I don't know what I was ultimately expecting with Hester, but I really enjoyed it! I love how the storylines wove together over generations (see what I did there?) and how vibrant the imagery was, even when you felt the area was bleak, grey and ominous. What a treat this book was, and to read it during the spooky season made it that much more fun. What a wonderful book!

I am one of those rare people who actually liked The Scarlet Letter when we “had” to read it in American Lit in high school. I can’t say the same about Moby Dick, but luckily that’s not the retelling we’re talking about here. Laurie Lico Albanese has created this beautiful piece of art in Hester, an imagined prequel, if you will, to Hester Prynne and her world in The Scarlet Letter.
It’s the early 1800s and Isobel Gamble, a twenty-year-old seamstress from Scotland, has emigrated to Salem, MA with her much older husband Edward. They both hold secrets. She has synesthesia, whereby she can see colors for words, and he is addicted to poppy. Isobel is the descendant of an accused witch in Scotland and she’s headed right into Salem, home of the notorious Witch Trials. All the more reason to keep her secret hidden lest she be thought to be a witch. Upon arrival she catches the eye of Nathaniel Hathorne, grandson of one of the judges of the trials; he later added the W to distinguish himself from his ancestors.
When Edward goes back to sea in search of riches Isobel must rely on her needlework to keep her alive. She is reminded to “trust the needle.”
The story alternates between Salem and Scotland, roughly 150 years apart. Nathaniel (Nat) and Isobel’s story is interwoven with Isobel’s struggles to fit into Salem society as well as the depiction of the beginnings of the Underground Railroad.
This was truly a remarkable read. It had depth and richness and strong character development. It’s one I won’t soon forget.
Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for the early review copy!

This book was really enjoyable and kept me interested the entire way through, but if there was one thing I could change, I would probably not have the actual Nathaniel Hawthorne as a main character--at times, it was a little distracting, but it wasn't necessarily a bad choice. It was just kind of weird, but not weird enough for me to dislike the story, and it's pretty easy to imagine him as a different person if it really bothers you.

What a unique story! I was utterly enchanted reading this imagining of the backstory of Hester Prynne and the basis for the classic “The Scarlet Letter.” Many times while reading, I had to remind myself that this was fiction - it just read like a true history that it was easy to think of it as nonfiction.

I also was incredibly drawn to the concept of letters and voices being associated with colors. Here it is laid out that such a phenomenon was associated with being a witch. It actually is a real condition, synesthesia, but as it is rare, it is the perfect thing to have in this story. Widely unknown things were what could lead to accusations of witchcraft back in that period, which just made this story that much more believable - as I could see exactly how it could happen this way.

With that said, this is not a witch story but it is set not so long after the Salem witch trials and so there’s obviously some ties/mentions to witches. Plus our female MC is a descendant of Isobel Gowdie, who was a real woman who was known as the Queen of Witches in Scotland.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and thank NetGalley, St.Martin’s Press and the author for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

There are a handful of titles I’ve looked forward to with the grabbiest of hands, and “Hester” is one of them. I’m excited, if not absolutely gleeful, to report that it absolutely exceeded expectations. This novel is absolutely a beautiful tragedy, stunning in its sadness and gorgeous in its grief. It’s also a story about the ugly parts of mankind, about how much strength it takes to keep getting back up again when the world keeps knocking you down, and a testimony to what it is to swim against the current when you are at your most vulnerable.

I found myself re-reading passages in this book simply for the loveliness of them, or because I was so lost in the lyrical beauty of them I lost how the thread of them attached to the plot of the book. The book is steeped long and deep in symbolism and metaphor, but not to the point where it becomes cliche or too on the nose. It’s got that same knack of symbolism and metaphor that Erin Morgenstern has, where the symbols and metaphors are so woven into the book that “Hester” wouldn’t be the book it is without them. It would come undone, unraveling at the seams. The symbols are as big a part of the book as the characters themselves. In a way, the symbolism is a character in and of itself. And I’m here for it. This book isn’t in the magical realism genre, but it’s only a short hop away from it. If anything, I’d say it’s slightly mystical in a way.

