I think this is such a fascinating novel set next to The Scarlet Letter, and I think it would be really interesting to read both and compare the two (though I will not be subjecting myself to The Scarlet Letter again, high school was enough for me, thank you). Just as the men in Hester repeatedly call the women bewitching and enchanting, the language in the book is the same. It’s really lovely, and the passages are a joy to read. Im always intrigued by the book within a book-ish premise, so I thought learning more about the woman who inspired Hester Prynne was a really cool concept. I would recommend this novel for sure.

I really like this trend of stories being rewritten from the perspective of the women. (See also Beautiful Little Fools). This is exactly that, but it's an exploration of what could have made Nathaniel Hawthorne write The Scarlet Letter. I loved the character of Isobel and found her interesting and likable. I liked many of the other characters too, but there were some duds as well. One thing that didn't really seem convincing to me was how wrapped up in the past some the characters actions were. And not the recent past, which would make sense to me, but the 200 year old Salem Witch Trials. I didn't really buy the fact that these families were still acting based on what those ancestors had done. Overall, this is a good book and I think it's a worthwhile read. It is a bit slow moving though so be prepared for that.

A lovely book with the perfect amount of references to history to add a layer of reality that really brought the story to life. While she faces trials and tribulations, her fire and resilience carries her through. Hester lives in a difficult period for poor women. She is forced into situations not her fault and carries on with dignity and patience. She does not allow life to make her lose faith in love or chance. She is good to people and, like all my favorite stories, good people are tested but not doomed. Loved the book.

I didn't know what to expect when I started this book as it is my first by this author, but I was very pleasantly surprised. I was engrossed by the characters and drawn into the story very early on.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a digital review copy of this book. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

As an English teacher, I could not resist checking out Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese. My first encounter with Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlett Letter was as a high school English student. While my teacher hammered away at all of the symbolism in the book, I was really wondering about how Hester was surviving around all of these low down dogs calling themselves her man in public and private (or not). The preacher was the worst! But so was her husband lurking around town like a creep.

The Woman Who Inspired Hester
Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese tells the story of Isobel and her ancestors intermittently throughout the novel. Isobel’s ancestor of the same name was accused of being a witch in Scotland, but escaped the torture and ran away which is why Isobel exists today. Isobel is the woman that Albanese crafts the novel around as being the one who inspired the character of Hester in The Scarlett Letter.

You can quickly see the parallels between the two women. But Isobel is different, she can see colors everywhere and she is a keen businesswoman who figures out how to survive when her no-good husband leaves on a ship with her money. She is a beautiful, young redheaded Scottish woman who also has to be careful to abide by the rules of society and hide her gifts.

I am a big fan of Isobel because she is such a strong female protagonist. It’s easy to forget that she is only 19 because she deals with being abandoned by her husband and being left destitute like a pro. She knows her skills, she knows her own worth and she blinks back the tears quickly and moves onto to surviving and making a living for herself.

Overall Thoughts
I thought this was a very intriguing novel of historical fiction. There are so many layers of female empowerment, immigration, the effects of slavery on society and more that I might even do a re-read to try and capture more from it. Beautiful writing, great story, awesome characters!

In Hester, Laurie Lico Albanese has created an interesting prequel story to Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" from the perspective of Isobel (Hawthorne's Hester).

Isobel is a Scottish immigrant newly arrived in Salem, Massachusetts with her husband. He soon leaves her penniless and she must make her way in a place that does not value a person of her gender, class, or ethnicity. Isobel is a complex character. While she makes some questionable personal choices, Isobel is also strong and independent. She manages to support herself with her keen mind and exceptional talent for needlework. She experiences synesthesia, seeing words as colors. This is both a gift and a curse as the synesthesia inspires her creativity but also puts her in danger. The Salem witchcraft trials are in the not too distant past and Isobel must keep her ability to see colors hidden fearing persecution if her secret is revealed.

