From the beautiful cover to the idea of the story thjs was a great story. I struggled with the scarlet letter, this novel gave me appreciation for it

I honestly dragged my feet to read Hester. Why, because after reading The House of Seven Gables, I realized I do not like the way Hawthorne writes. He's very wordy and puts me to sleep. So, I was worried that since Hester was based on one of his works, that this would end up being the same fate. I am so glad, though that I actually read this book, because man this book is 100 times better than anything Hawthorne, in my opinion, has written. Hester is not exactly a retelling of The Scarlet Letter, but how the book may have come about for Hawthorne. Laurie Lico Albanese has a talent for immersing you in the world, of the characters and her writing style made me not want to put down the book until I completely finished it. I read it all in one day. I loved Isobel, and although some of her actions had me going no don't do that, her strength and fortitude to survive in an era that, let's be honest, hated women. I'm pretty sure I would have lasted two days before I was accused of being a witch. Hathorne, as he was before he added the W to his name, was likable at first and then very unlikeable, and it made me wonder how he actually was in real life. You could tell Albanese did her research, everything seemed pretty believable to how it was back then, I wasn't sure if the underground railroad, was active back then, but I liked how it tied into the story, it was pretty interesting to think about it going on during the witch trials. Overall, this was a very good read.

I was intrigued by the premise of "Hester" because I'm very interested in the inspiration behind classic novels. In my own novel "The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte" I spent years researching Charlotte's life, letters, and writings to bring to life the true story behind her inspiration to write her masterpiece, "Jane Eyre."

So I came to this novel with high expectations. Even though I am not a fan of "The Scarlett Letter," I looked forward to what I knew was an imaginary tale about a woman who "may have inspired" Hawthorne's novel. The problem is, in this book, Nathaniel Hawthorne himself is the leading man, and a weak cad--this felt like a disrespectful and dishonest representation of an imaginative and respected author. There are two timelines, including one about another "Isobel" that takes place during the Salem witch trials, and I didn't see a meaningful connection between them. The main character Isobel isn't consistent, sometimes portrayed as strong and capable and other times making terrible choices. There are too many overarching ideas covered in the book as if the author felt required to include "social awareness"--some themes didn't feel appropriate to the time period--and there's a lot of unnecessary repetition. Overall I felt the novel didn’t give me a new way to look at the original story, which I'd been hoping for. I love the cover though!

I really loved this book and its play/retelling of The Scarlet Letter, it was a very fascinating take. I loved Isobel and her history and her mind worked when she was sewing. It felt almost magical to be in her head during those times. I loved the character of Nathaniel Hawthorne being woven into the story as well. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Loved the writing, characters and voice of the main character in the imaginative historical novel! If you've ever dreamt about what it was like to be a woman in the early days of our country, you'll enjoy every page of Hester.

This was great! I love it when a talented author delves into a particular character in a well-known story and brings us further in. It was a true exploration, one I'll recommend to others.

Review will be posted on 1/23/23

It's the early 1800s and Isobel Gamble, a talented needleworker, originally from Scotland, and is now living in Salem, Massachusetts. She made the trek along with her husband, Edward, an apothecary. Isobel comes from a long line of "witches," but obviously she keeps this, along with her synesthesia, a secret. Isobel can see colors when she hears sounds or sees letter; obviously this isn't something she should make known, especially when her ancestor and namesake, Isobel Gowdie, is considered the "Queen of the Witches." Things seem to be ok, until her husband becomes reliant on opium and they end up in financial ruin. She hopes that Salem will bring a fresh start, but once she gets settled there Edward decides to board a ship as the ship's apothecary leaving her behind and to fend for herself. She starts to make her way in the community and encounters Nat Hawthorne, someone who caught her eye immediately. Sparks fly between the two, but Nat is a troubled man. He still feels guilt that his ancestor, John, was one of the infamous judges at the Salem Witch Trials. Ultimately, Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese is a re-imagining of The Scarlet Letter's Hester Prynne and fans of historical fiction will love to be swept up into this dangerous, yet extremely entertaining world.

I really enjoyed Isobel from the start of Hester. She is such a complex character and once she arrives to Salem, she is a bit like a fish out of water. Everything is new to her and people aren't exactly nice as she is an immigrant. To top it off, her husband leaves her to go to sea, which raises more eyebrows. Slowly, she assimilates into the community; however, it wasn't easy. She realizes that her needlework is her ticket to some financial freedom, since her husband left her to fend for herself. The only bright spot in her day is Nat Hawthorne, who she feels a deep connection with. While I really enjoyed their blossoming romance, I knew that it was not going to end well being that Isobel is married and Nat is a troubled man. Nonetheless, I was completely invested in their story.