The cast of characters is the right size for the novel and each is carefully crafted with unique personalities shaped with the primary idea in this novel of how there is darkness and light in every heart. The only purity of heart we see is in children, which is only right, since fear and hatred are learned behavior. Not even our protagonist, Isobel, is pure and righteous. Nor should she be: the message at the heart of this book is we all do what we must (and some just do nothing). Isobel indeed does what she must, and in her journey she becomes harder, stronger, shrewder, and more in the effort to survive the tough life she is living in Salem.

The plot is impeccably crafted, leaving no wasted pages or pacing in the entire book. It’s the perfect length for a beautifully crafted piece of literature. It made for a cozy read on an October day, and I would gladly read it again.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for granting me early access to this title in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Hester is one of the most unique historical romance novels that I’ve read this year. The author introduces us to a young red-headed vibrant Scottish lass named Isobel Gamble. She has a rare gift where she experiences one sense through another, like seeing color for letters or sounds- “the wind was sometimes a fierce pink and a waterfall glistened silver.” Her mother warned her to keep her “gift” a secret for she may be accused of being a witch. She’s also encouraged to marry well. Shortly after marrying Edward, an apothecary, they sail off to the New World to start a new life. This is 1829, Salem, Massachusetts where the witch trials took place almost 200 years prior.

Isobel has a special talent for needlework and supports herself since her husband left on a ship shortly after their arrival. He has a an opiate problem and has poor moral character. Isobel meets Nathaniel (Nat) Hathorne, a writer and develops a romance with him. She recognized in him someone with a good character. Though he is ashamed of his ancestors who took a major role in condemning innocent women to death during the witch trials. And she is afraid of her “seeing colors” and also had an ancestor who was on trial for witchcraft in the 17th century. The chapters that covered the witch trials were captivating.

The writing is remarkably descriptive and the crafting of the two story lines blended in nicely into an engaging story. I felt Isobel’s character was fully fleshed out. She was a woman who wanted freedom to desire. The writing of the secondary characters were also done very well. This is a fantastic inspirational story of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter.

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

DNF @ 24%

This is potentially a case of “it’s not you, it’s me.” However, I was really excited for this book, especially after reading The Scarlet Letter.

I was looking forward to a book that focused more on Nathaniel and Hester. Even more so than that, I was really interested in the parts about Isobel Gowdie because, HELLO WITCH QUEEN.

The book started out very very intriguing and captured my attention almost immediately. But once Hester gets to Salem, nothing is happening. It’s dragging and I just can’t force myself to read books that feel like torture anymore.

Very disappointing.

What's it about (in a nutshell):
Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese is an imaginative look at the person who inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and how that story came to be.

Initial Expectations (before beginning the book):
I have gotten from the title, cover, and blurb that this is a The Scarlet Letter retelling from Hester Prynne's perspective. I am intrigued because I've always felt I needed to know Hester's side of the story.

Actual Reading Experience:
I absolutely love the authentic feel of this story. The premise is that a particular woman in Hawthorn's life was his inspiration for Hester Prynne's character in The Scarlet Letter. It felt authentic and not like a fictional account. From the period to the relationship and the resulting novel, suspending disbelief was so very easy.
I also enjoyed the women's empowerment angle that runs throughout the story. I love to see the strengths of women all through the ages, especially the periods when it didn't seem like women had any power.
The writing is beautiful and vivid, bewitching the reader into believing the story as truth rather than fiction. And the inclusion of Grapheme-Color Synesthesia was particularly ingenious as it worked in the story in many ways. This is a neurological phenomenon of seeing letters and numbers in particular colors. I know someone who experiences this phenomenon and love how it is handled in this story.

