I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

Could there have been a real-life Hester Prynne?

In her new novel, Hester, Laurie Lico Albanese re-imagines The Scarlet Letter from the point of view of a fictional woman, Isobel Gamble. Isobel is a young Scottish immigrant to Salem in 1800. She has come to American with her much older husband, Edward, an apothecary addicted to opium. Almost immediately after their arrival, he abandons her to take a job as a ship’s doctor, dreaming of the riches he will find on the journey.

Isobel is a talented seamstress/embroideress. She is gifted, or perhaps cursed, with synesthesia, seeing colors in association with letters and speech. Synesthesia is poorly understood even today. Back then, it was seen as a form of madness. Or witchcraft. Having had relatives persecuted for witchcraft (and madness) back in Scotland, Isobel has been warned to keep her “colors” a secret. Nevertheless, they burst forth in the things she creates with her needle.

Isobel is a survivor. Despite being new to the city, alone, without means of support, and belonging to the unwelcome underclass of red-headed, thick-brogued foreigners, she finds work as a seamstress and makes a few friends. One of these friends is a handsome, bookish young man, Nathaniel Hathorne.

Nat is from old, established Salem society. Although his family is downwardly mobile, he’s still well-enough set up in life to spend his days struggling to become a writer. He is also struggling under the weight of his family history. His ancestor (also Nathaniel Hathorne) was one of the most persistent and unrepentant judges in the Salem witch trials. In this close-knit community, descendants of both accusers and accused continue to live side-by-side. Nat carries a lot of guilt. To some extent, he believes in the words thrown at his great-great-grandfather from the gallows: “A curse on you and your children and your children’s children – you’ll all die with blood in your throats.” He wants to put all that guilt, the darkness, into his writing.

Nat is a charmer, and Isobel needs some charm in her life. She feels a kinship with the other artist. He both praises her work and unthinkingly belittles it. He’s apologetic when Isobel calls him out on his condescension, but there is always something a little hollow in his words. Isobel recognizes his self-absorption, but excuses it. And when it seems as though her husband will not be returning from sea, a secret she keeps to herself, she and Nat begin an affair. Who seduces whom? Neither. It is clearly something they both want. But they are looking for two different things. Isobel wants a partner. Nat wants a muse.

The novel is lushly written. Tales of persecuted witches and condemning clergymen/judges are interspersed throughout, fleshing out the inter-generational trauma that shapes both Isobel and Nathaniel. (For me, these were the weakest parts, simply because I felt like I’ve heard these same stories too often.) There is also a concurrent story of the horrors of the slave trade. There is a free Black population in Salem, but freedom is tenuous and only recently “granted.” Bounty hunters roam the streets looking for escaped slaves. Prejudice, narrow-mindedness, hypocrisy, and greed are the norm rather than the exception.

And yet, Isobel’s indomitable spirit succeeds in making this a hopeful, triumphant story.

Did Nathaniel Hawthorne take inspiration from a “Hester” of his own? This novel will leave you believing that he did.

Thank you to the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This was such a new and refreshing take on the classic tale The Scarlett Letter. In Hester, we don't actually focus on Hester, but rather the woman who inspired Hester's character and the novel The Scarlett Letter.

The writing is simply exquisite. The story is so beautiful and enchanting. It's almost as if Isobel Gamble has placed you under her spell. Set in Salem this witchy tale flawlessly takes you back and forth between our main characters present time and the Salem witch trials. The tiny flashbacks to the Salem Witch Trials add a haunting and chilling feeling to the overall story.

Hester is the perfect thing to pick up if you're looking for a spellbinding read. It's the perfect tale for October or any time you'd like a haunting witchy tale.

Hester is richly imagined historical fiction with connections to themes and characters from The Scarlet Letter. It's magical and intriguing, and I loved it.

They saw witch, but what do they mean?... Witch is a reason to kill you; witch might be someone to heal you; witch can be the Devil, or witch can be a woman so beautiful she makes you lose your sense. They've got so many ways of calling you a witch, they just change it to how it suits them.

In Hester: A Novel, Laurie Lico Albanese reimagines the woman who inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne's Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter as recent Scottish immigrant Isobel Gamble.

Talented needleworker Isobel and her husband leave Scotland for America in the early 1800s. But when her addict of a husband abruptly leaves her penniless and alone, jumping on a ship departing Massachusetts shortly after they arrive, Isobel is desperate and must make her way in an unfamiliar country all alone.

