Member Reviews
**NetGalley Review**
I never read The Scarlet Letter in high school and I'm not sure if that had me at an advantage or disadvantage going into this story. Full disclosure: a huge part of why I requested this was because of the beautiful cover. While I did have to set it down and read another book a few times (the first half was pretty slow, in my opinion), I read the second half of the book in one day! The writing was beautiful, the story was captivating, the characters were so well-done and interwoven. This was the perfect "wrapped in a bow" ending. I'm glad I finally took the time to dedicate myself to this story. Thank you: NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Laurie Lico Albanese for allowing me to read Hester in exchange for an honest review.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!
What an amazing story! Character development was spot on. Felt they were all so real.
Highly recommend!
*SLOW CLAP* Honestly, this is how retellings and historical fictions should all be told.
A very hypnotic retelling that will keep you captivated long after turning the final page. A crafty way to blend the original title and bring a new modern spin on it. Brilliantly done.
I really enjoyed this and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to have read it! What a wonderful book!
I really enjoyed this. I liked "The Scarlet Letter" when I read it for school decades ago, so this tale about the possible origins of Hester Prynne intrigued me. The characters were fleshed out and interesting and I loved the twist about Hester and her vision/abilities/gift.
I couldn't wait to read this book-what if The Scarlett Letter was based on Nathaniel Hawthorne? Isobel is a talented child who can see the colors of voices and who is taught by her mother to sew. She marries Edward, who lands them in the poor house & they end up traveling to the New World. Edward goes to sea and leaves his wife in Salem. She meets Nat, and the two are drawn together. If you've read the Scarlett Letter, you know how the story goes. There is a bit more to the story than adultery, but some of the characters and plot points seemed unnecessary and didn't add anything for me. (For example, the frequent mentioning of the Salem Witch Trials)
⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Hester is imaginative and original while staying true to history and its inspiration.
The Scarlet Letter was one of the first classics I read when I was younger so it holds a special place for me. Hester helped complete that story.
Hester combines many of my favorite things - historical fiction, telling a story from a new perspective, including real life.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and would definitely recommend
“You will give birth to a line of strong women who will carry your seed across the oceans and join with others who live for freedom.”
My Thoughts:
3.75 ⭐️. I never read The Scarlet Letter but it inspired the author to write this book.
Isobel Gamble, a Scottish nineteen year old, traveled to the Americas with her husband is who hoped to make amends and fortune in Salem, Massachusetts.
This was not magical as I thought it would be. In fact, barely. The story was intriguing at the beginning and gripping especially close to the end. In between, it was repetitive and dragged. Like the premise and it’s historical references.
Thank you, Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC in return for an honest review.
Wow this book was amazing it was beautifully written and captured my attention throughout this book. This story follows Isobel a young woman who married the wrong man struggling with opium addiction after being forced into the poor house then sent to America. Isobel and Edward arrive in Salem for a minute before Edward signs on to be a ship Dr leaving Isobel alone and penniless in a new country. Isobel must use her talent with the needle and her secret hidden talent to help her survive in this small cold New England town. Here we meet Nathanael or National Hawthorne a young author who befriends Isobel basing his character Hester from The Scarlet Letter off of her. You follow Isobel throughout many struggles and triumphs and I just wanted more. This book character development was amazing I really cared about Isobel and Mercy and just appreciated how fleshed out these characters were. This is the first book I have read from this author but plan on picking up much more in the future. I would like to thank Netgalley and the publishers for a chance to read this book for an honest review.
I liked but didn’t love this. Unfortunately the Nathaniel Hawthorne connection was the weakest part of the book. I appreciated the historical detail and the unique take on “witchcraft” through Isobel’s synesthesia. I’ll be interested in whatever the author writes next!
I very much enjoyed Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese. I remember loving The Scarlet Letter. so I felt I had to pick up this historical fiction novel. Although it was not what I had anticipated, I found I could not put the book down. I found the beginning a little slow, but after that, I was hooked. The tone developed by the author made me want to keep reading, and I really wanted to know more about the main character's story. I wish there was a little more in terms of the various story lines, but overall it was a fantastic read. I would love to read more books like this from this author!
If you read The Scarlet Letter in high school, you will definitely want to add this to your reading list. This book gives you a look at the female perspective in the classic story. Isobel Gamble is a young seamstress carrying generations of secrets when she sets sail from Scotland in the early 1800s with her husband, Edward. When they reach America, her husband joins a ship as their doctor and leaves her in a new country with little to survive on. When she meets Nathaniel Hawthorne, a troubled man whose family was responsible for the senseless killings of women during the Salem witch trials, they are drawn to each other. The weaving of the past and what is happening now with the underground railroad brings together a story of love, identity, friendship, and loss. This story is a must-read for anyone that has read The Scarlet Letter or just loves historical fiction.
