loved this one! what a great read. thanks netgalley & the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love Alice Hoffman’s writing and this newest from her is no exception. The story is a bit unusual as it transports readers into different time periods, but in the same area. I felt the story had a wonderful sense of place and culture.

When Ivy gets pregnant and the father turns his back on her, she ends up on a farm in Massachusetts living with a group of people who are led by a charismatic, yet cruel man. He is immediately attracted to Ivy and claims her as his own, as well as her baby daughter, Mia.

As Mia grows up, she naturally rebels against some of the archaic rules on the farm. After a tragic accident, Mia manages to escape and spends years away from the farm, yet is in fear her “father” will find her.

Throughout these difficult times, Mia learns to live through books and one book in particular saves her and that is the book written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Somehow Mia stumbles upon a portal to the past and what happens has a dramatic effect on the future.

The Scarlett Letter theme is strong throughout the story, as well as other topics that held women back throughout history.

Many thanks from NetGalley and Atria Books for allowing me to read an advance copy. I am happy to give my honest review and recommend this to readers.

This is the story of Mia, a strong, independent woman desperate to find her way out of the horrific cult she was born into. As we follow Mia’s journey, we watch her fall in love - first with books, then with freedom, and finally, with Nathaniel Hawthorne. As Mia magically makes her way back in time, she realizes the true power she has over her future.

I’m one of those girls who has to reread Practical Magic every October. I keep the entire series on my nightstand. Just in case. Alice Hoffman is one of my all-time favorite authors. But….I also have to admit that this book missed the mark. I started out completely invested in this interesting and unique story, but towards the middle, it started to fall apart. The time travel was muddled, too many loose ends, too much rushing to attempt to tie them up neatly. I wanted this to work for me. It really is a beautiful story and Hoffman has the potential to really do it justice. This could have been one of her best works - but, unfortunately, it isn’t.

Thanks to the author, Atria Books and Netgalley for this ARC in return for my honest review.

4.25 Stars

Hoffman’s latest book continues with her recurrent themes of historical fiction and women’s rights. Although in this story it leans more towards magical realism, rather than pure magic. But don’t worry, Salem and Nathaniel Hawthorne are still featured. In fact, one criticism of the book is that having a little more background on Hawthorne and The Scarlet Letter would have been helpful. Hoffman eventually makes all the connections clear, but the early hints were more frustrating to me rather than helpful.

Through the story, Hoffman also provides a commentary on many current day issues.

Women’s rights ...
“I began to see the price some women pay for breaking the bus set by those in power - a majority of them men”

Book banning ...
“In a place where books were banned there could be no personal freedom, no hope, and no dreams for the future.”

Autocracy ..
“men who’d risen to power and fought to keep it, no matter who they might hurt or destroy.”

Overall, it’s a captivating, well written story. If you’re a fan of Alice Hoffman, you’re sure to love this one too.

Thanks to #Netgalley and #AtriaBooks for the ARC.

The Invisible Hour is a beautifully written story of the love of mother and daughter, women's rights, the strength of books, love, cults and magic. Ivy runs away when she becomes pregnant as a teenager. Hearing about The Community in western Massachusetts she sets off to a place she thinks will save her. Too late she realizes the man in charge is more dictator than savior but she is now stuck with her baby daughter, Mia.

Mia discovers books, which are banned in The Community, and her world expands with the knowledge in books. She escapes at the age of 15 and is taken in by librarians. The first half of the book centers on Mia's young life and I was very drawn to it.

The second half of the book takes a completely different turn. I shouldn't have been surprised given the author but was not ready for the magical realism that suddenly appeared. With no warning, Mia is transported back to 1837 to meet her favorite author, Nathaniel Hawthorn. The rest of the book centers around their fated love. The entire feeling of the book was different, there was still a lot about women's rights but other than that, very different. I much preferred the first half with Mia. It was well written but I just didn't feel invested in their relationship.

thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This book, while especially given the fact that it was Alice Hoffman, was a wonderful read. Engaging, transporting, and interesting. Highly recommend for anyone who has loved all of Hoffman's previous works.

