The Invisible Hour
By Alice Hoffman
⭐⭐⭐⭐
I was lucky enough to get an ARC of Alice Hoffman's new book. She is my favorite author, and I just love how she writes. She spins such a magical story. Loved how it shows how reading can take you away. If you love books, you'll love this one, obviously. I love the references to The Scarlet Letter, and its connection with the author Nathaniel Hawthorne. Love the time travel aspect as well. Loved it so much, and it makes me want to read the Scarlet Letter too.
Thank you @netgalley for the ARC. This book is out now.

I am not a fan of The Scarlet Letter. I listened to the audiobook once because I couldn’t get through the book and I hated it, but I love Alice Hoffman and she loves The Scarlet Letter. Knowing that, I really wasn’t sure what I would think of this.
Mia Jacob wants more out of life than her cultish upbringing has given her. After her mother, Ivy, dies, her father, the leader of the cult, gets harsher and Mia starts pushing the limits. She finds a first edition copy of The Scarlet Letter and is surprised when the inscription is to her. In reading this book, she sees her and her mother and it gives her the courage to leave. Part literary fiction, part fantastical fiction, Ms. Hoffman has written a love letter to Mr. Hawthorne and The Scarlet Letter.
I loved the majority of this book. I loved how Ivy’s love for Mia shows the depths of how far a mother will go for her child and I loved how Mia grew into such a strong and brave person.
While I enjoyed the historical fiction part of this book, I found it to be a bit trippy. It had me thinking in circles, which I’m never a fan of doing. While the ending provided a good closing to the story, I would have liked to see a little more in how it might have affected the future.
That being said, this has got me trying The Scarlet Letter again and this time I’m reading (listening) to it through both Ms. Hoffman’s and Mia’s eyes, so hopefully I’ll get more out of it this time. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advanced copy. This hit the shelves on August 15th.

The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman is her latest novel and all I can say is I love how Alice Hoffman writes. Mia's story engaged me throughout.

Thank you to Net Galley and Simon&Schuster for providing me with an advance copy of this book.

I absolutely loved this book and it is one of those books that will stay with me for a while. When i discovered that the main character shares my love for reading,and that a book saved her life, I knew I had to read this book immediately.
The way Mia, the main character, described her feelings towards books really resonated with me. Just being around books make me feel happy, and like Mia, I feel like I embark on different journeys everytime I dive into a book.

The Invisible Hour is divided into three parts. The first part was my favorite because it described Mia's mother, Ivy's life and Mia's childhood. Mia lives with her mother in a community where there is no freedom and rules that go far beyond what is fair. Desperate to escape and explore, she starts reading,something that is strictly prohibited. Her mother always protects her and encourages her to do things,albeit cautiously.Things eventually take a dark turn, leading Mia to contemplate taking her own life. However, a book written by the author Nathaniel Hawhorne, "The Scarlet Letter", saves her life. Not only does Mia fall in love with the book, she also falls in love with the author. Part 2 and part 3 are mostly about Nathaniel and Mia's encounteres after she time travels to 1837, when Nathaniel was still a young lad,and had not written the book yet.

I really enjoyed the time travel aspect of the book. It was incredibly exciting to immerse myself in a different time and culture through the pages. It was eye-opening to read about women's rights or a lack thereof. I also got very emotional when reading about Ira and Mia and their beautiful mother-daughter relationship. Overall, i think readers will enjoy the book if they suspend their beliefs for a little while and understand that the genre of this book is magic realism.

Very easy to get into. The plot is different from any I've read before. The way the story blends timelines is unique. If you enjoyed love stories such as Somewhere in Time (movie), you might enjoy this one. I've enjoyed other books by Alice Hoffman, and this book has the same romantic, deeply emotional feel. Romantic but not gratuitous. The main character is easy to relate to in many ways, and her story is compelling. Integrating historical figures and literature made me even more interested in their history and literature. I could easily imagine this as a movie or limited series. Definitely recommend.

I absolutely love all of Alice Hoffman’s books. There’s no better way to get into cozy fall reading mode than to read one of her books, and The Invisible Hour is no exception! Filled with strong women, magical atmosphere, and the red boots we’ve come to love about Alice’s books, The Invisible Hour is an unforgettable tale of what women must do to live the life they yearn for, the strong daughters they love more than their own lives, and the books that save us all.

Alice Hoffman has once again delivered a book that readers will be drawn in to and won't want to put down.

The Invisible Hour is a book that tore me up. The first half of the book was so hard for me to read. It tore me up and I had to push through because I found it so disturbing.

