Bookish Buys: The Best We Could Hope For by Nicola Kraus
Bookish Buys
Inspired by The Best We Could Hope For by Nicola Kraus
Wearing a red and white polka dot bathing suit with a matching red headband and retro sunglasses, stretched out on a white beach blanket beneath a red and white striped umbrella—just like the cover of The Best We Could Hope For by Nicola Kraus—might be more than a style choice. It might be a statement. A declaration. A moment of main character energy in its purest form.
Because sometimes being the main character isn’t about the plot twist—it’s about owning the pause between chapters. It’s about reclining under that umbrella, drink in hand, letting the sun kiss your skin while you marvel at how far you’ve come. It’s about the contrast of those playful polka dots with the weight of your own hard-earned wisdom. You can carry generational trauma and look fabulous doing it.
The cover of Kraus’s novel is deceptively breezy, just like this moment. But underneath the surface? There’s heartbreak, resilience, reinvention—and a reclamation of self. The same is true of you. You know what it means to question the past, to pick up the pieces of someone else's choices and try to make sense of them. And yet, here you are: soft, strong, and sun-drenched.
So go ahead—channel that vintage glamour. Wear the polka dots. Lean into the light. You deserve a main character moment that’s beautiful, bold, and maybe even a little bit bittersweet. Because surviving is one thing—but thriving under a striped umbrella, in a story you’re writing for yourself? That’s the best we could hope for.
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Bookish Buys: The Best We Could Hope For by Nicola Kraus
About The Best We Could Hope For by Nicola Kraus:
When Bunny Linden abandons her three children with her older sister, Jayne, in 1972, she knows Jayne will be the perfect mother. The mother Bunny, a teen runaway, could never be.
As months turn into years without word, Jayne and her husband, Rodger, a rising journalism star, strive to give the children the opportunity to flourish and feel loved. When Jayne and Rodger finally have a child of their own, a seemingly stable home is built. But then, after nearly a decade, Bunny resurfaces and sets a chain of events in motion that detonates all their lives.
As adults, their children try to reassemble the pieces and solve the mystery that has always haunted them. Who were their parents? What really happened between them? And who is ultimately to blame for the destruction? But will the answers they seek set them free―or lead to something far more damaging than anyone imagined?
