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A review by bargainsleuth
Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese
5.0
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Isobel is a woman with kinesthesia, who sees colors associated with people and words. She’s been taught to keep this ability secret because the original Isobel was tried as a witch a hundred years prior. Luckily, she escaped and had descendants who also shared this gift. The Isobel of the book emigrates from Scotland to Massachusetts in the mid 1810’s, far removed from the days of the Salem Witch Trials, but not in sentiment.
This book is so interesting, yet it’s hard to describe. It’s sort of historical fiction, sort of fantasy, too. Isobel meets the author Nathanial Hawthorne, best known today as the author of The Scarlet Letter. Isobel is seen as the inspiration of Hester Prynne, right down to her skill as a seamstress. I’ve personally never read Hawthorne so I can’t say how close the author gets to his subject, but it’s an engaging tale even without having read the classic.
I do have to say that the mood I felt while reading Hester reminded me very much of Magic Lessons (Practical Magic #0.1) by Alice Hoffman because of the setting and accusations of witchcraft and Puritan beliefs. But that’s the only similarity. Isobel isn’t a witch, she’s an embroiderer, but she’s also a foreigner, which naturally begs suspicion from the locals. She’s befriended by a free black woman with two young kids, and I thought the author did a good job explaining how Massachusetts was a free state, yet slave hunters were allowed there to track down people and return them to the south. Isobel reads and sees things and has many questions, and an early look at the Underground Railroad is shown to both her and the reader.
Because it’s so rare now, I had a hard time imagining the intricate embroidery described, but I sure had a great time trying! My mother, aunt and grandmother were skilled with the needle, a talent I did not inherit.
I have been very lucky lately to read some awesome ARCs, and this is another one. Very engaging, entertaining, I just didn’t want to put it down. Highly recommended!
Isobel is a woman with kinesthesia, who sees colors associated with people and words. She’s been taught to keep this ability secret because the original Isobel was tried as a witch a hundred years prior. Luckily, she escaped and had descendants who also shared this gift. The Isobel of the book emigrates from Scotland to Massachusetts in the mid 1810’s, far removed from the days of the Salem Witch Trials, but not in sentiment.
This book is so interesting, yet it’s hard to describe. It’s sort of historical fiction, sort of fantasy, too. Isobel meets the author Nathanial Hawthorne, best known today as the author of The Scarlet Letter. Isobel is seen as the inspiration of Hester Prynne, right down to her skill as a seamstress. I’ve personally never read Hawthorne so I can’t say how close the author gets to his subject, but it’s an engaging tale even without having read the classic.
I do have to say that the mood I felt while reading Hester reminded me very much of Magic Lessons (Practical Magic #0.1) by Alice Hoffman because of the setting and accusations of witchcraft and Puritan beliefs. But that’s the only similarity. Isobel isn’t a witch, she’s an embroiderer, but she’s also a foreigner, which naturally begs suspicion from the locals. She’s befriended by a free black woman with two young kids, and I thought the author did a good job explaining how Massachusetts was a free state, yet slave hunters were allowed there to track down people and return them to the south. Isobel reads and sees things and has many questions, and an early look at the Underground Railroad is shown to both her and the reader.
Because it’s so rare now, I had a hard time imagining the intricate embroidery described, but I sure had a great time trying! My mother, aunt and grandmother were skilled with the needle, a talent I did not inherit.
I have been very lucky lately to read some awesome ARCs, and this is another one. Very engaging, entertaining, I just didn’t want to put it down. Highly recommended!