Characters:
Isobel is a woman who can see colors associated with words, letters, and numbers – spoken or written. She is the descendant of Isobel Gowdy, who was once accused of being a witch. She is married to a man who struggles with addiction and is gone for long stretches of time. All she wants is to know love like she sees others experiencing.
All the characters are complex and elicit strong emotions in the reader. Nathaniel Hawthorn is one of these characters, and Albanese paints a very intriguing picture of the author.

Narration & Pacing:
The story is told in the first person from Isobel's perspective. I love this personal style of telling a very personal, almost diary-like story. Isabel tells the reader the most intimate details of her life, bringing the story to life and making it feel as authentic.
The pacing is much as I have found with many works of historical fiction – a bit slow and leisurely with only sporadic action episodes to speed up the pace. I find it hard to read at a leisurely pace, so this was problematic for me, and I struggled to keep my focus as I proceeded through the tale.

Setting:
The setting is Salem, Massachusetts, in the early 1800s. The witch trials, though an event well in the past, still impact decisions made by people, particularly women, regarding how to act and what to say.

Read it if you like:
• Historical Fiction
• Women Empowerment stories
• Stories set in the early 1800s
• Character-driven Stories

Isobel has fled Scotland with her husband Edward, a man who lost everything to his addiction. She hopes to make a fresh start in Salem MA. After only a few short days, Edward leaves on a journey as a ship medic. Isabel is broke (Edward stole all her money), alone, and desperate to find work. her gifts as a seamstress and embroidered, don't seem to be enough to overcome the fact that she is Scottish and looked down upon by almost everyone in town. Of course, even in the new world people are still prejudiced and live by a system that clearly defines the rich from the poor.
This isn't a book that you would imagine kept me up late flipping the pages. It's a slow-burn character-driven tale about Isobel and everything she had to fight to survive. But I did keep reading, wanting just one more chapter. Mostly told from Isobel’s perspective there are also chapters from the 1600s when her grandmother was accused of being a witch. Another tragic time in history, when so many innocent people were tried and convicted based on well, no actual evidence.
Isobel's relationship with Nathaniel Hawthorne plays a prominent role in the story as well. Even if you never read The Scarlet Letter, this book stands on its own for the descriptive details that are found on every page. I loved it. 4.5 stars.

✔ The book starts off well and I was hooked until about one-fourth the way in.
❌ After this point, the story becomes stuck in a quagmire of repetition, with abrupt plot changes that come out of nowhere. The ending ties things too neatly and forcibly establishes the final connection with ‘The Scarlet Letter’. It was overdone.

✔ Isobel is portrayed as a strong and resourceful young woman who doesn’t resort to desperate crying when she discovers her husband has left her alone and penniless. She uses her skills in the best way she can and is actually proud of her talent rather than faking humility. She is shown to be a very practical person in her approach to her work.
❌ Contrarily, Isobel has neither judgement skills nor pragmatism in her personal life. She marries and falls in love for the silliest of reasons and continues to pine for Hawthorne even after it is clear how their relationship is going.

✔ Isobel’s character experiences synesthesia, whereby she associates letters and sounds with colours. Thus there is focus on her unusual synesthetic abilities and how it enriches as well as impairs her work. Through this ability, there is also an indirect reference to the fae world and how it may/may not guide Isobel.
❌ This focus gets repetitive after a while. Even after it is clearly established how synaesthesia works in Isobel’s life, we keep getting detailed descriptions of it. The magical fae elements remain just a potential that are ignored for most of the narrative.

✔ Isobel is shown not just as practical but also as a woman with an empathetic heart. She fights against the bias against her as an “outsider” <b><i>(Doubt #1: Evidently, being a Scottish in the US was almost as bad as being a Black slave. Can someone confirm if this was a fact? I couldn’t find anything to substantiate this claim.)</i></b>; she has “slave” friends and does her best to help them when she can and even treats them as equals; she doesn’t understand why people had slaves.
❌ In other words, Isobel is too “woke” for her time. Her portrayal seemed very unrealistic.
<b><i>(Doubt #2: Can someone also please help me understand: if Isobel is poor and viewed as an outsider, how is she invited to all these fancy gatherings with the elite?) </i></b>

