Hester

Great writing is the key to my heart, and this book is gorgeously written. Isobel, a newly arrived Scottish immigrant to Salem, MA, carries a dangerous secret gift—the “magic” of synesthesia. The story takes place two generations after the infamous witch trials, and while Isobel’s unique color awareness means she can support herself as a seamstress and embroiderer while her husband is at sea, it also means she’s vulnerable to suspicion. Meanwhile, she meets Nathaniel Hawthorne—yes, that Nathaniel Hawthorne.

While Albanese explains that Isobel isn’t specifically “Hester” of The Scarlet Letter, by the end of the novel, I completely… show more.

I love historical fiction, and this book checked all the boxes. It is set in an interesting time period that jumps from the Salem witch trials to a hundred years later.

The characters drew me in, especially our heroine, Isobel, who believes her synesthesia is a hereditary curse passed on to her from her ancestors, who were witches. When she meets up with Nathaniel Hawthorne, their relationship transforms her in ways both good and bad.

She is complicated and must navigate the societal prison women have lived through historically. I also found it interesting to delve into a community in… show more.

I generally gravitate to non-fiction, but this reimagining of Nathanial Hawthorne’s life combines the things I love about non-fiction with the expansive possibilities of fiction.

The core of the book poses this question: what if the protagonist of The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne, had actually been based on a real woman? The more you read, the more it seems plausible—while you still understand you’re enjoying a work of fiction. I also enjoyed how this book brought in disparate topics of the Salem witch trials and the phenomenon of synesthesia.