Another magical fairy tale by Alice Hoffman! Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read this adventurous and wonderful story! I'm a sucker for magical realism and time travel so this book felt like it was perfect for me!
The book follows Mia who lives in a cult called the "community." Mia is essentially empty inside from her terrible environment ans discovers a copy of The Scarlett Letter, which speaks to her on a soul deep level. She transports in time to connect with Nathaniel Hawthorne which leads her on a remarkable adventure.
I flew through this book! It was captivating and inspiring! Everyone must do themselves a favor and read this magical story!

I am a big fan of Alice Hoffman, having read most of her books. This one was not one of my favorites. I found the story to be too unrealistic for my taste. I love Alice Hoffman's writing style, but I did not enjoy this book.

Mia Jacob lives in a community- one of oppression and fear. But it takes a tragedy and the written word to give her the courage to escape. She gets to travel through time to meet Nathaniel Hawthorne, the writer of the words that saved her but will her involvment in his life erase those precious words?

I enjoyed the first part of the novel , showing how Mia overcame her time in the community more than I did the last half of the book. Although I read the book's synopsis, the time jump was a little jarring.

With her signature dreamy prose and lyric language, Hoffman has written a love letter to women who have struggled to survive after rejection and loss have forced their hand. Although this story is darker than usual, she captures the same magical feeling of her other novels and paints a disturbing and vivid portrait of what women and girls must do at times to stay close to the ones they love. Relevant for today’s world, this time travel novel shows just how far women have advanced in terms of their rights to control their own bodies and destinies, and it also shows how far we still have to go. Highly recommended.

4.5 stars
A gripping story of family, love, the power of books, the power of women, time travel, and so beautifully written. Alice Hoffman can do no wrong in my book.

The setting: "...when Mia Jacob can no longer see a way to survive, the power of words saves her. The Scarlet Letter was written almost two hundred years earlier, but it seems to tell the story of Mia’s mother, Ivy, and their life inside the Community—an oppressive cult in western Massachusetts where contact with the outside world is forbidden, and books are considered evil. But how could this be? How could Nathaniel Hawthorne have so perfectly captured the pain and loss that Mia carries inside her?... As a girl Mia fell in love with a book [The Scarlet Letter]. Now as a young woman she falls in love with a brilliant writer {Hawthorne] as she makes her way back in time. But what if Nathaniel Hawthorne never wrote The Scarlet Letter? And what if Mia Jacob never found it on the day she planned to die?" And so the story is set. Love, heartbreak, mothers and daughters, self-discovery, and the enduring magic of books--and libraries.

I like Alice Hoffman's books. This novel resembles the Practical Magic series as we again revisit red boots, crows, long tresses, mothers and daughters, and magic realism. But, it was not enough for me [in the distinct minority]. At times, I felt it flat and repetitive and the time travel--a hook up with Hawthorne--though it should have reeled me in further, was a disconnect.

A pregnant teenager, Ivy abandons her wealthy, uptight [unaccepting] Bostonian family for the Community. She marries Joel, the oppressive leader of the cult who considers Mia his daughter and pursues her when she escapes--more so for the deed to the land of the Community vs. a familial bond.

Much on my body, my choice [yay].

And no spoiler from me, but very predictable/obvious trajectory for Mia when connected to Hawthorne's sister/s.

I have read other Alice Hoffman books and not connected with them, so this was a pleasant surprise. Hoffman's dreamlike, evocative prose made, for me, the magic realism in the book totally plausible. The book does deal with some contemporary issues that are important to note, including a woman's agency of her own body and book banning/burning. At its heart, though, this is a story of a girl who loved books so much that they are the catalyst for life changes.

The story starts with Ivy, a teenager who gets pregnant by a boy who then wants nothing to do with her or the child. Her parents are harsh as well, which leads her to run away and join a strict commune where her daughter belongs not to her but to The Community, books are forbidden and strict rules set down by the cult leader keep the members in line. As Ivy's daughter Mia grows, the point of view shifts to her. As a teen, she has an uncontrollable urge to seek out books and reading, and even finds a book in the library that seems to be inscribed to her. The rest of this story takes us on Mia's journey to find herself, even as she struggles to free herself from The Community and its oppressive leader.

