Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese

HESTER by Laurie Lico Albanese offers a captivating hypothesis about the inspiration for Hawthorne’s Hester Prynne. This new novel is set primarily in 1829 in Salem, Massachusetts and while Hawthorne is one of the characters, the story mainly centers on Isobel MacAllister Gamble. She is a Scottish lass who has inherited synesthesia, the ability to see words and sounds as colors. She becomes a talented seamstress and her unusual (but misunderstood) abilities greatly enhance her needlework artistry which Albanese is so adept at describing. Being different is often a source of concern, though; Isobel and her ancestors (including Isobel Gowdie who lived in 1662 and was accused of being a witch) face potential ruin. The need for secrecy is key, yet Isobel struggles, asking, “But how can I live and be silent? How can I speak and be safe?” HESTER is historical fiction which confronts discrimination involving race, immigrant status, and gender. There definitely is a feminist message and the constraints which women encountered are shown especially when Isobel is betrayed by her husband and other cruel or weak men, further reflecting The Scarlet Letter. Learning to rely on herself and other women takes courage. At one point, Isobel muses, “I have begun to learn how a woman apportions and gathers what she needs to survive; what she sacrifices for beauty, sustenance, health, or children.” This novel was deservedly chosen as a LibraryReads selection for October. There is an extensive author’s note with many references. For those intrigued by the experience of synesthesia, look also for the middle-school novel A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Moss.