I did not think I would enjoy this book as I stopped reading Hoffman several years. However if you’re a librarian or someone who believes in the magic of books, this one is for you. A pregnant Ivy, runs away from her wealthy Boston family and ends up in a “Community” where Joel is the harsh leader.. Joel marries Ivy. Ivy’s daughter Mia is placed with the other children in the children’s house. According to Joel’s rules, mothers are not allowed to have special relationships with their children. Everyone works, books are not allowed, schooling is limited, punishments are severe. Ivy had been a prodigious reader spending most of her free time as a child, in the public library. As a young teenager, Mia discovers the public library in her town and develops a special relationship with the librarian. After her mother is killed in an accident, Mia runs away. She is obsessed with The Scarlet Letter by Hawthorne and has a first edition which she never returned to the library. Through the book, Mia manages to travel back in time to meet Hawthorne before he writes the book.

"Turn someone into a reader and you turn the world around."

Thank you to NetGalley, Alice Hoffman, and Atria Books for an eARC of The Invisible Hour.

I was so excited to get an advance reader copy of an Alice Hoffman book. This was the first book I have ever read by her, but many of her books are on my TBR list. This gave me incentive to bump her up the list. I absolutely L-O-V-E-D the setting of this book. I am from central Massachusetts myself, but live very close to Concord and have spent significant time in both Salem (Eastern/Coastal MA) and Western MA in the Berkshires. The Berkshires are beautiful, but secluded - the perfect place for a leader (re: criminal) to set up a cult like community. The images Hoffman painted were so vivid in my head and having experienced these settings for myself, the Community really came alive.

I also enjoyed the character development, particularly with Joel. Hoffman clearly describes him as evil and manipulative. He keeps everyone in the Community under his thumb, but it's not necessarily the physical abuse that keeps people in line. It is the mental abuse and the threat of what he could do. The leaves he left for Mia really embody this. She knows he is close by, but never knows when he will strike and how he will come for her. The feeling is so sinister that I didn't know what to expect.

I will say the pacing of the book seemed a bit slow, but I also feel this book was more character driven than plot driven. The first part really focuses on Mia's life, the second is mostly focused on Nathaniel and how Mia interrupted his life, but the third part happens abruptly and ends the book so suddenly. I would have enjoyed a bit more elaboration on the ending of each character's story - how their lives played out, did everyone get back to where they were supposed to be before the interruption, etc. - but instead we were left hoping everything got back to normal which left me feeling unsatisfied with the ending.

Overall, I did enjoy this book more than I would have with a novel that was so character driven. Hoffman mixed in the right amount of plot to keep me entertained and I am interested to read more from her. Maybe Practical Magic will be my October book club pick! 3.5 stars rounded up.

Alice Hoffman’s, The Invisible Hour, is unlike any of her previous work that I’ve read thus far. It is simply so unique and magical. The Invisible Hour is filled with so many surprises. Told in multiple point of views, this is the story of a mothers eternal love for her daughter, a fictional depiction of how Nathaniel Hawthorne came to write the Scarlet Letter, the magical world that books can transport us to, the strength of brave women, and cults…I mean really, it has it all.

This was such a quick read, and had me utterly transfixed from the very first page. Just like all of Hoffmans previous work, there is so much heartbreak, but so much healing. Although unrealistic, that’s the beauty of the book. Suspend reality and immerse yourself in it! Although I was slightly disappointed of the ending, Alice Hoffman has brought us another truly incredible story!

Rating: 4.5⭐️

Thank you so much to Netgalley & Atria Books for an ARC of the Invisible Hour, in exchange for an honest review :)

I think all books are magical and yet, Alice Hoffman's book are magic personified. This book is filled with magic. I associate magic with her deeply because her books all have that quality about them.

This story follows Ivy and her daughter Mia but then becomes Mia's story alone. Ivy gets pregnant as a teen and runs aways from home when her father slaps her and tells her that she must give up her baby. She finds, what she thinks , is a magical community (cult) run by a very oppressive man who Ivy marries. There are no books allowed, no colorful clothes, no outside people allowed. When they go to town to sell tomatoes, Ivy lets Mia go into the library and this opens up the world to Mia. She discovers books and feels a communion with The Scarlet Letter. That ones speaks to her, it also has her name written in it and she feels it is for her especially. After a death, she runs away and the librarian takes her in.

One day, after another death, she takes her book and goes to the Nathaniel Hawthorne house and finds herself in the time of Hawthorne. She comes face to face with him and they fall in love. Very magical. Oh what books can do for us!

I fell into this book and was sorry to see it end.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for a copy for review.

