Anna Hope is an accomplished English author and actress, best known for her historical fiction works and her role as Novice Hame in the popular television series "Doctor Who." Born and raised in a small town in Lancashire, Hope attended Turton High School before moving to Manchester as a teenager to attend the William Hulme Grammar School. She later went on to study English at Wadham College in Oxford and earned a Master's degree in Creative Writing from Birkbeck College in London. Her passion for acting and performance began at a young age, when she started acting at the Bolton-based "Octagon Youth Theatre" at the age of ten. She later went on to appear in various television shows, including "Coronation Street," "Waking the Dead," and "Crime and Punishment."
Hope's acting career provided her with a strong foundation for her writing, and her debut novel "Wake" was the subject of a seven-way auction before being published by Transworld Publishers. The novel, which is set over the course of five days in 1920, weaves together the stories of three women as they navigate the aftermath of World War I and the journey of the Unknown Soldier from its excavation in Northern France to Armistice Day at Westminster Abbey. The book has been sold in over seventeen countries and has received widespread critical acclaim.
In addition to "Wake," Hope has also written two other novels, "The Ballroom" and "Expectation." "The Ballroom" was published in 2016, and "Expectation," a contemporary novel that explores themes of love, lust, motherhood, and feminism, was published in 2019 to rave reviews. The novel has been optioned to be made into a feature-length drama by Haut et Court, a French film company. Hope currently lives in Sussex with her husband and young daughter.