As she hides the vivid colors she has always seen associated with letters, voices, and emotions--which she has always been told to ignore, for fear of being branded a witch like her great grandmother, also named Isobel--she encounters Nathaniel Hathorne (the W comes later), a romantic, aspiring author who is struggling to cope with his family's dark legacy of having sent suspected witches to the gallows in generations past. The two enchant each other within an unconventional, unacceptable relationship and a swirl of irresistible connection.

The heart-healing hawthorn flower stitched upon a white handkerchief with a tiny red A, for Abington.
Keep your powers hidden and use them when it's your time.

Race issues are explored through Isobel's lifesaving Black neighbors--who share resources, offer advice, and otherwise keep to themselves--and their mysterious goings-on, which Isobel suspects may be related to the runaway slaves she hears tell of in town.

Often in Albanese's Salem, classes who are underestimated or dismissed may be achieving hidden changes in the community, while families who are upheld as upper-crust may be involved in darkness and corruption.

What's true is often hidden from sight--religious fervor disguises cruelty, dark desires hide behind a mask of conformity.
What else is slipping through the spaces that I don't see? What other dark secrets is the city hiding?

Isobel's needlework and the colors she sees in the world are captivatingly described, and the tenuous situation for a woman at the time without a man in the household is conveyed in chilling fashion. I loved the connections to The Scarlet Letter and the book within a book, the witchy focus, the renegade feminism, and the details of life at the time.

I received a prepublication copy of this book courtesy of St. Martin's Press and NetGalley.

Solid 5 stars from me!
A dramatic retelling of the Scarlet Letter, this book delivers with all the tragedy, heroism, love, bravery and determination that you could ask for in a young, female protagonist. Some of this novel stays true to the original storyline, some of it is new fiction from the old world and some of it is true to what we know about Hawthorne.

A young, immigrant woman who comes to our country from Scotland, quickly realizes that America isn’t always free. She finds people who are still coming after escaped slaves, discovers the underground railroad, and has to determine who can be trusted. Same thing with friendships… As people look down on someone who isn’t from America. She grapples with the country’s dark history with “unusual” women that were accused of (and mostly killed because of) witchcraft… of which her family lineage has a long history. We see her meet and fall in love with Nathaniel Hawthorne. But even that comes with all sort of complications.

Thank you to Saint Martins Press, and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

My first time reading The Scarlet Letter was freshman year in high school. I remember it being one of few classics we were required to read and actually enjoyed.

Hester gave me similar vibes and I enjoyed every minute of it. The only reason its not a 5 star read for me is the perfect wrapped in a bow ending. I think the author should have left some to the imagination.

Thank you St Martins Press for a digital ARC and MacMillan Audio for an ALC through NetGalley.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book since I’ve never read The Scarlet Letter. I’m sure my reading experience would have been enhanced if I had, but it certainly wasn’t hindered because I hadn’t.

I was hooked from the beginning by the discussion of synesthesia and how at the time it was considered to be a characteristic of witches. I also loved the way the author added in Nathaniel Hawthorne as a character. This book was atmospheric in both time and place and I now want to read The Scarlet Letter to see if it feels similar.

This was trying do a whole lot in a fairly small space/length. The main premise itself was a tall order, while also touching on or trying to tackle the identity and validity of immigrants, the ghosts of witch trials passed, feminist sisterhood, nationalism dynamics, the Underground Railroad, and I’m sure I’m forgetting one or two others - this book’s theme was often in question or just lost. A few threads that made it to the end resonated with me, but overall this felt a bit clumsy and poorly planned.
2.5 ⭐️ rounded up for the bits that were successfully touching or intriguing.

<i>Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an eARC of this book.</i>

Hester is not a witch, actually, she is not even Hester, she is actually Isobel, a seamstress with some special gifts of synesthesia, who immigrates with her husband to the United States. They end up in Salem, where the legend of witches are still believed and the trauma of the witchcraft trials can still be felt.
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Hester, by Laurie Lico Albania, is a beautifully reimagined take on The Scarlett Letter, where Isobel is the woman who inspired Hawthorne’s tragic heroine, Hester Prynne. It is a prequel, an origin story that might just make you pull out your old high school copy of the classic and read it again.
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After a very short time, Isobel’s husband signs on to work as a medic on a ship, leaving her alone and penniless in a strange new world. Nathanial Hawthorne befriends her, and their relationship grows as she becomes more certain that her husband will not be coming back.
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Just as “Wicked” gave me a fresh perspective on “The Wizard of Oz”, this made me look at The Scarlett Letter in a fresh, new way. I love that. Different perspectives are always enlightening. This one was well done.
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I really enjoyed this book, I felt pulled back into the rich tapestry of the history of the United Stares. The Salem history and the Underground Railway factor in for a well researched, well built cast of characters and their lives.
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This book is touted as “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”. It certainly is that. Way to go, Ms. Albanese.
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Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese was a fictionalized account of the woman who might have inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. It was an interesting idea and it certainly explored some common issues that are actually timeless. Personally, I didn't connect with the characters and definitely did not feel the romances explored in the novel. I can see why many people have loved it, but it was just so-so for me.