This book was short at less than 200 pages, and I found myself wishing that it were longer so that the characters could be explored further and the story, especially the magical realism, could be expanded. Because it takes place in and near Salem Massachusetts, I also wondered why the author didn't explore more of the connection between Mia's story and the history of persecution of women there.

Many thanks to Atria and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Alice Hoffman is a favorite author for me. I've enjoyed everything I've read by her, including, of course, her Practical Magic series, but many other books as well. This one involves life in a cult, the love of books, and time travel - quite a mix!

Description:
One brilliant June day when Mia Jacob can no longer see a way to survive, the power of words saves her. The Scarlet Letter was written almost two hundred years earlier, but it seems to tell the story of Mia’s mother, Ivy, and their life inside the Community—an oppressive cult in western Massachusetts where contact with the outside world is forbidden, and books are considered evil. But how could this be? How could Nathaniel Hawthorne have so perfectly captured the pain and loss that Mia carries inside her?

Through a journey of heartbreak, love, and time, Mia must abandon the rules she was raised with at the Community. As she does, she realizes that reading can transport you to other worlds or bring them to you, and that readers and writers affect one another in mysterious ways. She learns that time is more fluid than she can imagine, and that love is stronger than any chains that bind you.

As a girl Mia fell in love with a book. Now as a young woman she falls in love with a brilliant writer as she makes her way back in time. But what if Nathaniel Hawthorne never wrote The Scarlet Letter ? And what if Mia Jacob never found it on the day she planned to die?

My thoughts:
Great characters and great plotting. The depth of character portrayal made the characters come alive on the page. Mia was an interesting character who bravely faced hardship in the cult, but also after she escaped and built a new life. The connection with Nathaniel Hawthorne was an interesting segue. The book also throws a light on the past and current plight of unmarried, pregnant women and the difficulties they must face. While some things have changed, other stigmas still remain. Hoffman's writing is magical and engrossing. She has a way with words that make you really think about what is being said.

Thanks to Atria Books through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on August 15, 2023.

Interesting premise and great writing, just wasn't my cup of tea.
Thanks for the chance to read and review!

The Invisible Hour is an engaging take on The Scarlet Letter. Mia, the female protagonist, is fascinated by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, especially after finding a library copy of The Scarlet Letter that contains a hand-written inscription reading: “To Mia . . .” Hawthorne's story inadvertently resonates with Mia. But it’s not until she time-travels back to Hawthorne’s era that she finds out why that is so. There’s also an antagonist in the form of Joel Davis who relentlessly pursues Mia, adding a touch of dastardly intrigue to the tale. What a spellbinding premise by Alice Hoffman!

I found the writing absolutely beautiful and I couldn't put the book down. When I did have to step away, the story and the characters stayed with me. I do judge a book on it's ability to peak my interest in the subject matter and Ms. Hoffman had me Googling Hawthorne and his works. Brava!

Thank you so much to @Netgalley for the advanced reader copy of The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman. Receiving this novel early felt pretty surreal as I adored the Practical Magic series.

The Invisible Hour is truly a novel for book lovers as Nathaniel Hawthorne and his classic, The Scarlet Letter, play a large role in the story.

We meet Ivy, a bookish soul, when she is a teen, desperate and in love but also pregnant. The fathers want nothing to do with Ivy or her daughter Mia, and the duo retreats to a cult where women and books are equally devalued, which feels doubly offensive.

I adored this book in the beginning, and the first half was on track to be a five star read. Unfortunately, the novel takes a major turn when the POV is altered, and it just didn’t pan out the way I was hoping. I’m glad I read it, but I would say if you are a fan of magical realism and curious about Alice Hoffman, start with the Practical Magic series.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you, NetGalley and Simon & Schuster, Inc., for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

"The bond between writer and reader is a cherished and mysterious one. A book doesn't live when it's written. It lives when it's read."

Mia Jacob spent her younger years in the Community - an oppressive cult in Western Massachusetts. Her relationship with her mother had to be hidden because she did not belong to her; she belonged to the Community. Mia found escape at the library and in books. Once she reads The Scarlet Letter, her life changes, she can relate to the book in a way that most cannot. Almost as if it was written about her. Mia eventually escapes the Community after her mother's tragic death and can live a free life.