Albanese does such a good job bringing Salem and 19th century America to life. She highlights the dark underbelly so well; it was very atmospheric. The witch trials and Isobel's ancestors are always alluded to as well as the struggles of being an immigrant in America. Hester also puts a spotlight on the Underground Railroad, the horror of slavery, and adultery, not to mention the sexism and prejudices that are around every corner.

I switched back and forth from the audio book to the e-book of Hester and I have to say the audio parts I listened to were fantastic. Saskia Maarleveld is an amazing audio book narrator; she is easily one of my favorites. I could listen to her Scottish accent all day.

If you are a fan of captivating historical fiction, look no further. My only regret is that I didn't read Hester in the fall, which would have been the perfect time of the year to curl up with this novel. Have you read Hester? Is it on your TBR list? Let me know in the comments below.

Just a brilliant piece of historical fiction. I was drawn in from the first pages as Albanese brings to life Salem of the 1800s and draws inspiration from The Scarlet Letter. I thought the inclusion of synthenesia was clever and added depth to our characters, while also giving plausible explanation for why some women may have been persecuted as witches during that time - a phenomenon that we still don't have clear answers for today. Not only do we get Isobel's story, her immigration to the US, and her eventual romance with Nathaniel Hawthorne, but we get a glimpse into the horrors of the Salem witch trials and similar trials occurring in Scotland, too.

I love a novel that picks at a man's moment in history and theoretically dives into the women in the background that may have helped to inspire or support them in reality - the women who are often lost to the history books. And Hester does exactly that. Because we all know behind every great man is an even better woman pulling the strings or clearing the deck to make sure their greatness is possible.

Historical Fiction at its finest. Hester was so beautifully and atmospherically written that I felt transported into the story right away. Having read The Scarlet Letter in high school, and now living in New England, I’ve always had an appreciation for Nathanial Hawthorne, and the author’s take on his tale was so much fun. It was a delightful take on the story, and I enjoyed the embroidery aspect of the novel. It brought so much color into the novel, and to learn more about tailoring and clothing shops during that time period was fascinating.

Thank you to Laurie Lico Albanese, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. Who inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne to write the "Scarlet Letter"? This book tries to set up that back story. I think it would make a good book for book club/class to read with the "Scarlet Letter." Some of it just felt forced, to make it work with what would come later in a different author's book of fiction.

Date made up. I feel behind on my reviews.

4 Stars!

The atmospheric writing in this book truly transported me right into the story, and the writing style was easy to follow. The first half of the book was a little slower, but the second half took off. Were you forced to read The Scarlett Letter in high school? If so, did you enjoy it? I didn't, BUT I loved how Albanese took this story, and gave it an origin that left me wanting more. Hester is an enticing drama with a heroine you can’t help but root for from the beginning.

Albanese has written a captivating and colorful story. The atmospheric writing truly transported me right into Isobel’s life in 19th century Salem along with its dark and haunting history that still plagues the community and threatened her livelihood and even her life.

I also enjoyed reading about Isobel's incredible and colorful sewing skills which involved not just intricate embroidery but making all sorts of clothing for various clients and how to tailor said clothing to hide one’s shape or deformities.

The beginning is fast and then slows down till about the 2/3 mark. After that the story completely took off and had me completely enthralled. I read this with Erin and I’m so glad we took our time reading it and loved how we shared a lot of the same opinions about the characters.

This is both a beautiful and tragic story that brings to life the untold story of the woman who famously went down in literary history wearing THE scarlet letter. If you are someone who loves engrossing historical fiction, then you need to grab this memorable story.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press, for this gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was easy to read and the writing style was written really well, however, my biggest issue was that I felt like (although there was a feminist message to be made) the author kind of fabricated history a little to tell this story & I wasn’t a fan of that.

I loved this book! Such a smart take imagining the backstory of one of my favorite classics. And you don't have to have read The Scarlet Letter to enjoy it. It has great characters, beautiful writing, and a creative story that will hook you from page one. One of my favorites of 2023.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the copy to review.

Many thanks to #stmartinspress and @macmillan.audio for the #gifted copies

In all of the analyzation of The Scarlet Letter done in my high school lit class, none of the discussion considered whether Hawthorne might have written it from personal experience.

I think that’s why Albanese’s premise for Hester, where Hawthorne himself takes on the role of Dimmesdale, is so utterly intriguing.

Yet.

Labeled a feminist reimaging, I had high hopes for a female protagonist fighting against the patriarchal society. Someone bold. Someone determined and strong.