This is one of those books that is kind of like a book within a book. Like two stories are being told at once. There is Isobel's story and Nathaniel's story. There is also Isobel's husband Edward whom I totally did not like. But then again I didn't care for Nathaniel that much either. I did love Isobel and Captain Darling.

This story is centered around the Salem witch trials. The Hawthorn's role in putting innocent women, children and even some men to death. They were declared witches at the drop of a word. A child or children could cause a woman to be deemed a witch and then imprisoned and hanged. A man could rape a woman and claim she put a spell on him and there she was a witch. Women mostly had it bad back then. So many were sentenced to death because of what society deemed inappropriate behavior.

Isobel had a gift. She saw colors and that scared people. She could sew beautiful things and used the colors she saw to make things that were meant for certain people. She married Edward and after a few things happened they had to leave Scotland and go to the United States. They settled in Salem and that is where Isobel's life really starts. Edward leaves on a ship and that is ultimately the end of their marriage. Isobel meets Nathaniel and they have a connection. She confides things to him that maybe she should not have. He also is very ashamed of the things that his ancestors did during the witch trials. Their love was not meant to be. He could not give up his life or his wealth for her. He moved on.

This book is truly told in a beautiful prose. Told in a way that hooks you from the start. The things that happened and that will happen are so horrific yet so interesting you will want to know more. This book has a lot of history in it. Things based on actual events. This author did a great job of describing what people felt. What so called "witches" went through. What their families went through. Even how some family members turned against them. You travel across the ocean with Isobel and Edward and Captain Darling. You see Edward at his worse. As he causes Isobel to become someone she never thought she would. It's a story of love and loss. Love found in other ways that will bring tears to your eyes. Hope to your heart. It's just a beautifully written story of so much tragedy and so much love.

Thank you #NetGalley, #LaurieLicoAlbanese, #StMartinsPress for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

5 stars and a very high recommendation. This was out of my usual genre and I'm so glad I read it. It's great.

Hester was just one of those beautiful books that got you to think, and for reimaging who inspired the main character of a book that is considered an American classic, it was just extremely well donr.
Isobel moves to Salem from Scotland with her husband in the early 1800's for a new start after her husband makes a number of bad business decisions. She is descended from women who were thought to be witches and sees words in color.(which today we know as Synesthesia). While her mother told her growing up to ignore the colors to protect herself, Isobel, who is gifted with embroidery, begins to channel them in her work. This helps her to support herself when her husband abandons her and goes off to sea.
Isobel meets a young Nathaniel Hawthorne, who is trying to make a name for himself beyond his ancestors' involvement in the Salem Witchcraft Trials. They become close, finding understanding with each other in trying to rise above their ancestors' histories and eventually begin an affair that has lasting consequences for them both.
Hester was a book that was well written and I thought it was beautifully descriptive, the author's words were just as lovely as I would expect Isobel's embroidery to be. I thoroughly loved reading it and was honestly sad the book ended.
Thank you to Netgalley for the eARC. All thoughts are my own.

Imaginative historical fiction, Hester was gripping from page 1 until the very end. Albanese is a vivid storyteller who paints an atmospheric picture of a historic era. I learned so much about the Salem Witch Trials, but also found myself lost in this uniquely brilliant novel.

Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese is a beautifully written historical fiction. I love a retelling, and the author does a great job staying true to the original while adding her own spin to the take! A beautiful cover and a wonderful story inside! Read this one!

Thanks to #Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

✨ Review ✨ Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese; Narrated by Saskia Maarleveld

Oh man, I have a lot of feelings about this book. I think that the concept was super inventive - I loved that it told the fictional backstory of the woman who inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne to write the Scarlet Letter. It was such a clever approach to thinking through the role of color and sound via synesthesia, and weaving in different elements of Hester's story.