The second half of the book takes an interesting turn. Mia uses The Scarlet Letter to time travel and meets Nathaniel Hawthorne, who she quickly falls in love with. The story dives into the power of books and the relationship between the writer and the reader.

I cannot decide how I feel about this book. The overall message and theme are captivating and so special to anyone who has used books as an escape, but the book's second half took me by surprise. The transition from Mia's story to Nathaniel's was almost non-existent, and their love story was rushed, making it unbelievable. The time travel element wasn't explained, and Mia's pregnancy made me uncomfortable. The author does an interesting job relating societal themes currently relevant to the 1800s (a woman's right to choose, banned books, etc.). Overall, I give this one 3.5 stars. Once again, I was captivated by the story's message, but I wonder if the execution lived up to its full potential.

I have such mixed feelings about this book. I was excited based on the description, and the first part of the book lived up to my expectations. I really cared about Ivy and Mia and found their situation interesting and compelling. But then the magical realism element popped up and... it just wasn't my "cup of tea."

There's no doubt that Hoffman is a stunning writer and her prose is mellifluous and entertaining. And, I love a good fantasy plot twist. But this just didn't work for me. After the first third, I began to lose interest and although I finished the whole book, I definitely skimmed most of the last third.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

*I received this advance reader copy from Simon and Schuster through Net Galley. This book will be published August 15, 2023. I am grateful for the opportunity to read this story ahead of its release date in return from my honest review.
I am so conflicted on this one. There were no parts of this book that I loved but I did really like some. Unfortunately, there were other parts that I honestly just did not get. It felt like the author wrote 2 short stories and then tried to blend them so that it would create something long enough to be a novel. It felt disconnected and sloppy to me. There was also a lot of narrative but not a lot of dialogue which made it hard to connect to the characters. There are 3 parts to this story. In part 1, Ivy becomes pregnant as a teenager and leaves home when her parents threaten to send her to a home for unwed mothers where her baby will be given up for adoption. Ivy ends up in a cult-like commune where she marries the leader prior to giving birth to Mia. As Mia gets older she finds a way to escape the commune through the world of books, which are forbidden. This part covers a wide range of years in a short number of pages. For me, this resulted in a storyline that lacked depth, making it difficult to connect to both the story and the characters. In part two, you are transported back in time to learn about the life of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mia’s favorite author. Mia is also transported back in time where she falls in love with Nathaniel. Other than Mia being a character from part 1, I struggled to relate part 1 and part 2. In addition to being transported to a different time, it felt like I was also transported to a different book. I know what the connection was supposed to be but I didn’t feel it. Part 3 sort of brings the two worlds together but not very well, in my opinion. I haven’t read a lot of Alice Hoffman’s books but the ones I have read, I have liked. I just didn’t get this one. I typically like time travel stories and stories about life on a commune but this one just felt superficial and disconnected to me.

I was really excited to read this novel, but unfortunately, it left me with disappointment. The story begins when Ivy gets pregnant and runs away after her parents tell her they plan to put the baby up for adoption. She ends up in a cult, marries the cult leader, and gives birth to Mia. When Mia becomes a teenager, she longs to escape with her mother. In the meantime, she falls in love with books which are banned within the cult; her favorite being The Scarlet Letter. Mia eventually escapes and goes on to live within society but eventually is transported through time and meets Nathaniel Hawthorne.

This book started strong but then the plot just never fully developed. I wish we could have more of Ivy's perspective in the cult along with Mia's story. So much detail was missed, and I felt like I barely knew the characters. The romance between Mia and Nathaniel was rushed and shallow.

3 Stars

"the books I fell in love with were always the ones that made me feel known, and they also changed my life".

In true Alice Hoffman writing, this book was whimsical and heavy on the magical realism. The point of her books isn't to read them and say what can be done or not, but the magic that imagination can do while exploring.. This book is told in multiple parts, the first of which where we meet Ivy and her daughter Mia. Ivy finds herself pregnant and with nowhere to go but a community that has opened its arms and hearts to her. Only as she's there for awhile does she realize she was prey to the leader Joel. Told from the view of Ivy and then her teenage daughter Mia, you learn of the cult-like ways they live in the commune...ripped away from life under the watchful eye of their leader. Even as the author writes this part of the novel, there is always hope, and it's one thing I love about her magical realism books. She can write about pain but she does it without losing the hope...and with this novel, it's the dreams that happen by opening a book. The escapism that can lead to freedom of the mind and the heart.

