Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced reader's copy.

This is a reimagining of The Scarlet Letter. Hester can see in colors and each letter has its own color. Her mother stops her from doing this when she is young so that she isn't labeled as a witch. Her mother dies and she moves to America to start over after meeting her apothecary husband.

She takes on jobs as a seamstress and does beautiful embroidery after her husband leaves on a ship to find great medicines to bring back to the people. She learns that he has taken her entire savings and is left with nothing.

Hester makes the acquaintance of Nathaniel Hawthorn and their story begins.

This was a delightful reimagining of the classic and a well done one. I look forward to future books by this author.

Those who have read The Scarlet Letter, no doubt remember Hester Prynne. I can’t help but feel that the book would make an interesting reread in this time of MeToo.

In this novel, author Albanese, offers a twist of the kaleidoscope variation on that book. Here readers meet a young woman with synesthesia who emigrates to the U.S. with her husband. Isobel meets Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author of The Scarlet Letter. They are brought together with intensity.

Readers will long remember Isobel. She is a risk taker, a woman of action who acts upon her strong beliefs.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this title. All opinions are my own.

Hester is the perfect book club discussion book! It takes a character you think you know and gives us a reimagined tale. The writing style was so easy to read, and hard to put down. Awesome story!

This is a good read for historical fiction lovers. I enjoyed the aspects that described life in Salem, MA during that era. I hated the book The Scarlet Letter so I was interested in how this would connect with that novel. Sometimes the book was a bit slow, but overall it held my interest.

Beautiful, imaginative story inspired by the classic The Scarlet Letter that we all had to read in high school and didn't necessarily like. Hester brings to life a period in time when very few women had a voice to tell their stories. Fascinating and engaging. Recommended.

I have really been enjoying quite a few retellings lately, and this was no different! Grounded in the story of The Scarlet Letter, this was a creative reimagining of the real story behind Hawthorne's motivations for the book.

The writing was exceptional, pretty, detailed and flowery which I enjoyed. And the cover is absolutely stunning. The book could be a bit slow at times, but I think overall kept within the theme of the original text while still providing a novel and creative approach.

Such a fascinating and well written book. I loved the research that went into it and found this a really gripping book. The author is a delight and I will happily read anything she writes!

It was great to read a classic from another perspective. This books takes nothing away from the Scarlet Letter.

This was an interesting retelling of the inspiration for Nathanial Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. Isobel Gamble is a Scottish woman who had to leave Scotland because of her husband's opium addiction. Isobel has a secret in that she can see certain colors when sewing and has a talent with her needle. When she arrives in America, her husband, who is an apothecary, goes off on a voyage with the captain of the ship they were on leaving her alone in the New World. In Salem, no one wants to help when she realizes that her husband made off with all of her money because she is Scottish. She quickly realizes that there are still prejudices here and that no matter what freedom the country was based on, this is not afforded to everyone. She ends up meeting Nathanial Hawthorne by chance and ends up striking up and friendship and later a relationship with the author. He also quickly leaves her behind when it suits him making her realize even more that she is the only person who will be willing to help her. The story is told with interspersing notes from Salem witch trials and highlights the similarities to Isobel's situation. It was a very interesting read.

I loved this book! What a great and powerful story! I loved the characters and the historical world. This was an amazing read from start to finish!

Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese is a well written story that I really liked.

This is a reimagination of The Scarlet Letter was really well done.

The story of love between parents and a child, races and women.

The author did a great deal of research on this book and that was evident to this reader.

Characters were very well developed and Isobel is someone that I would want as a friend - faithful, creative & strong. I appreciated the detail that Ms. Albanese included in regards to the witch trials of Salem, which only added to the story. A very interesting, and seems realistic, take on what could have prompted Nathaniel to write The Scarlet Letter.

Throughout, she was able to touch on many aspects - witch trials, slavery, adultery, friendship, trust and strength. I absorbed in the book from the beginning.

Highly recommend all to grab this book. It not only is a fantastic story on it's own, it made me appreciate The Scarlet Letter a little morel.

I enjoyed The Scarlet Letter and was so excited to get a deep dive into that world, through a historical fiction lens, and see the angle of a misunderstood synesthesia-enhanced powerful woman.

I enjoyed this book, but I did feel like it could have given us a stronger female character to root for. I liked Isobel and I know that, for the time presented, she was holding her own, but I wanted just a bit more … something…

That being said, I enjoyed the detail and the imagery of the writing and I support the take on a classic.

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.