I am not magical realism reader so the second half of the book, I had to keep telling myself just to read and not worry about the technical details. The second half of the book was not as good as the first in my opinion. Hoffman went a little too far out there for my liking but I know that is reader preference.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts opinions are my own.


Possible triggers: physical, mental and emotional abuse.

The Invisible Hour opens with one of our main characters, Ivy, who becomes pregnant as a teenager and runs away to a cult-like place, known as The Community; it is in this oppressive place that she gives birth to her daughter, Mia. The book primarily follows Mia’s story as she navigates the difficult life she was born into and then, at an extremely low point, stumbles across The Scarlet Letter. This story changes her life and in true Alice Hoffman style, there is even some time travel as she works her way through some big life questions and grapples with her history, as she comes into her own.

This book is a tribute to the power of storytelling and the power that one book can have on someone’s life. I thought the author did a beautiful job of crafting first Ivy’s story and then, both her relationship with Mia and Mia as her own character. Her beautiful descriptions of the elements of Mia’s life that kept her going, like nature and her first experiences with books, were truly entrancing and made me quickly fall in love with the character.

I did feel that the time jump in the story was a bit of a jarring shift, especially as I was very interested at where Mia already was in her story. But, ultimately, after a bit of time, the threads and purpose for the time travel became more clear and I liked how they came together. I also appreciated the authors comments on how, even though women clearly have more rights now than in Hawthorne’s time, there is still much work to be done. Overall, I very much enjoyed this story and would recommend to fans of the authors previous works and contemporary/historical fiction fans.

“One brilliant June day when Mia Jacob can no longer see a way to survive, the power of words saves her.”

I love a book with just a touch of magic. Sometimes you want to bathe in a wholly new world, based only loosely in reality. Sometimes, you just want a sip from the magic cup.

This book was a mere taste.

This is only my second Hoffman book, but I quite enjoyed it.

I loved both the main female characters.

They were both strong, in their own ways, and I loved how reading and libraries and books played such a huge part in their story.

The inner working of The Community and its founder were fascinating to me.

The second half of the book interested me less. I suppose much of it comes from always disliking Nathaniel Hawthorne. Bios always read as whiny and spoilt and entitled, and I probably brought that bias into my reading.

I just wasn’t interested in Nathaniel and Mia as a couple, and Mia’s decisions around him seemed more on par with Disney’s Ariel, than an educated woman.

Regardless, I enjoyed this book, and will be on the lookout for more Hoffman in the future.

6/10

Thanks to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Simon and Schuster Canada for this ARC.

I've had mixed luck with the books of this author in the past and this one I really liked for the first half, not so much the rest of the book.

I'll admit that one of the characters was so unlikeable that it made me not want to read more. Joel is the head of a cult where he controls everyone. The men in the book didn't seem to complain about him, but the women had it rough. Mia is born to a woman who is married to him and is usually one step ahead of him. She encourages Mia to read, a forbidden act, where Mia so admires the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne, that she continues to read even after her mother takes the punishment that should have been Mia's.

The second part of the book was a little too unbelievable for me. Time travel is usually a hot topic to go into the future, but Mia travels back to Hawthorne's time. At this point I was not as interested in the story and felt the story dragged too much with too much detail that didn't contribute to the storyline.

Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy. Opinions expressed here are my own and are offered voluntarily.

The beginning of this book drew me in immediately and felt like classic Alice Hoffman. Ivy is a free spirit from a prominent Boston family, though when she finds herself pregnant by a Harvard student who turns his back on her, and unsupportive parents, she flees to the Berkshires, where she becomes enmeshed with a cult. Her baby Mia is told the cult leader is her father. Inspired by her favorite book, The Scarlet Letter, Mia eventually escapes the cult at 15 and begins a new life. Then suddenly Nathaniel Hawthorne himself shows up, and inexplicably, Mia travels through time to meet him. The second half reads like entirely different book. My tolerance for time travel is quite low, but trusted I was in good hands having enjoyed so much of Hoffman’s previous work with their bit of magic sprinkled in, but found it shockingly sloppy. There were some hints of the butterfly effect in play, though it didn't seem to get carried through what actually happens. Thankfully it was short, because I could not get through the second half fast enough. I expected much more from one of my must-read authors. Two and a half stars, rounded down.

Nevertheless, I was thankful to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Atria for the gifted copy.

Alice Hoffman is one of my favorite authors, and I flew through this book in a day. It's pretty short, but also pretty quick reading.

There's a bit of everything - a cult-like "Community", dual timelines, time travel. I thought it was well done, with enough magical realism to make it *almost* believable.