Instead, Isobel came across as whiny and stunted. While talented and skillful, her success was largely based on other’s kindness. The cycle of fear and poor judgment inhibited Isobel from crafting a future. Rather than rescuing herself, she was continually saved by others.

In contrast, it was her talent that created the most engaging plotline. The usage of embroidery as a vehicle for self-discovery was exceptionally executed. Deeply symbolic, Hester’s sewing allowed her to embrace the past (familial and self) while moving towards a different future. I could almost envision the stitches as she laid bare her soul into the fabric.

Too important not to mention:
-Artistic license is expected in fiction. However, revisioning an historic figure in a way that vilifies without factual basis feels cringeworthy.
-Equating the experience of immigrants (particularly Scottish) and black enslaved is not only historically inaccurate but also highly problematic.

The usage of synesthesia as explanation of the mystifying felt unique and fresh. However, I couldn’t quite flesh out whether the author leaned in to the magical (seen in side characters) or on explainable quirks.

In spite of these criticisms, I was fully entertained by the story. And I wonder if that was largely due to the fabulous discussion I had with buddies @thats.one.for.the.books and @itslizreading

The audiobook was beautifully narrated by Saskia Maarleveld. And I found that I preferred it, with Maarleveld’s Scottish lilt, to the print version.

I gave this 3.5 stars. While it was an interesting story, the back and forth between current times and the stories of the other women was a bit confusing, especially because those stories were not in chronological order it felt like. It also dragged a bit for me why I only gave it 3.5 stars,

I did like the tie in at the end of the book, that the story was what created The Scarlet Letter.

I sadly was unable to finish this book because I struggled so much to connect to the story, characters, and kept putting this down. I was extremely disinterested in all content and tried this in ebook and audio but had to officially DNF it.

This book was so beautifully written and pulled me in right from the beginning. Even the author's note about Isabel's synesthesia intrigued me.
I loved the embroidery aspect of the book and Isabel's colors. Embroidery is one of my very favorite things to do and the whole time reading it my hands were almost tingling with the urge to stitch. I did end up working on a project between chapters.
Getting "Hester's" version of the story was very nice. Her connection to Scottish witches and Hawthorne's ancestry linked to the Salem Witch trials was an interesting take on the story.
I loved the beautifully atmospheric storytelling of Hester. It was such an amazing journey all the way through.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

When I first started to read this book I didn't know why the name as the character's name wasn't Hester until the last page of the book when the author explained why the title.

Hester is a book full of magic, a beautiful young lady who sees colors and is afraid to say anything because of her family history, she comes from a magical family who was always rejected and even hunted because of their special nature, Isobel was a young seamstress who had to move to another country, America seeking appreciation, and even acceptance, among the new neighbors, she heard people in America will welcome her and not ask questions about her past and family history but that was not the case.

Isobel was welcome with many questions and even rejected by people who didn't want to befriend or even talk to her they treated her always as a foreigner and plus even made her feel like an outcast, sad about this she also didn't expect her husband to change and become someone so different and even distant, her husband betrays her and stole everything she had saved and brought from the old country pushing her to start to work for a woman who was very harsh with her, she did not want to pay the right price for anything Isobel to sew, lying to her costumers saying it was another person who did this magnificent cloths and gloves so Isobel will not "steal" her costumers.

Isobel was tired of all these people gossiping, hiding agendas, and treating her like her work was nothing, she finally decided it was time to move on after his husband betrays her and the "new love " she felt for another, who at the end was only a burden to carry but somehow brought some happiness and magic to Isobel life again.

Isobel was a great character at the beginning she was very naive and people were taking advantage of her over and over again but I love how the writer made us feel with each chapter the growth and evolution of Isobel making her a great heroine who at the end got what she wanted and she really deserved.

One of my favorite characters was the Captian as he was the only one who really was kind and loving in this book to Isobel.

My favorite object was the Red Cape Isobel was sewing, as it contains so many stories and beautiful memories that brought the story to life, the story of Isobel, her family, and her ancestors.

This was a great book I really love the fantastic magic way blended with witches' tales and old witch hunts, I'm glad I was able to get this great story.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy of HESTER in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to @netgalley and @Stmartinspress for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to @macmillian.audio for a free download of the audiobook.

Hester is a story with an intricate ploy and strong characters. It tells the story of a woman as she navigates life, building her independence and learning to embrace her gifts. I was unsure of this book at first, but the characters were complex and mystifying. I needed to know what happened in the relationships between characters as Hester wove her magic into all the beautiful dresses and gloves she made.

If you love character driven books, you will enjoy this!

4 stars

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found this book really interesting and was always surprised and impressed with the turns that Isobel’s life took. I also was relieved by the ending. Definitely would recommend if you like historicals with a hint of magic and mystery.