Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese was a wonderful read. It is the back story for The Scarlet Letter. It gives some factional insight into what Hawthrone might have been thinking when he authored his novel. At the same time, we have the story of Isobel, as well as her history with witchcraft and magical colors. While the novel does not portray Hawthrone in a such good light, it does give one a peek into his literacy brilliance. Isobel is a strong woman, who does what she must do to survive. Also, the value of good friendships is celebrated in this novel. I enjoyed this book very much.

Isobel Gamble is a seamstress who immigrates with her husband Edward to the new world from Scotland in the 1800s in hopes of one day opening her own shop. Once they arrive, her husband Edward is an apothecary and sets sail with the local captain in search of exotic plants and herbs for his research. Until one day Edward leaves taking all of Isobel’s money and does not return. Struggling to make ends meet, Isobel takes on different jobs sewing for different families in the Salem area, her designs quickly become very desirable however she is not the one receiving the credit for her work. At the same time, she has caught the eye of Nathaniel Hawthorne, a trouble writer who struggles with a family “curse” which he is determined to break. As time goes on, the two form a bond that could cost them everything while also inspiring one of the most legendary love stories of all time.

•

I really enjoyed this retelling and twist on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s inspiration for his novel “The Scarlet Letter”. However, do not be fooled, the real star of this story is not Nathaniel, it is the strong and brave Isobel Gamble. Isobel suffers from synesthesia which causes her to associate and visualize different colors with words. This is something that has been passed down through her family and is feared to be the result of witchcraft. Even though “The Scarlett Letter” is a romance I would not categorize this as one, the focus for me was more on Isobel and her character development as she tackles betrayal, heartbreak while remaining loyal to those who are dear to her. The story goes back and forth from Isobel to one of her ancestors also named Isobel who was tried as a witch but manages to escape. This story did not really relate much to the main storyline, it did not feel completely necessary but it does give a deeper look into how witchcraft has been tied to the family in the past. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This title is now available for purchase!

4.5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. I read The Scarlet Letter years ago, and I liked it in the same way I enjoy many classics…I appreciate them for what they are but also, no matter how hard I try, I almost always want them to be more, and that’s largely what I got from this novel. This book acts as an intriguing prequel of sorts to the original text, but it’s not necessary to be super familiar with it in order to understand the story. As long as they know the absolute basics about Puritan culture, the Salem witch trials, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, I think any reader could easily appreciate this updated, contemporary take on some of the issues. Even if they didn’t know anything about the other novel, this one stands on its own as an intriguing piece of historical fiction. I quite liked it and am excited to see what else the writer has created and will create in the future.

First, thank you to the publisher and author for providing me with a digital ARC of this title via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I quite enjoyed this title. It was such a fun and interesting perspective on how Nathaniel Hawthorne came up with the idea for the Scarlet Letter. I love that this idea was presented in such an imaginative way within it's own interesting storyline. Enjoyable read.

This is an absolute gem if a novel. One of my top reads of the year. I love the descriptions of Salem as well as the plot. I have already recommended this novel to several people and will to many more!

I think this book will be talked about as a retelling of The Scarlet Letter, but I also think that will be wrong. This book contains a story that is clearly thematically and literally tied to that classic tale but at this moment, when retellings seem to be flooding our shelves, this book thankfully takes the source text and transforms it into a wholly new story. A story that has much more to say about Slavery in America than I expected going into it, let me tell you!

Hester is the story of Isobel, who leaves her family behind and crosses an ocean to start fresh in Salem, Massachusetts. There she meets a man, Nat Hathorne, a brooding, tortured, wealthy man who writes stories. Isobel comes from a long line of women who might have been thought to be witches, and now she finds herself in a place with a brutal history where witchcraft is concerned. She paints pictures with her needle and thread that had me drooling, the imagery in this novel was spectacular. You can guess what will happen in this novel by the title, but I was so swept up in Isobel that I forgot all about Hester Prynne.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, St. Martin's Press, for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for this honest review!!

Have you read The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne? I did. When I was 14. I even remember those seemingly torturous never-ending paragraphs. That scarlet A has been making teens shudder since pretty much forever. Well, here’s a book that will take everything you remember from that reading experience and twist it into a unique historical fiction tale that will leave you enthusiastically chanting, “Hester! Hester! Hester!” And perhaps will even make you curious enough to revisit the classic.

Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese is one of my favorite historical fiction reads of the year!
It’s the story of Isobel Gamble, an unusually gifted seamstress from Scotland, whose husband abruptly leaves her all alone just days after arriving to Salem in the New World. She meets Nat, a curious man haunted by his ancestor’s actions who enjoys writing dark tales. When it seems unlikely her husband will be returning, Hester and Nat ignite a passion-fueled relationship that could potentially combust.

Told through multiple timelines, perspectives, and locations, historical fiction readers will rejoice at this fully immersive reading experience that includes a young woman’s immigrant experience, a portrayal of the early days of the Underground Railroad, and the long history of women being accused of witchcraft. This richly detailed historical story is imaginative and beautifully written, yet is deeply rooted by its strong female characters. This atmospheric reimagining of Hester Prynne gives the woman her voice and power back, and for this Laurie Lico Albanese deserves a standing ovation.

I highly recommend you add this to your autumn TBR. Thank you to @stmartinspress for providing a copy of this book to read and review.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me the privilege of an advance reading this incredible book - Hester. The book is such a unique premise of the author, Laurie Lico Albanese. For this is the story of Isobel who became the inspiration In Nathaniel Hawthorne's most famous work, The Scarlett Letter.

Beautifully written in symbolic colors that the talented seamstress extraordinaire Isobel embroiders into her pieces, is one of the subplots of this tale. The camaraderie of women who become empowered through the deeds of other women makes this a timeless theme while set in dual timelines in Salem, Massachusetts.

I will definitely be recommending this craft-fully told story to friends and my book club.

Imagining the inspiration for The Scarlet Letter held a good deal more fascination for me than simply retelling Hawthorne's novel (which I've never managed to finish) from another angle. That approach gave Albanese plenty of fresh space to explore, and it's clear she made the most of it, from synesthesia to the slave trade.

My favorite aspect of this novel was contemplating what it would be like to live in Salem, MA decades after the witchcraft trials. Long-term aftermath of the trials isn't something I'd devoted much thought to before. The fact that Isobel comes from a family with a history of witchcraft accusations mades that facet of the story all the more intriguing. I also appreciated Isobel's complicated feelings toward Nathaniel. Yes, it's a romance, but its messiness made the relationship ring much more true.

This book was excellent and I loved it. For some reason I was hesitating to read it - I’m not sure why I thought it might be dry. I don’t remember whether I read The Scarlet Letter in high school but I have something of a negative association with it that was stopping me from reading this book. There was no need - you don’t have to know or like The Scarlet Letter to enjoy Hester. It is incredibly read-able, compelling and suspenseful. I did not see the end coming because I was too wrapped up in the story. It’s a great examination of a piece of American history, and witchy without being fantasy. Highly recommended!

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.
⠀
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.
⠀
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.
⠀
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.
⠀
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.
⠀
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.
⠀

⠀
⠀
⠀
⠀
⠀

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.