I must admit, I didn't understand completely how the magic worked in this story (how Mia got back and forth in time, however because of the story I really didn't need to understand how it worked. The characters are very cut and dried, the bad guy is definitely the bad guy and stays the bad guy (but Mia does outsmart him at the end) the rest of the characters are all good in their own way, although it takes Elizabeth to understand how much Mia loves Nathaniel and only wants what is best for him. My one complaint about this book is the end--I just wish Ms. Hoffman had returned Mia to now, even though she said she would be happy, I would have like to see it.

You’d be hard pressed to find a more quintessential autumn author than Alice Hoffman. When the clock struck midnight and August gave way to September, I knew exactly what book I wanted for my first of the month.

Mia has only ever known life in the Community, a communal farm on the outskirts of town where contact with the outside world is forbidden. Her mother Ivy sought solace in the group as a teen but still retained her rebellious, free spirited nature — and it was through Ivy that Mia discovered the power and wonder of books.

One in particular, The Scarlet Letter, came into Mia’s life when she needed it most, and the strange inscription — somehow written to Mia herself — will lead her down a path she never dreamed possible.

If you’ve read Julie Otsuka’s THE SWIMMERS, you’ll understand what I mean when I say it felt like I was reading two completely different books. THE INVISIBLE HOUR started off so strong: an oppressive cult, a badass librarian (as though there is any other type), a plan of escape. I was fully on board and ready for what lay ahead. But the second half of this one… it truly read like 19th century celeb fanfic. No scarlet A’s here, Mia was all about that D.

The instalove was baffling enough but Hoffman was EXTREMELY heavy handed when it came to reproductive rights and access to books, topics very much at the forefront of our current political climate. She tried to bring it back around to the 1800s, using Hawthorne’s sister as a mouthpiece, and it was all just so clunky.

I’m so disappointed to say this didn’t live up to my expectations. The first half was great and gave exactly the autumn vibes I wanted, but the entire second half went off the rails. That said, I’m curious about revisiting The Scarlet Letter so maybe that’s a win for Hoffman?

Pub date: 8/15/23
Genre: magical realism, historical fiction
Quick summary: Mia Jacob is trapped in a cult, with only books as her only escape. But then she discovers the ability to travel back in time to meet and fall in love with her favorite author, Nathaniel Hawthorne.

I read my first Alice Hoffman book about a year ago, and she's definitely becoming a favorite author. This is a quiet book but a lovely tribute to the power of literature. I was rooting for Mia from as she fought to change her circumstances. The exploration of feminism and women's rights in both timelines was well done. I also enjoyed the magical realism of the love story and Mia's struggle to decide where she belonged.

At 240 pages, this is one of the few books I think could have been a bit longer, but I enjoyed the read. 3.5 stars rounded to 4.

Thank you to Atria Books for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A slow paced story about love and bravery with beautiful prose.

Little bit of magic, little bit of history and a lot of quiet moments of understanding.

A love letter to the power of books. A powerful exploration of the love of a mother, the power of books, the free will.

Hoffman is a beautiful writer. She is one of the few whose writing can span a long period of time but never feel long or drawn out. I loved reading about Ivy and Mia’s life together in the Community. Mia traveling in time to meet her idol Nathanial Hawthorne was an interesting twist. Any shortcomings I had with the book were overshadowed by Hoffman’s excellent prose.

I loved the first 3/4 of this one. The cult vibes and Mia going out on her own after her mother’s death was all great and kept me turning pages. Also, Alice’s writing is also so lyrical to read. It just flowed throughout the novel. But, then it took the most bizarre turn during the last 1/4 of the book that didn’t make any sense to me as a reader. I honestly felt like it twisted into two different books. It left me with a lot of questions and there was a lot unexplained.

I waited a bit after pub date to read this because the fall vibes are real and I loved this book. I was nervous when I realized there was time travel and Hawthorne involved (two things that rarely work for me in books), but they worked here because Hoffman simply knows how to tell an engaging story.

I’ll admit that I’m a huge Alice Hoffman fan. I enjoyed how she has woven her magical realism in with what starts out as a standard novel about cults. It did lag a bit in the second half but I still enjoyed it. Not my favorite Alice Hoffman but still better than most books on the shelves these days.

This book was a total surprise, I really enjoyed the first 75% and then I was unsure on the magical realism factor. Overall it was a quick and enjoyable story. I do wish it was a bit longer and more flushed out with the ending...

<b>I was taken with the first half of this book--a rural cult, a teen mother, a strong female protagonist in an impossible situation, looking for answers. But I felt unmoored by the enormous shift into time travel and its inspiration within the story: a passionate obsession with Nathaniel Hawthorne.</b>

<b><blockquote>Self-pity from a man was something she could not abide, not when she had a woman's issues to deal with.</b></blockquote>
<i>The Invisible Hour</i> begins with the story of Ivy, a feisty young woman who becomes pregnant, is threatened with the forcible adoption of her baby, and becomes a runaway.

