Hope Always Rises

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In Heaven, there is a special gated community for those who end their lives by suicide. This is a complete surprise to Hope, a 43-year old woman, who ends her life one morning on the banks of the Fox River in Waukesha, Wisconsin. When she opens her eyes, she is sitting under a weeping willow tree. By her side is God, though he certainly doesn’t look like the God she’s been led to believe in. After introducing himself, he hands her a teddy bear from her childhood.
Hope has dealt with deep sadness throughout her entire life. From childhood on, she visited therapists, doctors, alternative medicine practitioners, Reiki artists, etc., to no avail. Hope leaves the earth, also leaving behind her two teenage children and her husband. In Heaven, God tells her that he knows what caused the sadness, but he is not ready to tell her yet. All residents in the community are required to attend weekly group therapy, led by someone who also committed suicide. Hope’s first group is led by Virginia Woolf. Several of the book’s chapters tell the stories of other members in Hope’s group therapy group.
While the book may sound grim, it is not. It has many moments of striking humor and uplifting realizations. Hope meets many new friends, who help her restore her forgotten artistic talent and passion, and God himself, who is amazingly human in the most inhuman of ways. As for Hope, she does exactly what the title says: Hope Always Rises.