husband befriend a charming Texas couple, but even then I'm not clear why they're friends.
Honestly, there isn't much plot to speak of for about the first two thirds of the book, and I almost gave up on it. When the drama finally did happen, it was interesting enough to listen through. I'm just not convinced that it made up for how boring the book was before!
The narrator speaks very slowly, but did a good job with the voices and handled the emotional parts well.
Im sure there are people who would like this book - probably if you're from around DC or into politics, but I wasn't a fan.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Heather
- 08-20-16
Slow predictable story
This turned out to be a relatively plain, vanilla story. Glad when it ended. Predictable.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sadie Blu
- 08-15-16
Accurate depiction of DC
pretty accurate description of DC. I have lived here so long that I had forgotten all of the nuances of being a young professional in the nation's capital.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anita Davis
- 09-21-16
Predictable storyline. Narrators voice awful.
If the reader had a cold, they should have delayed production until she was well.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Christine G.
- 01-17-18
Is this real?
The book was above average. A lot of the details seem too real, which makes me think it might be. Or the author did excellent research and interviewed White House staff about what running a campaign entailed. Overall, I give the book a solid B rating.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lori V
- 08-03-16
Supporting your 'Blue' spouse in a "Red" state
great narrator, telling what it's like running for an elected office. Based on her experience in Washington, DC, and then again in Texas. Both hopeful and exhausting. A quick read! This'd be perfect for a book discussion group this Fall.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Marie-Pier
- 06-05-17
Very, very dissspointed
I'm pretty disappointed in this book. I kept waiting for the main character Beth to finally stand up for herself and grow up, and it just never happened. The end absolutely baffled me and left me with such a bad taste in my mouth. I don't know why the author would choose to take this route with the ending, especially in this day in age where independent women and the whole "I don't need a man to make me happy" are so prominent in the media. If you want to read a story about an emotionally abusive husband and a very sad pathetic women, then by all means The Hopefuls is for you...
As for the narrator, she did a great job with the accents but I just couldn't get over how nasally she sounded through the whole thing...
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- K. Cooper
- 09-24-16
Good view inside of campaign life
I enjoyed this easy, quick listen. If I have one complaint, the narrator doesn't say Ls which drives me crazy. Shouder not shoulder, Oder not older... It is distracting.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Nanci S.
- 10-18-17
Fun glimpse into life in DC
This was a light read - great for escaping into a world of friendships, famil dynamics, romance, politics and the pursuit of success.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!