With that said, I think that there were pieces of this that weren't fully fleshed out or that were problematic. I don't think the book handles race and racial difference well. I think it left loose ends in whether magic existed or was just an excuse used to gain power. I also think she really wrote NH as kind of a jerk (and maybe he was, but 🤷‍♀️ )

I was swept up in the story and certainly engaged, but I was also left wanting more from it. Great concept, but mediocre execution!

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Genre: historical fiction, literary fiction, women's fiction
Location: Salem
Reminds me of: The Scarlet Letter 😂
Pub Date: out now!

Read this if you like:
⭕️ The Scarlet Letter
⭕️ discussions of cloth and other textiles
⭕️ fictional contextualizations of the past

Thanks to St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio, and #netgalley fo advancedr e-copies of this book!

Our main character, Isobel Gamble is a young girl living in Scotland in the 1800's. As a child, Isobel's mother teaches her the art of embroidery, and becomes aware that Isobel has a rare gift of seeing letters in different colors, as a type of synesthesia. Her mother becomes alarmed because they are descended from Isobel Gowdie, who was tried for witchcraft in the 1600s.

As Isobel makes her way in the world, she comes to Salem, Massachusetts, where she meets Nathaniel Hawthorne.

As I read this book, I couldn't help thinking that this was sort of a mashup of Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" and the Scarlet Letter, while really being its own entity. Isobel's story is compelling and it takes surprising turns. I really enjoyed it and would recommend to anyone who enjoys historical fiction. I received a complimentary copy from the publisher through Netgalley.

I loved this book! I’m a historical fiction fanatic, and this was such a wonderful imagining of a woman we perhaps never thought about when reading The Scarlet Letter in high school, but now know must have existed.

It was especially poignant reading this in present day, when women are still somehow fighting for their basic freedoms and rights. We’ve come a long way. But this is a cautionary tale of what life could look like if we continue to go backward.

I really enjoyed this take on the character from The Scarlett Letter. I’ve never read that book but I actually want to after listening to this. I loved the Salem Witch Trials angle and the weaving of two storylines.

Also, as someone with synesthesia, I’m very aware that this could have caused problems for me had I been born 200 years earlier. I liked reading about a character with the same sensory ability.

I received an advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

I can't stop thinking about this book.
Thank you to NetGalley for the arc.

I don't really remember the Scarlett Letter.
But I loved this story about Isobel and was so surprised about how many characters other than Nathaniel Hawthorne are based on real people

In a recent Instagram post, the author when referring to her recently released historical fiction work HESTER, alluded to “the power of retelling a classic through a 21st century lens”. Many students across the nation read Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic The Scarlet Letter as part of their high school English class’s required reading curriculum. Thus upon viewing the title, readers may come with presupposed knowledge or ideas regarding this famed female protagonist and her story drawing them into the novel. Their interest may be further drawn by the magnetic cover design with its vividly gorgeous embroidered roses masterfully done. However, inside the novel with the flourish of her pen, Albanese has recreated the imagined truth and life of a woman who was previously only told by a man and society. In what women-centered historical fiction famously does, the author puts women back onto the center stage of the historical narrative, bringing their point of view to the story. In a similar style vein as author Gregory Maguire of famed ‘Wicked’, a famously known tale is flipped on its head and the reader’s lens is shifted to change everything they thought they knew or re-examine what they had been told. HESTER is guaranteed to create thoughtful discussion, closer reconsideration, and renewed interest into a classic novel’s storyline, but this time the reins are in Isobel Gamble’s hands thanks to Laurie Lico Albanese.

In early 1800s Scotland, Isobel is born with the ability to see colors--to the dismay of her mother, whose own mother was accused of witchcraft for the same skill. And misfortune seems to follow Isobel, from her mother's death to marriage to an apothecary with unanticipated weaknesses. She and her husband go to the New World, to Salem, MA--a place that has already developed a disturbing history.

When her husband leaves to be a medic on a ship, taking her savings with him, Isobel is forced to fend for herself, uncertain who to trust. She falls under the spell of the young intellectual, Nathaniel Hathorne, whose family also has a disturbing history.

The author has imagined the inspiration behind Nathaniel Hawthorne's THE SCARLET LETTER, but in so doing, has created a haunting, poignant story of his fictional muse. This is a beautiful novel that shares truths still relevant today. What seems unimaginably cruel in history still happens today, albeit in a different way. #Hester #NetGalley