As with The Scarlet Letter, the story has a lot to say about societal mores. Albanese deftly intertwines many early 18th century historical threads, including the constraints put on women, the slave trade and the Underground Railroad, opium addiction, and discrimination toward immigrants from Ireland and Scotland. It's an especially fascinating look at women's history. I appreciated the author's note at the end detailing the author's research.

It's not necessary to read The Scarlet Letter before reading Hester, but it would add to the experience.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.

Hester tells the story of the inspiration behind The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne by telling us the story of a young Scottish woman, Isobel, who moves from Scotland to Salem, MA, and meets Hawthorne.

There were times when I loved Isobel and felt for her, and there were times when I got so frustrated with her. But I ended up giving her a lot more grace when I was reminded later in the book that was barely out of her teens when the majority of this story takes place. Her love for Hawthorne even though he has some truly questionable opinions and treats Isobel poorly bothered me, but the reminder of her youth reminded me that we all make poor choices about love when we're young. My favorite character in the whole book was Captain Darling, who was a true darling, and I wish there'd been more time for him in the story.

All in all, this was a great fall read with more storylines than I expected and a book I would recommend to others. (3.5 stars rounded up to 4)

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

I wanted to love this one, but after starting and stopping several times before finally finishing, I can say that while I'm glad I did finish it, I would likely not read it again. Its well written and I don't necessarily want to discourage anyone from giving it a shot, just wasn't my cup of tea. 2.5 stars for me, but rounding up to 3.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an eARC copy of this book.

Isobel marries an apothecary and sees it as her opportunity to get out of her father’s home and create a home of her own. But she doesn’t anticipate her new husband to be hiding a great secret- a growing addiction to opium. When debts force them to flee, America seems like a safe haven for them. Hester is hiding a hidden talent that she has though. Letters and words, especially in her needlework, hold colorful meanings, which in the past have led to accusations of witchcraft towards her ancestors. Hester meets Nathaniel Hawthorne as soon as they land in America. She is intrigued by this bookish man. As a forbidden relationship ensues, they are both inspired, but it is a dangerous game they play. An interesting look at who could have inspired Hawthorne’s character, Hester.

I was very intrigued by this story, but I felt as though it just got bogged down the farther we got. By the end I just wanted it to be over and didn’t even care that much about how it ended. It was a creative telling of the inspiration, but I wish I felt more invested in it!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Hester, a imagining telling of the woman who inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne's Hester Prynne in The Scarlett Letter, . The book starts in Abington, Scotland where Isabel’s mother is dying. She has always known Isobel has Synesthesia, but at the time the book takes place this was an unknown condition. We learn that Isabel was named after Isobel Gowdie, arrested during the Salem Witch trials. .Isobel marries Edward and due to certain proclivities of his, they are forced to sail for New England, settling in Salem MA. Days after landing, he 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. She meets Nathaniel Hawthorn when she is 19 and he is 24, and they start a romantic relationship, which, if you have read The Scarlett Letter, you know it does not end well. The author adds a lot of elements to the story, from telling of life living in Scotland and New England, to flashbacks of the Salem in the 1690s, and the recent events of the slave trade throughout the Americas and New England, where free blacks still had to worry about being captured. The romance is one-dimensional without a lot of understanding as to what drew the characters together. Adding in all the subplots makes the story a bit disjointed and bogged down. There was a lot to like about the book, but I think the author could have limited the number of historical points she wanted to cover in exchange for a smoother experience for the reader.

I got to read this with my book club and meet with the author over zoom, and it was AMAZING. This book is so rich in history and detail. As soon as I finished it I wanted to reread the scarlet Letter!

This book is amazing for fans of the classic and historical fiction! Not surprised at all that it was a BOTM pick!!

Hester--

Just wow- I was blown away by this storytelling! I am here for it!

I loved this book so much more than The Scarlet Letter!

I was fully incapable of appreciating the depth and cleverness of this book when I first read it. I've successfully recommended it since, but definitely more sink your teeth into it than expected.