Ivy finds herself pregnant at a young age, and her parents aren't supportive. She runs away and ends up living in a Community in west Massachusetts, which is basically a cult. Books aren't allowed, babies are raised in a nursery and belong to "everyone" and there are rules and harsh punishments for not following them. Mia is born there, and while she's working a farm stand, befriends a librarian and falls in love with books, especially The Scarlet Letter. Later on, Mia escapes the Community with the help of the librarian and her partner, but is always looking over her shoulder for the cult leader to find her. The Scarlet Letter and it's author ends up saving her more than once.

This book is well written and sucked me in from the beginning in a way that only Alice Hoffman can.

The Invisible Hour surprised me in so many ways. Alice Hoffman’s writing drew me in immediately, and as someone who spent a long time in western MA, I love how Hoffman’s words transported me back to my youth and my time in the beautiful Berkshires.

The book is about female resilience, choosing your life and path, and book portal magic. Cannot imagine a more perfect combination, I love everything about this story. While the logic at the ending can be a possible plot hole, it doesn’t take away the brilliance of the book.

4.5 roundup to 5 ⭐️

Thank you Atria Books and NetGalley for the free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 3⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: fiction📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
The book is written in three parts and starts off as Ivy joins a cult in the woods. There is time travel/magical realism but I enjoyed but ultimately felt felt for me. The characters were interesting and I love the library aspect. I really liked the letter to the readers at the beginning it made the book feel more personal. Overall, I found the plot intriguing but wasn’t the biggest fan of the execution- it felt like two different books.

I received this eARC from NetGalley and the publisher in return for an honest review.

Dysfunctional families, cults, and found families. Controlling men and autonomy for women, bodily and otherwise. The sanctuary offered by libraries and librarians. Words that create books that in turn create magic, and a reality that the reader recognizes, and a reason for hope and believing one is not alone.

This is a fantastic book, about all this and more. As Hoffman writes in her letter to the readers of The Invisible Hour, readers are a vital part of books, and this book is about and for readers.

Ivy, shunned by her family for an unplanned pregnancy, finds a group of people in western Massachusetts who will provide her with a "family" to help her raise her daughter. Seemingly unaware that she has entered a cult, she struggles to maintain her connections to her daughter, Mia. Children are separated from their parents, books are banned and all contact with the outside world is not allowed. Mia finds way to get around many of these rules. She finds her way to the library in a nearby town and is befriended by the librarian. She discovers a book written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, and it is inscribed "To Mia." Hawthorne lived many years previous so how can this be? Mia resolves to escape the cult. Little does she know the cult leader will continue to hunt for her for many years.

In a twist, Mia finds herself able to travel through time and reaches out to Hawthorne. Alice Hoffman can make the time travel twist work and it works well. Throughout Mia's life she finds she really does have friends who care deeply for her and believe in her. She discovers that love really does set her free.

Thank you to NetGalley, Alice Hoffman and Atria books for this arc. All opinions are my own.

We first follow Ivy Jacobs, a spirited teen who gets pregnant out of wedlock, in a time when women didn’t have a choice. Brushed off by her boyfriend and scorned by her parents, she runs away to a cult in order to make her own choice with her baby. There she soon realizes that The Community is all its cracked up to be. We then time jump to Mia Jacobs, Ivy’s daughter who wants to escape the farm and who loves to read (a sin in The Community and finds The Scarlet Letter with a dedication seemingly penned to her.

I enjoyed this book and was immediately sucked into at the start. Something about how ordinary people can follow an ordinary man steeped in lies is fascinating to me. A lot of this book was also infuriating. The way her parents handled her situation and the things her child’s father said to her made my blood boil- which means Alice Hoffman did an absolutely great job pulling emotions out of me as I read.

I will say that I really liked the first half of this story, but once Hawthorne came into play, I felt like it fell a little flat. I wanted more magic and romance, and it seemed like a lot of what Mia was feeling was brushed over and wasn’t as detailed. I also felt like the ending was a little rushed, though it made sense.

Overall this was a decent read and my first of this author. I would definitely pick up her other books after this, in hopes for a little more magic.

I felt like I was right there with Mia. Alice Hoffman does such a good job of making the setting so real. I recently visited both Salem and Concord, including The House of Seven Gables and Author’s Ridge so I really loved reading the Hawthorne connection. I really like the author’s statement that books can save us, both literally and figuratively. Great story. I really enjoy reading her books.

I have read other Alice Hoffman books, and while I am not a real fan, I have enjoyed her writing. This book is a let down. I understand magical realism, but the realism part was tiring and too unbelievable. I gave the book three stars, because I did finish it. I did a lot of skimming to get through it.

I absolutely love Alice Hoffman and the vibe of her writing and this is no different. She’s the queen of magical realism and the perfect cozy autumn vibes and this just adds to that!