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬💭:
I can’t believe I’ve never read a book by Alice Hoffman?? I actually didn’t think this book would interest me as much, but after seeing a rave review about it, i had to pick it up immediately. I had no clue what it was about but the moment I began, i was so captivated by her writing! Long chapters ahead, but i was so surprised that i got through them fairly quickly! I was absolutely enamored by the beautiful writing and reading this book felt like pure magic 🥹

Thank you so much Atria Books and Simon & Schuester for my gifted copy!!

𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐛📝:
Mia has been a part of The Community, a cult where women have no rights, communication with the outside world and books are forbidden. As she stumbles upon a book written two hundred years earlier, she felt a connection to it and its writer like no other. More than she possibly could have ever imagined.

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5. I think it would be best to go in blind. As a mother, i resonated with this book SO MUCH. It was a huge punch to the gut and a big warm hug all at once bringing on the waterworks 😭 An achingly beautiful story about love and loss in all forms, that will definitely stay with me for a very long time. It’s a poignant read that touches themes of oppression and sexism and i really enjoyed how the author weaved all of these in different timelines. If you love magical realism and/or historical fiction, this book has both and will definitely tug on your heartstrings.

I just love Alice Hoffman's writing so much, its hard for me to be critical of her or her books at this point. The first half of the book (Mia and Ivy's story) was just lyrical for me. I loved the strength and tenacity of both Ivy and Mia, and Mia's rebelliousness against the only life she knew, but she knew wasn't right. I loved that Mia found a second family in Sarah and Constance, and that they encouraged and reinforced her love of reading. And I truly loved how Hoffman made the importance of books in people's lives the overarching theme of the story. Did the fantasy aspect take a bit to get used to? Absolutely, particularly since that's not normally a genre I gravitate to. But by the time the book took the fantasy turn, I was already such a fan of the book, my mind was wide open to the fantasy option. Was it my favorite part? No. But I did like how it emphasized the importance of books in people's lives, and added a beautiful romantic aspect to the story.

Once again, Alice Hoffman has produced a spectacular story that grabbed me, enveloped me, and surrounded me in beautiful writing.

I was slightly disappointed by this one, it's my first Alice Hoffman book and now I'm wondering whether I should have started somewhere else. I can see how I might have enjoyed this a little more had I been a seasoned Hoffman fan.

The story started off strong and piqued and held my interest for the duration of the first half. I am fascinated by cult stories and all the various ways they can be told. The cult angle was a bit titillating, and I also personally related to our MC being from a very strict family myself. I traversed very solid 4 star territory for the first half of the book, but things started to veer off into 3 star territory (or even possibly less at times) once we shifted into the 2nd half which consisted of a lot of Magical realism. Hoffman uses books analogically as these things capable of whisking us away to faraway lands and exotic experiences, which of course the analogy resonated with me, but I often have a hard time following magical realism and understanding in what ways I am expected to perceive the goings on.

Our MC essentially starts time traveling to the setting of her favorite book, "A Scarlett Letter' by Nathaniel Hawthorne and "falls in love" with the author Nathaniel Hawthorne. I wasn't bored while reading this, being a book lover I was still mildly entertained by the concepts here. Which one of us book lovers has not dreamed of what it would be like to meet our favorite authors? (I myself am 100% positive I would've fallen madly in love with Steinbeck had I ever had the opportunity to meet him) The writing was top notch, as I expected it would be, and those are the reasons why I'm still giving it 3 stars, this was not a bad reading experience by any means, it's just a matter of the magical realism elements more or less going over my head, My logical brain just doesn't vibe with that sort of thing and spends the entire time trying to sort things out rationally. Is this all happening in her mind? Does she know it's happening in her mind or does she really think she's time traveling? Is she simply fantasizing, or is this a dream of sorts, a waking dream or conscious fantasy? Is our MC self aware at all? Or is she simply a character that is fully invested in the whims of the author and we're supposed to understand that in the MC's mind she is actually time traveling and in love with Hawthorne, but we as the readers are meant to understand the distinction between reality and the tools that the author utilizes to make points?!

Obviously magical realism just doesn't hit right with me, tho I do love Gabriel Garcia Marquez so it IS possible for me to enjoy, that just wasn't the case here. I prefer fantasy worlds or real worlds, not the strange in between. This was still readable IMO and others may enjoy it much more than I did, I am just the not the target audience for magical realism. I am still interested in reading her other books, tho I'd have to make sure that her books aren't all magical realism.

Alice Hoffman crafts a captivating tale of what one will do to protect the one they love. Echoing Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlett Letter, a young mother-to-be is on her own and makes a desperate decision. Years later, that decision echoes with her daughter, who is left to deal with the consequences. What choices will the daughter make. A beautiful and well-paced novel that explores women's options, past and present.

