Review 343: Hester

Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book. Days after finished reading I still wished I could remain in that time period, still follow our main character, Isobel. Instead, I will have to see what else this author wrote.

The book is a fictional origin story of how Nathanial Hawthorne came to write his classic book The Scarlet Letter. The woman in his book Hester Prynne, being modeled after our main character, Isobel Gamble. As a child she learns that colors with words are not normal and you may be labeled a witch, so it is a secret she must hold onto. This synesthesia runs in the family, by the women, and her maternal grandmother was indeed accused of being a witch but escaped before being put to death.

Quickly Isobel is grown, marries, then after a misfortune, they sail to the new world, landing in Salem, MA to begin anew. Here Isobel becomes herself, a woman, and where most of the story takes place.

I enjoyed how this book was written, how the story took place. We have snippets of another timeline for a brief page or two between each chapter. It ends up switching characters further along in the book, which lead to the reader knowing much more than the characters. Not sure I liked that, but the only aspect that really bothered me with this book.

A great read for Nathanial Hawthorne fans, who of course, don’t mind the inventions about his life.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

First thoughts:

I wish the book hadn't ended, I want to read more.
Instead I will have to see what else this author wrote.