This novel imagines an origin story for Hester Prynne, the heroine of Nathaniel Hawthorne's masterpiece.
The premise: a young seamstress from Scotland, Isobel Gamble, emigrates with her ass of a husband to Massachusetts. The Salem Witch Trials have taken place 100 years prior to these events, but the trials haunt this story, too. Isobel experiences what is now known as color–graphemic synesthesia, wherein she perceives letters and words as inherently colored. A notable example: A is red -- or scarlet. In the early 19th century in a place famous for burning women at the stake, such a condition must be hidden for fear of ostracism or worse. Upon landing in Salem's harbor, this gifted, secret-laden seamstress comes across a young Nathaniel Hawthorne and is drawn to him. When her opium-addicted, opium-addled husband leaves her penniless to sail away to search for exotic plants for his apothecary business, she leans a little too heavily on Hawthorne for support. A love affair and Isobel's own independent, secret endeavors ensue. As a result, she becomes the fictional inspiration for Hawthorne's famous heroine.
It's a brave move, since so many of us were forced to read The Scarlet Letter in high school and therefore may not love it so much as feel triggered by it. Nevertheless, Author Laurie Lico Albanese imbues the novel with vibrant needlework imagery and its relevant graphic design. She does an admirable job of recreating life in early 19th century Salem, Massachusetts, including its role in the slave trade and conversely, an underground movement helping those fleeing slavery. In so doing, she puts the spotlight on the women of that time and place, and on their powerful secrets.

This is a book I am still thinking about days after finishing it! I loved it and loved the characters. It was a great mix of historical and fiction. It took me about half the book to get really into it but halfway through I was loving it and didn’t want to stop reading it. Even though I wasn’t as hooked in the beginning, I still enjoyed reading the beginning. An amazingly well written book. I loved this book for the characters, detail, and ending. Thanks NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review of this book! A very enjoyable read that I would definitely recommend!

I thought this book was absolutely wonderful! Being one of the countless people who was forced to read the scarlet letter in high school, i wish we had this version to accompany it then. I loved the scarlet letter in school but was left with this longing feeling. I wanted to know more, I wanted to know Hester and so I'm grateful to have gotten the chance to read this. It's patched over that empty space i once had.

I enjoyed this book.
I had no idea what it was about when I picked it up, I read the blurb but it didn’t sound out to me.
The cover is gorgeous – I must purchase a copy for my bookshelf.
Very reminiscent of The Scarlet Letter
Isobel is set to sail from Scotland in the early 1800’s when she meets Nathaniel, after her boss picking up and leaving her desolate.
They’re drawn to each other, but he’s got ghosts.
Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read and review this title.

With Hester, Laurie Lico Albanese has created a rich, visceral retelling of Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. This is not your high school required reading of Nathaniel Hawthorne!
Albanese's refreshing version is told from the viewpoint of Isobel Gowdie, a recent Scottish immigrant to a very right and proper early America. Not even a generation from the mania of wide-spread witch trials, Isobel arrives hiding an ability to see colors through synesthesia, a sensory phenomenon with multiple responses through vision and sound. Using her gifts of both color and exquisite sewing, Isobel plans to catapult herself from poverty and fear into a life of comfort and stability.
But immediately upon her arrival she notices -and is noticed by- Nate Hawthorne. Tall, handsome and almost other-worldly in his brooding mystery, Isobel is captivated. (Why do we women always assume brooding is anything other than lazy narcissism?!) Add in a missing, addicted husband, neighbors who are running an early version of the underground railroad and "powerless" women running circles around their men and Albanese has set the stage and followed through with a engaging, fun read, full of both lovable and hate-able characters and gorgeous descriptive work. I positively long to see and touch Isobel's work. Easily four stars out of five.

I chose this book because I love the idea of all things Hester Prynn and The Scarlett Letter.  While Laurie Lico Albanese's book, Hester, was not exactly what I expected, it was a delightful tale.  I hope to see many more of my favorite characters being explored/written about in this fashion in the future. Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with an ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review. I eagerly anticipate more books by this author!

Hands down, best book I've read all year. It was so good, I'm actually reading The Scarlet Letter. It was that good!