Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we’re excited about.
I’m Waiting For
Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese
Narrator: Saskia Maarleveld
Published by Macmillan Audiobooks
Publication Date October 4, 2022
Goodreads
A vivid reimagining of the woman who inspired Hester Prynne, the tragic heroine of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, and a journey into the enduring legacy of New England's witchcraft trials.
Who is the real Hester Prynne?
Isobel Gamble is a young seamstress carrying generations of secrets when she sets sail from Scotland in the early 1800s with her husband, Edward. An apothecary who has fallen under the spell of opium, his pile of debts have forced them to flee Edinburgh for a fresh start in the New World. But only days after they've arrived in Salem, Edward abruptly joins a departing ship as a medic—leaving Isobel penniless and alone in a strange country, forced to make her way by any means possible.
When she meets a young Nathaniel Hawthorne, the two are instantly drawn to each other: he is a man haunted by his ancestors, who sent innocent women to the gallows—while she is an unusually gifted needleworker, troubled by her own strange talents. As the weeks pass and Edward's safe return grows increasingly unlikely, Nathaniel and Isobel grow closer and closer. Together, they are a muse and a dark storyteller; the enchanter and the enchanted. But which is which?
In this sensuous and hypnotizing tale, a young immigrant woman grapples with our country's complicated past, and learns that America's ideas of freedom and liberty often fall short of their promise. Interwoven with Isobel and Nathaniel's story is a vivid interrogation of who gets to be a "real" American in the first half of the 19th century, a depiction of the early days of the Underground Railroad in New England, and atmospheric interstitials that capture the long history of "unusual" women being accused of witchcraft. Meticulously researched yet evocatively imagined, Laurie Lico Albanese's Hester is a timeless tale of art, ambition, and desire that examines the roots of female creative power and the men who try to shut it down.
Why I’m Waiting
I love retellings, fairy tales, classic literature, or, historical figures, I devour them. Therefore, despite not having read The Scarlet Letter (something I plan to remedy) I was excited to find a reimagining of Hester Prynne, and, as an added bonus it is narrated by one of my favorite narrators Saskia Maarleveld. I’m definitely looking forward to this audiobook.
I think I read the Scarlet Letter in school, but I definitely need to re-read it. This sounds like a great retelling of that story.