✔ The book is written in dual timeline, with the other timeline going two hundred years back to Isobel’s ancestor, also named Isobel. This Isobel stood trial as a witch and her experiences form this timeline. Her story is intriguing and stresses on how barbaric the belief system of that age was.
❌ I have no idea why this timeline was necessary in this book. How were the stories of the two Isobels relevant to each other except that one was an ancestor of the other and both apparently had the same synesthetic abilities? There was absolutely no connection between the events of the 17th centry with those in the 19th century. It seemed like a way of extending the book to a respectable length of 300+ pages. The back and forth between the timelines also breaks the flow on the “contemporary” timeline of the 1829, making the narration very choppy.

✔ This is marketed as the story behind Hester Prynne. There are thus many nods to the classic, including a repeated mention of the scarlet A, and in the circumstances of Isobel’s life that mimic that of Hester Prynne to a great extent. Knowing the original classic isn’t necessary to get this story, but it will make you appreciate the links better.
❌ The way in which the story is written—Isobel’s first person that continues even after Hawthorne goes his separate way—makes the entire idea of Isobel’s being the “inspiration for Hester” implausible. Moreover, I did not appreciate the portrayal of author Nathaniel Hawthorne in this work. It's not like I'm a fan of Hawthorne but portraying his character in a negative way seemed a bit disrespectful. In realy life, he seems to be an interesting person with a strong opinion on morality and social constructs. In this book though, he is depicted as a weak-willed character who cannot escape his past and manipulates Isobel as per his need. I don’t mind real people being inserted in fiction but the portrayal must be true to their original personality.

✔ There is a wide range of “important” themes in the story: slavery, slave hunts, witch hunts both in Salem and in England, women empowerment, male domination, racial discrimination, subservience of wives in a marriage, adultery, pre-marital pregnancy, immigrant experiences, and so on.
❌ Wasn’t it just supposed to be about Hester Prynne? Why so many other, irrelevant topics?
<i>(On an aside: Weren’t Black people called the N word in that era? If the narration had to be faithful to the time, it had to use the slur, even if the word is inappropriate today. How and why are they being called ‘Blacks”?)</i>

✔ There are some memorable secondary characters though their role is quite minor in the overall story.
❌ The overall character development is very flat. You barely get to see any side of Isobel other than her feelings for Nathaniel and her talent with the needle. Nathaniel’s character changes direction as per the whim and fancy of the author. The connection between Hawthorne and Isobel seems shallow; you barely feel their emotions beyond a surface level.

✔ I love the cover. It incorporates the Scarlet A as well as Isobel’s embroidery skills beautifully.

My thanks to St. Martin's Press for the DRC and NetGalley for the opportunity to read “Hester”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.

Hester tells the fictional story of the woman who inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter.

Isobel has seen the colors since she was a child. Voices, sounds, letter, all have colors for Isobel. But with her mother’s warning and her family’s magical past, Isobel hides what she sees, all the way across the ocean from Scotland to Salem, Massachusetts. But when she meets the mysterious Nat and must work to keep herself alive in the new world, she finds her colors may do more good than possible harm.

Hester was a beautiful novel. The descriptions of the character’s synesthesia was intricate and as a reader, you begin to associate the colors through the novel in the same way as Isobel. I liked all of the sociopolitical issues Albanese tackled within 19th century Salem.

My only critique is how quickly the climax and conclusion happen. It felt slightly jarring compared to the slow explanation of the rest of Isobel’s story. But that could have been a very conscious choice by the author.

4.5 🌟


One of my favorite classic stories is 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐋𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 by Nathaniel Hawthorne, so I went into this one with high expectations and a bit of nervousness.

I’m happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised! I loved how Laurie Lico Albanese reimaged this story. It may help if you know that Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ancestors were involved in the Salem Witch Trials. A fact Albanese brilliantly weaves into this tale.

Young Isobel Gamble, a needleworker with synesthesia, a special gift to see colors in words, arrives in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1829 from Scotland with her husband, Edward.

