Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Macmillan Audio/Netgalley for the ALC and St. Martin’s Press #partner, for the advanced copy of Hester in exchange for my honest review. 

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio

Published: October 4, 2022

 

Summary:

A vivid reimagining of the woman who inspired Hester Prynne, the tragic heroine of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, and a journey into the enduring legacy of New England’s witchcraft trials.

Who is the real Hester Prynne?

Isobel Gamble is a young seamstress carrying generations of secrets when she sets sail from Scotland in the early 1800s with her husband, Edward. An apothecary who has fallen under the spell of opium, his pile of debts have forced them to flee Edinburgh for a fresh start in the New World. But only days after they’ve arrived in Salem, Edward abruptly joins a departing ship as a medic––leaving Isobel penniless and alone in a strange country, forced to make her way by any means possible.

When she meets a young Nathaniel Hawthorne, the two are instantly drawn to each other: he is a man haunted by his ancestors, who sent innocent women to the gallows––while she is an unusually gifted needleworker, troubled by her own strange talents. As the weeks pass and Edward’s safe return grows increasingly unlikely, Nathaniel and Isobel grow closer and closer. Together, they are a muse and a dark storyteller; the enchanter and the enchanted. But which is which?

In this sensuous and hypnotizing tale, a young immigrant woman grapples with our country’s complicated past, and learns that America’s ideas of freedom and liberty often fall short of their promise. Interwoven with Isobel and Nathaniel’s story is a vivid interrogation of who gets to be a “real” American in the first half of the 19th century, a depiction of the early days of the Underground Railroad in New England, and atmospheric interstitials that capture the long history of “unusual” women being accused of witchcraft. Meticulously researched yet evocatively imagined, Laurie Lico Albanese’s Hester is a timeless tale of art, ambition, and desire that examines the roots of female creative power and the men who try to shut it down.

 

My thoughts:

This was one of the books we picked this month for our @bookfriendsbookclub selections and I’m so glad I did. Even though I have never read The Scarlet Letter, I knew as soon as I had heard about this book, I had to read it…and after enjoying it so much, you better believe I’ll be adding The Scarlet Letter to my tbr immediately!

I loved that reading I was totally able to enjoy this without having read TSL. Maybe I would have loved it even more had I read TSL, but clearly not reading it did not seem to hinder my enjoyment. The author was able to create such an enchanting, hypnotizing story that imagines the woman that could have been the muse for Nathanial Hawthorne. It is richly evocative and descriptive but not in such a way that you get bogged down in all the details. The story is so vivid that it is easy to visualize what is happening. I loved the history of the witchcraft trials and how that was woven into the story. And Isobel – she may be one of my new favorite characters! Her ability to see colors was just fascinating – but was it a gift or a curse?

There are many themes tackled within this book, making it a great bookclub pick – slavery, discrimination against outsiders, social class, women’s rights, addiction, etc. And let’s not forget the feminist take. Isobel is a strong woman who ends up supporting herself and striving for a better life. Again, I just loved her character!

I loved this book and cannot recommend it enough. I definitely plan on revisiting this one after I read The Scarlet Letter, which I hope to do soon. I haven’t read too many retellings/reimaginings of the classics, especially when I haven’t read the original yet but if they are anything like this one I will definitely be adding them all to my reading list.

 

Audio thoughts:

As soon as I saw that Saskia Maarleveld was narrating this book, I immediately requested the audio…and I’m so glad I did. I was consumed by the audio – her narration was amazing! She had me mesmerized and I found myself unable to put the book down. She truly gave an outstanding performance.