She flees to the embrace of the Community, a group of people living off the grid in rural western Massachusetts who preach love, share belongings, farm and harvest their own food, take collective care of children--and, Ivy soon finds out as her spirit is soon broken, endure severe punishment for asking questions or diverting from the wishes of the group's charismatic leader, Joel. (Joel as the bad guy in the story seems without redemption; he's petty, paranoid, vindictive, and determined to wreak havoc. There aren't gray areas for the reader to explore where he's concerned; revenge fantasies are the logical next step.)

By the time she realizes her mistake in becoming entangled with the group, she feels it's too late to escape.

<b><blockquote>It wasn't so hard not to show what you really felt if you practiced, if you closed your eyes and imagined that your daughter was with you even when she was somewhere else, if you let the wind rise all around you, if you only heard the songs of the sparrows in the forest, a place so dark it was easy to get lost even in broad daylight, even if your eyes were open.</b></blockquote>
As Ivy's daughter Mia--who grows up in the oppressive Community, secretly and voraciously reading as a lifeline of sorts at the local library--becomes desperate to break with the group, she stumbles upon <i>The Scarlet Letter</i>--which is, as all books are, forbidden within the cult. The two-hundred-old story speaks to her so completely, it feels like it might just save her: "Sometimes when you read a book it's as if you were reading the story of your own life. That was what was happened to me. I woke up when I read the first page. I saw who I was and who I could be."

I didn't have anything close to that reaction upon first reading <i>The Scarlet Letter,</i> but Mia is her own person (character) in a complicated situation, desperate for connection, and okay, I was taking Mia's word for it at this point.

But the story of <i>The Invisible Hour</i> makes a massive shift halfway through, when--spoiler--Mia travels back in time! And I love a time-travel story!

Mia is compelled and able to travel through time because of the power of her determination to meet her heartthrob....Nathaniel Hawthorne. Nathaniel Hawthorne? "I'm in love with my favorite author," she says. Her crush is soon clarified as an all-systems-go teen-girl, can't-resist-him, can't-imagine-life-without-him swirl of emotions and passion. But I didn't really understand why.

Mia reads secretly but endlessly and indiscriminately throughout her childhood. I didn't grasp why she would fixate so completely on this book and this man as her literal saviors.

<i>The Scarlet Letter</i> explores humanity's sins and judgments and offers moral lessons--I could see her responding to those, particularly because of her own origin story and her mother's predicament of unwed pregnancy and parental judgment. And Hawthorne allows for a female character's passion and independence, although these were condemned by the society he writes about.

<b><blockquote>"Real life is unbelievable. Souls are snatched away from us, flesh and blood turn to dust, people you love betray you, men go to war over nothing. It's all preposterous. That's why we have novels. To make sense out of things."</b></blockquote>
But <i>The Scarlet Letter?</i> Really? And Nathaniel Hawthorne, an irresistible and unshakeable love interest because of the gorgeousness of his prose? I found myself wanting more justification so I could believe in all of it.

And if there were such obsession and an instant, all-encompassing love, would Mia repeatedly risk upending her beloved Hawthorne's future as she does in <i>The Invisible Hour,</i> threatening even his eventual writing of <i>The Scarlet Letter</i>? "Now that she was before him, Mia wondered if it might be a mistake to tell him anything about his future," the book explains. (Mia has never heard of the butterfly effect, but honestly! Do not tell Nathaniel Hawthorne his future, Mia!) She realizes that altering his life path and writing is a very real danger, yet she continues to insert herself into his path and his life.

I was intrigued by the first half of the book--cult life, the daring attempt to escape it, the haven found in books, and, ultimately, Mia's peaceful second chapter of life and shift in her family circumstances.

I generally love time-travel novels, but I didn't feel engaged by the time-travel situation or feel invested in Mia's inspiration and reasoning for venturing into the past.

I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of Atria Books and NetGalley.

Alice Hoffman is also the author of <b><a href="https://www.bossybookworm.com/post/review-of-the-world-that-we-knew-by-alice-hoffman/"><i>The World That We Knew</a></i></b> and over thirty other books.

Another book with a character based upon Nathaniel Hawthorne--although the author treats him very differently as a character--is the historical fiction novel <b><a href="https://www.bossybookworm.com/post/review-of-hester-by-laurie-lico-albanese/"><i>Hester</a></i></b>by Laurie Lico Albanese.

<b>To see my full review on The Bossy Bookworm, or to find out about Bossy reviews and Greedy Reading Lists as soon as they're posted, please see <a href="https://www.bossybookworm.com/post/review-of-the-invisible-hour-by-alice-hoffman/"><i>The Invisible Hour.</a></i></b>

I love a good time travel story. This was not a good time travel story.

