How will Billy fare with a rowdy bunch of school kids?
Billy Hopkins’ delightful novel, High Hopes, is based on his own experiences as a young teacher in Manchester in the aftermath of the Second World War in the 1940s. A must-read for fans of Sheila Newberry and Kate Thompson.
‘A heart-warming follow up to Our Kid‘ – Books Magazine
It’s September 1945 and Billy Hopkins is off to London to train as a teacher, with only ten bob in his pocket. Despite his dad’s gloomy warnings that he’ll pick up bad ways from the toffs down South, Billy survives two years in the Big City, and returns to take up his first teaching job in Manchester – on £300 a year!
The catch is his first class, Senior Four, who bitterly resent the raising of the school leaving age, and are all set to take it out on their teacher. Luckily the kid from Collyhurst has some tricks up his sleeve.
And then Billy meets the beautiful Laura. But is she, as his dad says, ‘too good for the likes of us’?
What readers are saying about High Hopes:
‘A moving and hilarious read… one of the best books I’ve read in ages’
‘This book is full of charm, old style values, old style humour and it is written with warmth‘
‘If you want to read a book with a 200% feel good factor this is it. Tears, laughter and brilliantly written‘
Billy Hopkins’ delightful novel, High Hopes, is based on his own experiences as a young teacher in Manchester in the aftermath of the Second World War in the 1940s. A must-read for fans of Sheila Newberry and Kate Thompson.
‘A heart-warming follow up to Our Kid‘ – Books Magazine
It’s September 1945 and Billy Hopkins is off to London to train as a teacher, with only ten bob in his pocket. Despite his dad’s gloomy warnings that he’ll pick up bad ways from the toffs down South, Billy survives two years in the Big City, and returns to take up his first teaching job in Manchester – on £300 a year!
The catch is his first class, Senior Four, who bitterly resent the raising of the school leaving age, and are all set to take it out on their teacher. Luckily the kid from Collyhurst has some tricks up his sleeve.
And then Billy meets the beautiful Laura. But is she, as his dad says, ‘too good for the likes of us’?
What readers are saying about High Hopes:
‘A moving and hilarious read… one of the best books I’ve read in ages’
‘This book is full of charm, old style values, old style humour and it is written with warmth‘
‘If you want to read a book with a 200% feel good factor this is it. Tears, laughter and brilliantly written‘
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Reviews
Nostalgic, funny and romantic, High Hopes is a vivid and funny evocation of northern life after the Second World War
A heart-warming follow up to Our Kid
A celebration of the spirit of the times... witty and moving
Heart-warming
A cracking yarn
This fictionalized biography is an easy page-turner
Hopkins, like all best authors, writes in effortlessly simplistic prose and as such is a fascinating author
Not only is it a heart-rending story, it is a remarkable piece of social history