When the book takes a turn into the past (time travel in the magical sense), Mia meets the author of the book that gave her hope, well before he wrote the novel. And here is where I think the reader should just go with it...it's not possible based on our knowledge of the world but it's magical and I was totally here for it.

Alice Hoffman is like Patti Callahan Henry to me. Both write in charming ways but with a message of light that comes out of the darkness. Huge fan of them both and grateful to have been given this early arc of it.

"a book doesn't live when it's written. It lives when it's read".

In her new novel The Invisible Hour, venerated author Alice Hoffman covers such important topics as a woman's right to do what she chooses with her own body, mistrusting literature as propaganda, and the fact that the two most powerful forces on Earth are knowledge, and love. Ivy Jacob is a lonely, misunderstood young woman when she becomes pregnant at 16. Cast out by her family, Ivy winds up in a commune, married to the leader. Joel is a hard man, bent on total control of his commune members. He does not allow followers to read books, or the children to attend public school in town. Ivy, a lifelong reader and library enthusiast, gives birth to a daughter she names Mia. Like mother like daughter, Mia also longs for knowledge, and sneaks books out of the local public library. After Ivy's death, her stepfather Joel finds her stash of hidden books, brands her with an A for anarchy, arrogance, and perhaps worst of all to Joel - ambition - for mia believes in, aspires to, and plans for a life outside of the commune and away from Joel. When her books are burned and her private refuge destroyed, Mia does the unthinkable and runs away.

The book is difficult to review without spoiling, but if you sense elements of The Scarlet Letter in Mia's story, well let me just say you are correct. I enjoyed the first section of the book immensely, but I found the rest a bit convoluted. I did enjoy seeing conceits from Hoffman's usual bag of tricks (Hello red boots!!!!) The book however is an important read, given that the lives of women in this day and age are slowly reverting back to the lives of women like Hester Prynne and those of her era.
Overall this book is an loving homage to libraries, reading, and the love of books, which is always something to treasure and preserve.

Historically, I have enjoyed Alice Hoffman. I’ve always said her style takes getting used to, but this one just didn’t land for me. While in the past, I thought her writing was poetic and artistic, it felt more drawn out and glazed over this time. I wished the chapters were a bit shorter so that it felt a bit more bite-sized.
After a bit, I felt like there was no solid plot. I knew the story and what was happening, but I couldn’t identify what exactly the real issue was we were trying to solve? Maybe if I actually enjoyed The Scarlett Letter more itself, I would’ve appreciated the fawning over Nathaniel.
I want to say that in a different season or state of mind, I think I could’ve gotten more from this one. But this time around it just wasn’t it. I put it down around halfway and had a really reallllly hard time picking it back up.
*thanks to NetGalley for this eARC

Thank you NetGalley, Atria Books and Alice Hoffman for a copy of this book.

When Ivy gets pregnant at an early age, her boyfriend abandons her and her parents control her by trying to send her to away to give birth and give the baby up for adoption. Ivy decides to run away and finds herself at the Community where another man is waiting to control her life. When her daughter Mia grows up, she finds her escape in something forbidden, books. The book she relates to most is The Scarlet Letter which Mia feels almost tells her mother's story. We follow Mia as she escapes from the Community and finds a new life of her own. One of the only people she feels connected to is Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author of The Scarlet Letter. Mia is transported back in time to connect with Nathaniel and tell her story.

Initially after finishing the novel, I was not sure if I enjoyed the time travel. I have read several novels by this author so I knew to expect magic but since Nathaniel was a real person I thought it was odd Mia went back in time to met him. Today, the more I have thought about it and how Mia's connection to Hawthorne ultimately affected Mia's life, I found it very clever. Throughout this book, there were two themes that really hit me. One being how at time women have little or no control over their own bodies and choices and two being that one book can change your life.