Alice Hoffman's The Invisible Hour can't seem to decide what it's about. The first half is about a young girl raised in a cult in western Massachusetts, and her escape from it. At the halfway point, she goes back in time to 1837 and falls in love with Nathaniel Hawthorne. Huh?

This is the first Alice Hoffman book I've read. I have another one on my Kindle but I keep passing it over in favor of other stuff in my TBR pile. Now I'm thinking I'll just delete it. I know Hoffman has a huge following, but if this book is representative of her work, she's not for me.

I liked the first half of the book well enough. The story of Ivy and how she ran away and fell for a charismatic cult leader, the birth of Mia and her upbringing inside the cult. It was a little preachy about women not controlling their own fate, and Hoffman has a few VERY annoying writing style quirks, but not a bad story.

And then, at almost exactly the halfway mark, Mia finds herself in 1837 and things get weird.

Have you ever thought of Nathaniel Hawthorne as a 19th-century hottie? No? Then brace yourself. You're about to enter the world of Scarlet Letter fanfic. In Hoffman's mind, Hawthorne is a little Henry Cavill, a little Matthew MacFadyen as Mr. Darcy -- dark, brooding, insanely handsome, more than a little lunatic writer, driven mad by "love" that happened in a matter of days. I mean, I've read The Scarlet Letter and I did NOT get that from it. But whatever. I could have gone with it if the time travel aspect hadn't been so dumb, if the characters weren't so vapid, or if there'd actually been a plot to Part II.

Instead we get unexplained time travel -- how did she get there? Was it Hawthorne's grave? The book itself? The house? Just wishing? And if it was any of those things, how did the bad guy follow her? And if she could just choose to go back, why couldn't he? And then she changes the past, which every time traveler KNOWS you can't do, and the book starts to disappear and then SHE starts to disappear. and it's all very Back to the Future. The personality Mia had started to develop in Part I totally disappears and she becomes just "gorgeous redhead from a mysterious place." Hawthorne is just "temperamental writer in love with mysterious woman he can't have." Hawthorne's sister is "19th century woman who longs to wear pants and Do Things but can't because she was born in the wrong century." Bad guy is "evil yet compelling one-note villain." Boring. So boring.

As for the plot, I saw where Hoffman was trying to go with it. Mia becomes the inspiration for The Scarlet Letter, which wouldn't have been written without her, which means her life wouldn't have been saved by it more than a century later, which means she wouldn't have inspired it . . . it's some pretty shaky circular logic, but it's time travel -- you make allowances for it. But it's poorly developed and poorly explained, and we're not invested in the stakes. The whole thing is a big "so what?" I've read time travel done right, and I'm sure Hoffman has too, so why did we get this mess?

I wish Hoffman had stuck with the plot of Part I -- Mia escapes the cult, largely due to the love and concern of a librarian in her town. Books and the escape they offer literally save her life -- it's not necessary to actually meet Nathaniel Hawthorne for that to be true. I don't know where the story could have gone from there, but surely there were options besides 1837.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance digital copy of this very enjoyable book. Alice Hoffman has created another wonderful story with elements of magical realism. Mia is a young girl who escapes an oppressive cult where her mother has been kept prisoner. She is inspired to escape in part by her love of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. A dedicated librarian aids her in starting a new life, but she is pursued by the leader of the now failed commune. Mia travels through time and meets the author of her favorite book, but what if her actions cause him to never write the book that helped her escape?

The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman

The Beginning of the saving of Mia was when her mother decided that her child would live. And with the power of words Mia's mother saved her. But Mia could not forget the reasons why her mother failed to save herself. And with the magic of a book, Mia continued to learn what it would take to save herself. Through a kind stranger, Mia found a new family; a family that was different than any she could have ever imagined. It was a wonderful reality. It was not a dream. But in the cruel realities of real life, even a dream family can fall apart. And Mia's did. But the book with the magical inscription helped her save herself again. Every time Mia saved herself she needed some kind of outside help; from her mother, a kind stranger, and now somehow, both she and the writer of the book magically BOTH need saving. Was it some kind of magic, or a dream, that made them find each other when she traveled to the place of his trials? A magic that found them both in the same place but at separate times? Was it because she could feel love again within the book that reminded her of her own story and that of her mother? Was it because she had carved every word of the story into her heart? She knew it was written so very long ago, but was it some kind of magic that made her feel that the writer was telling the same story that she and her mother had shared? Alice Hoffman brings you from the real world of a struggling young mother trying to save her child, to a new but real life where the child allows a kind stranger to help snatch her from that tragic life into a real dream life. But Hoffman's next twist may be a difficult transition for those unaccustomed to the genre of magic. But do yourself a favor. Lean into the dream of these two people meeting across timelines in their shared dark place: They are both holding on together through their imaginings of the same all powerful life changing book. Magic brings the two people together, but their love of reading and of writing helps them pull each other out of their dark places. There is struggle, and there is sacrifice. But except for the love of a very special book with a very special dedication, you may have never been brought into a space where it is possible to believe in this mystical promise: We can find a place where we can save ourselves with our own dreams. This is an amazing ride of immersive storytelling. It drags you into places you never thought you'd want to go. But, then you find out, after all, that you really don't want this story to ever end!
Thank you NetGalley, Atria Books and Simon & Schuster for the advanced reader copy in exchange for this review.
August 2023 Publishing Date