When Edward must go to sea, Isobel finds herself in the company of a young, troubled writer, Nat Hathorne. While Isobel struggles to hide her dark secrets and fit into this rigid society, Nat is haunted by his family’s past. They soon become enchanted with each other; she is his muse, but does he understand what he is playing with?

I loved that this centers around how Hawthorne found his muse for the character of the original Hester Prynne. Some of the original characters make an appearance; even the scarlet letter “A” pops up. This is a captivating blend of historical events from witchcraft and the underground railroad. 𝘝𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘣𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘺𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵-𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥!



Thank you @stmartinspress for this gifted copy and @macmillan.audio for the audiobook.

Hester is the perfect read going into the fall season. It’s somewhat of a retelling of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Set in Salem, Hester draws on the dark history of the Salem witch trials and the people who played a role in the accusations of witchcraft.

Isobel Gowdie is the main character of the story. An accomplished seamstress, Isobel also sees color in letters and language. A native of Scotland, Isobel and her husband Edward immigrate to America in search of a new start after Edward gets them into debt.

Right after they get settled in Salem, Edward decides to take a job as a medic on a ship and leaves Isobel alone to settle into the new world. Isobel immediately begins to draw parallels between her own family history and that of Salem’s past witch trials.

Early on, Isobel meets Nathaniel Hawthorne and they are immediately drawn to one another. The romance was a bit predictable, but what happens later is not and I loved how the author included so much of the history of the time into the story.

The novel has the same somber, forbidding tone found in The Scarlet Letter and I found this to be a perfect read going into October.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read an advance copy. I am pleased to offer my honest review.

Perhaps because I never read the Scarlet Letter, I lack perspective. However, the writing, storytelling, sentence and paragraph structures were not compelling for me. I enjoyed the mystical aspect of the colors, but felt it wasn’t appropriately incorporated. Others seem to appreciate this book more than I so you may want to read it and draw your own conclusions. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I have to say that I have never read The Scarlet Letter...it wasn't something that I had or wanted to read. This is a twist to The Scarlet Letter and I absolutely loved it from the very start.

The author is new to me and I thoroughly enjoyed her writing. She is so descriptive that I could imagine myself right there in the story. I had a hard time putting this book down because I had to know what happens next. The story puts Nathaniel Hawthorne in Salem in the 1800's and his path crosses with Isobel Gamble who just got off a ship from Edinburgh, Scotland with her husband Edward. They were fleeing from Edinburgh because of debts that Isobel's husband accrued from his apothecary and his drug addiction to opium. In a strange new country Isobel hasn't even gotten settled in her new home when her husband decides to leave on another ship as a medic. Isoble, a seamstress, has no work and hardly any money she has to find a way to take care of herself.

As time slips by Isobel finds a job as a seamstress working for another woman. She meets Nathaniel Hawthorne and is drawn to him for company. Being a married woman she has to be careful what the community of Salem thinks of her. The writing of this story is flawless and brilliant.

I loved the character of Isobel and how she had to adapt to a life of seclusion away from her family. Isobel is gifted with sewing and she uses that to her advantage although others use it against her. The embroidery she does inside her cape depicts her family history and some think she is a witch.
Exceptional writing and wonderful characters. A book that I fell in love with.

Highly recommend! If you didn't like or read The Scarlet Letter I suggest you get this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for allowing me to read an advanced digital copy of Hester for an honest review. These are my words and my words only they may not be eloquent but they are from the heart.

I both read and listened to Hester. I really enjoyed this story it especially going into the Halloween season. The book acts as a prequel to The Scarlet Letter, a book most of us have been instructed to read in high school.

Overall, I’d rate this book a 4/5 stars. The narrator was incredible, I could listen to the book all day with her narration. The story was very well detailed and the main character developed beautifully throughout. I thought the author was able to hit on many key themes for this time period and follow them through, including Salem’s witch trials, slavery, feminism, and even touch on addiction. There were no plot lines that seemed to be unfinished but all woven together in a perfect fit.