I’m a big Alice Hoffman fan. I was immediately captivated with the cult plot line. I always love how she delves into mother daughter relationships. There is a lot in one short book. I think if you like Practical Magic, Hester, or a History of Wild Places you will enjoy reading this. The Scarlet Letter and the main characters love of reading are big themes. I was wary of the time travel component but it wasn’t as bad as I expected.

The Invisible Hour is a mix of tragedy, historical fiction, time travel, fantasy, and social perspective tied up into a story that is both enjoyable and thought-provoking. There are elements of fantasy woven throughout. This is one of the many things I love about Alice Hoffman's writing. In The Invisible Hour, she starts the reader in a home where the daughter has no rights and then on to a male-dominated communal society where the women have no rights. Through the use of time travel, she is able to connect the past atrocities that occurred when women didn't have but wanted more rights and connect it to the issues going on with women losing rights in today's society, without seeming at all "preachy". She references past historical events and literature in a way that will have you thinking and researching to learn more. Though I finished this book several days ago, I still find myself making connections and wondering if Hoffman predicted these. It is an interesting book that will keep your attention if you are just reading for fun. If you get caught up in the references and start making connections, it may just become a 5-star book. Thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for providing me with an ARC ebook to read and review.

JUST AMAZING!!!! The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman is a magical masterpiece, only as Alice Hoffman can tell a story, with many layers, incredible characters, spanning through the past and present in a most seamless, fabulous way. I loved it so very much! Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

Alice Hoffman has a gift for prose. She has a completely mesmerizing way of describing nature, in particular, that I never get tired of. Part 1 was utterly engrossing and I loved every minute of it. Parts 2 and 3, while still beautifully written, were not as compelling for me. I found Nathaniel Hawthorne's character to be underdeveloped and quite unlikeable and the storyline to be very disconnected from the storyline in part 1. If you're an Alice Hoffman lover, give this one a try. I'd love to know your thoughts on it.

Thank you to Atria Books and #NetGalley for allowing me to read a pre-release of this novel. My review is voluntary and all opinions are my own.

After conceiving a child out of wedlock, Ivy Jacob escapes to a cult in Blackwell led by Joel Davis. Her daughter, Mia Jacob, lives oppressed by the confines and rules of the Community. Joel is cruel and controlling and, as typical, exempt from his harsh commandments of living. Women especially are punished harshly and publicly for failing to fall in line. Joel offers Ivy the acceptance that she wasn’t given by her family. It demonstrates how people fall into these types of situations when they feel that someone finally sees them, understands them, and “cares” for them. Mia finds solace in books as a way to escape her reality. She finds stories of other women that inspire her.

The writing is lyrical, flowy, immersive, and poignant. The story is powerful, magical, and emotional. The romance is so cute and swoon-worthy. I fell in love with the characters and I was completely swept-away into the tale. It’s the perfect blend of historical and magical. It’s an ode to the power of books, the imagination of readers, and the impact that stories have on everyone. It’s about taking control of your life and stepping into who you were meant to be. It discusses the freedom of choice for women’s lives and bodies, liberation in their careers and education. And it also touches on the bonds of family and love.

My only wish is that it was more of a full-length novel because it read more like a short story and there were parts I really wanted to be developed further. But I think that shows how much I loved the characters because I just wanted more of them. I really enjoyed my reading experience and, as it’s really a blend of genres, I'd recommend it to all readers.

Alice Hoffman is an incredibly beautiful writer. A quick read at less than 300 pages, I found this as easy to get lost in as everything she writes. Most times, her prose manages to be lyrical and dreamlike without being overly vague. There are times meanings can grow fuzzy, but that doesn’t happen much in this novel. Her messaging is more blunt that usual, though that isn’t surprising with The Scarlet Letter as inspiration - the parallels between the choices available to women in the time of the Puritans and those of our supposedly enlightened age is timely as hell.

I found Mia’s story in the first half of the book to be the more engaging. Exploring common Hoffman themes of mother/daughter relationships, family, and agency, the narrative was compelling. The plot did lose my interest a bit when we first for the to 1837 timeline with Hawthorne, and while I was pulled back in before the end, the ending itself felt a bit abrupt. Not her best book, but that’s a damn high bar. By any measure, this is a moving and highly enjoyable read. There’s an aching beauty and sadness to her work that I never tire of, and this tale is no exception.