Alice Hoffman is one of my favorite authors; she is such a beautiful writer that the words jump off the page and stay with you long after you have closed the book.
The Invisible Hour was very compelling and I had a hard time putting it down. Such a powerful story about love, and stories, and finding yourself. I will admit that I found the magical realism about a third of the way thought the book a little jarring but I ended up really liking the direction it took the story. A beautiful read.

<i>ARC Provided by NetGalley<i>

I have and would read anything by Alice Hoffman but The Invisible Hour was a dream that was just a little too far out of my realm of realty. When I read Hoffman I always plan to suspend belief so I can embrace the story and move with the rhythm of the mystical weave that she creates. I was totally on board with the fairy-tale locale of West of the moon but it all became too hard a sell. The here and now and the travel back to 1837 was a far and not always successful leap. A cult created a fanatic that begot an escapist who needed to create her own faith to survive and flourish.

I will continue to admire and love Hoffman’s skill and her ability to craft magical tales that walk the edge. Long ago she made me a believer in the strength of women and the daughters of the witches that couldn’t be subjugated. I still believe and will just chalk The Invisible Hour as a personal miss.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for a copy.

This love letter to books was exactly the story I needed for all of the fall feelings to begin to flow! Filled with beautiful imagery, literary references, and words that jumped off the page and grabbed my book loving heart, this atmospheric read was one I could not put down!

Ivy flees her home in order to keep her daughter, but exchanges one desperate situation for another. In order to stay alive, she endures life in a community filled with control and manipulation. Mia must learn to live within its confines, but is drawn to the library in town and the books inside that are forbidden to her. The stories she discovers there open her world up to so much more than her meager existence within the Community and send her on a journey to find a life and a love she never imagined possible. Infused with a bit of Hoffman's renown enchantment, Mia and readers alike are transported to unexpected places in time and find that indeed, books may well be the only true magic!

I enjoyed the quiet, gentle pacing and the beautifully immersive, descriptive setting of this book. The plot pulled me in right from the prologue and I remained interested the whole time. I couldn't believe how fast I flew through it!

I loved the magical/time-travel twist that brought in the Nathaniel Hawthorne plot line. I think that part was especially intriguing to me since I've been to Salem, and his home, and Seven Gables. Cool to get some of the history of his life in this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this egalley. All opinions are my own.

Alice Hoffman’s The Invisible Hour may have been my most anticipated book of the year and I adored it. It had so many elements that appealed to me. A cult, libraries, The Scarlet Letter and Hawthorne. The Scarlet Letter may very well be my favorite novel and when I first read it as a teen I fell a little bit in love with Hawthorne. And like Mia in the novel it was read during a difficult time in my life. I was a junior in high school and this book was assigned reading for class. I was captivated. Literature was definitely my savior during this period of my life. Because of this, I connected with Hoffman’s book in a wonderful way.

How to describe this book. Hoffman explores so many themes here. The relationship between a mother and child, libraries as a haven and their sacred place in our society, the power of books to transport and women having control over their own bodies- timely subjects indeed. Yes, it sounds like a lot, but it was never too much, and with Hoffman’s deft hand it is all integrated perfectly into this beautiful book that never seems preachy but does give you a lot to think about.

The way Hoffman plays with words never fails to amaze me and it is highlighted here. Her descriptive ability is unparalleled and she finds the inherent beauty in language and it is an enchanting thing to read. The only criticism I have is that the section where she writes about the background of Hawthorne seemed to drag. It was material I already knew so it felt redundant to me. This is a small quibble however.

The main thing I took away from this book is that it is a love letter to libraries and the power of literature to transport and sometime save us and that is where true magic resides. I adored it.

This book is mystery, intrigue, and fantasy all mixed into one book. This favorite and talented author has written a cannot put down unique story. I liked this book. I will tell friends about this novel. It reads, at times,
Iike nonfiction. Nathaniel Hawthorne a character? Really? Amazing story. Although I seldom read fantasy, this book kept my attention from page one. I would give it more than five stars. Innovative concept. Thanks to Netgalley for the book.