While I did enjoy it, there were some slow parts, mainly the middle third of the book. I also struggled to piece together the timeline and the back story to Salem and Scotland. It took about halfway through the book to understand the timeline and how it fit together. .

Thank you so much to Net Galley for the free copy, I will be recommending this to my historical fiction readers!

This conjecture on who might have inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne to write his masterpiece The Scarlet Letter really caught my fancy. I’m struck by the combination of innovation and research that must have gone into its telling, and impressed by how smoothly the story flows. There are separate timelines to the story, in 1662 Scotland Isabel’s maternal namesake grandmother Isobel Gowdie, 26 yrs old, is tried as a witch and escapes; and in 1829 in Salem Massachusetts, Isobel MacAllister Gamble, 19 yrs old, meets the writer who changes her destiny, nearly causes her downfall, but instead gives her immortality.

Since reading The Scarlet Letter in high school English class, and traveling to England and Norway and having discussed the shameful history of witch hunts, I’ve often wondered how such atrocities of misjustice came about, and author Laurie Lico Albanese truly delivers here. I love what a tribute to enduring feminism this is. In the notes and acknowledgments section Hester is named our first historical feminist hero AND our original badass single mother! It did make me laugh Isobel’s tongue flattened against the roof of her mouth illustrating outright lustfulness, ha!

*Thank you to NetGalley for an early ARC of this book.*

I couldn’t put this book down. From the first paragraph the author had drawn me in and I had to know more about Isobel. This book explores the inspiration behind Nathanial Hawthorne’s ‘The Scarlet Letter’ and the question, what if Hester Prynne was based on a real person?

Our main character, Isobel, is a talented embroiderer, who sees colors in words and letters, and uses them in her work. Her story starts in Scotland, where she is forced to work in a white on white sewing shop after the death of her mother. Before her passing, her mother warned her not to let people know about her colors as they would accuse her of being a witch. Years pass and after her husband leaves them destitute they leave for a better life in Salem, Massachusetts. After a month at sea, her husband becomes indebted to the captain and must return to sea with him, leaving Isobel to create a home and survive on her own with the little income she brings in from embroidering. Here enters Nathaniel ‘Nat’ Hathorne. A brooding poet/writer who is tormented by his family’s past involvement with the Salem Witch Trials. Nat and Isobel quickly become friendly and she begins to rely on his company and opinions. When their relationship changes, everything else changes with it, and it could mean complete ruin for Isobel.

This gripping story will have you tied to the page, desperate to know what happens next. I highly recommend it!

I truly liked this novel. I have always been fascinated by the Salem Witch trials and the persecution of women in Europe so the subject matter appealed to me. I also liked the descriptions and depiction of vivid colors and thread that Isobel used.
I’m not a fan of American classics so while never having read any of Hawthorne’s books I am familiar with his works and his background.
There are so many substories that enrich the central theme.
My favorite characters were Capt. Darling and Mercy.
Readers get a good sense of how Salem hadn’t changed much in the 200+ years since the hangings.

Isobel is a young lady with the gift of the needle. She is a beautiful seamstress and tells stories, sends messages with her gorgeous embroidery. She marries an apothecary and is on the road to a prosperous life. However, his opium addiction secures their place in the poorhouse. Her father sends them to America to make a new start there. Her husband, Edward, leaves her penniless in Salem, Massachusetts. Having a relative been accused of being a witch, she has a strong tie to Salem. She begins to use her needle skills to trade for food and support her self. She becomes friends with Nathaniel Hawthorne. A brief affair with him leads to a pregnancy which will lead to her being outcast. What happens to Edward? How did she survive and raise her daughter Margaret? The ship captain who brought them to America is a lifesaver. Does Margaret ever discover who her father was? When Nathaniel Hawthorne publishes The Scarlet Letter, much is revealed.
This book gives us a glimpse at several different Important aspects of history. Slavery, class, immigrants, and much, much more. A great book for lovers of historical fiction.
I received an advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.