Hester was an excellent story that came to me at the perfect time. I've been going through a classics phase and I had just read The Scarlet Letter right before picking this one up. To say that the story blew me away would be an understatement. I was floored.
The book is so good that I wanted to do bodily harm to every single person who ever hurt Isobel. Her colors made me smile. I truly loved Isobel and enjoyed learning about the New World through her eyes. So much wrong is done to her, yet she perseveres with the unlikeliest of allies.
There is so much to adore in Hester. I can't even begin to do this book justice. I give this novel a full 5 stars. The storytelling is fantastic and brings a whole new life to Hester Prynne.
Hester is a lush, feminine retelling of the perennial high school classic The Scarlet Letter. Before Hester was, well, Hester there was Isobel Gamble, a young Seamstress who moves to Salem with a husband who abandons her in the early 1800s. Needing to survive and longing for connection, she falls in love with a writer and becomes his muse.
Hester incorporates elements of The Scarlet Letter, but also introduces many new things. One particularly interesting concept is that of synethesia, in which Isobel can hear and see colors in unusual situations. The novel describes the precariousness of women who are different or alone in that time period, and emphasizes the struggle for freedom, independence, and autonony with the survival needs of remaining in the community and the risks of being different.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for gifting me an ARC of Laurie Lico Albanese newest novel, Hester in exchange for an honest review.
What if the inspo for The Scarlett Letter was a real story with real people? An amazing retelling and reimagining. It is gothic and lovely. It is a slow burn, but a good one. A great read.
I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.
This is both a retelling of Nathanial Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" and a prequel for the novel. Instead of the character of Hester, we have Isobel Gamble who is a very young, married, Scottish seamstress new to Salem in the 1820's. While her husband is away, she falls in love with the writer Nat Hawthorne and inspires his first novel.
Reading this novel felt both like I was reading a completely new novel and also the retelling of "The Scarlet Letter". While I found the original hard to get through in high school, LLA kept me rivetted throughout the entire novel from start to finish. We learn that Isobel is a Synesthetes, which means she can hear the colors that she weaves into her beautiful clothing. While we know very little about Nathanial Hawthorne and what inspired him to write his novel, I love thinking that Hester might have also had this unique view.
Overall, this is a wonderful novel and I genuinely wish this is what I was told to read back in high school.
The Scarlet Letter has been a staple of the high school curriculum for decades. Laurie Lico Albanese's new novel creates an origin story featuring both Hester Prynne and the author Nathaniel Hawthorne. In Hester, we find the fictional woman who inspired the story and part of America's cultural history.
A young seamstress learns about her witchy ancestry. She sees colors in letters as well but must suppress her powers. Finding work as a seamstress, she catches the eye of a local doctor. In marriage, they are ruined by his opium use and forced to move to the New World. She is charmed by a young Nathaniel Hawthorne. Her husband continues on at sea. Their relationship deepens and turns intimate. When she finds herself pregnant, she finds that Hawthorne is of no use to her. Pregnant, alone, and her husband returning puts her in a dangerous situation.
I enjoyed the play on this story. The Scarlet Letter is one of my favorite novels. I enjoyed the twist in the story where you would assume Hawthorne is a hero, but he just takes advantage of the situation. Yes, he gets a book out of it, but getting over the betrayal is difficult. An excellent retelling from a woman's perspective. It deepens the original work for me.
I enjoyed this unique look at women in Hawthorne's era. Very slow build - the relationship between Hester and Hawthorne actually starts more than halfway through the book. I considered not finishing several times.
Hester and her husband leave England due to her husband's debts. Hester must leave behind her beloved father - and depend solely upon her husband.
While her husband travels as a ship medic, Hester earns money with her incredible needlepoint. She expertly hides words underneath her designs, a skill passed down in her family.
I enjoyed Hester's wish for independence; the juxtaposition of her with her "freed" neighbors - outcasts from supposed polite society.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for gifting me an audio ALC of Laurie Lico Albanese newest novel, Hester. In exchange I offer my unbiased review. This book and audio is now available.
I read and loved Ms. Lico Albanese previous book Stolen Beauty, so I was very excited to read her take on the woman behind Nathaniel Hawthorn’s Scarlet Letter. This book is speculative and while I enjoyed the time, setting and use of Hawthorn as a “character” the creation of Isobel Gamble, a seamstress who posses the ability to see colors was too much of stretch. Had the author just told this story without the Hawthorn connection, I think I would have preferred it more. Additionally the dual timeline felt unnecessary and clunky. The shifting of stories was awkward and took me out of the “ present” story, 1800’s Salem. I did enjoy the narration by Saskia Maarleveld and adore the GORGEOUS book cover design.
Ultimately this wasn’t a solid pick for me but I’m still a huge fan of Lori Lico Albanese and can’t wait to see what she writes next.