Book club January 2023- Hester
By Laurie Lico Albanese
Published Year: 2022
Publisher: St/ Martin’s Press
Pages: 322
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Isobel Gamble is a young seamstress carrying generations of secrets when she sets sail from Scotland in the early 1800s with her husband, Edward. An apothecary who has fallen under the spell of opium, his pile of debts have forced them to flee Edinburgh for a fresh start in the New World. But only days after they've arrived in Salem, Edward abruptly joins a departing ship as a medic––leaving Isobel penniless and alone in a strange country, forced to make her way by any means possible.
When she meets a young Nathaniel Hawthorne, the two are instantly drawn to each other: he is a man haunted by his ancestors, who sent innocent women to the gallows––while she is an unusually gifted needleworker, troubled by her own strange talents. As the weeks pass and Edward's safe return grows increasingly unlikely, Nathaniel and Isobel grow closer and closer. Together, they are a muse and a dark storyteller; the enchanter and the enchanted. But which is which?
In this sensuous and hypnotizing tale, a young immigrant woman grapples with our country's complicated past, and learns that America's ideas of freedom and liberty often fall short of their promise. Interwoven with Isobel and Nathaniel's story is a vivid interrogation of who gets to be a "real" American in the first half of the 19th century, a depiction of the early days of the Underground Railroad in New England, and atmospheric interstitials that capture the long history of "unusual" women being accused of witchcraft. Meticulously researched yet evocatively imagined, Hester is 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.
What I thought
I have never read The Scarlett Letter, so I was a little hesitant to read this book and definitely wouldn’t have picked it on my own. Even though the cover is absolutely beautiful. I appreciated it being picked for book club because I feel like we can get stuck in the types of books we read and I’ve been reading a lot of romance/contemporary novels. I used to love Historical Fiction but haven’t read a much in a while.
Isobel moves to Salem from Scotland with her husband in hopes of starting a new life. She is a master needle worker with synesthesia (the ability to see colors when you hear sounds) and because of this, comes from a line of accused witches. When she ends up in Salem and her husband heads off to sea, she is left to fend for herself. This is where she meets Nathaniel Hathorne (who eventually becomes Hawthorne and writes the Scarlett Letter) and falls in love.
The book started off a little slow for me. It alternates inconsistently between Isobel’s present day (in the 1800s) and the past, starting in the 1600s and eventually catching up to the early 1800s. This definitely confused me. Nothing felt linear or clearly explained and with all of the women having the same two names (Isobel and Margaret) it felt hard for me to keep straight. I also felt a little disoriented every time we would go back to Isobel’s storyline. I understood that need for giving her family’s history, but the way it was done wasn’t smooth to me and I almost started to dread when I saw those past stories.
The present day story however, I greatly enjoyed. Once Isobel made it to Salem the story started to pick up and I wanted to see how she would make a name for herself. I’m sure that I would’ve loved it even more if I had read The Scarlett Letter. I was intrigued by Nat and Isobel’s love story, even though I disliked him pretty much from the start.
This book really surprised me. I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected and about halfway through it became a book I didn’t want to put down. I’m thankful for books like these at book club because it reminded me how much I enjoy historical fiction and that I really need to start picking it up again.
What Book Club Thought
We all really enjoyed this one! It was outside of what most of us would pick, but we all ended up really enjoying the story that was told. We all agreed that the flashbacks were a little bit unnecessary, thought I think I was the one who found them to be confusing. The other thing that was satisfying was being able to complain about Nat and Isobel’s husband. Overall, I think this was a great book club pick. Sometimes books we enjoy leave us with little to talk about and that wasn’t the case with this one. Even if this book seems a little out of your comfort zone, I would definitely recommend checking it out.