June 13, 2022
Albanese (Stolen Beauty) imagines in her standout historical the inspiration for The Scarlet Letter. Her proxy for Hester Prynne is Isobel Gamble, a skilled seamstress who has synesthesia and left her native Scotland for the U.S. in 1829 after her apothecary husband Edward’s addiction to opium sent them to the poorhouse. Isobel’s father paid their way out, and the couple took passage onboard a ship bound for America. Once stymied in her ability to express herself creatively, in Salem she uses her talents with needle and thread. She has a chance encounter with writer Nathaniel Hawthorne, recognizing in him a kindred spirit yearning for freedom, a spirit that moves Isobel to risk her life to protect people fleeing slavery. Later, her independent-mindedness leads to suspicions of adultery. Albanese describes Isobel’s synesthesia brilliantly, such as in this memory of her cousins in a Scotland valley: “Their voices rise up in vibrant wisps of yellow and gold. The wind was sometimes fierce pink, and the sound of the waterfall on rocks glinted silver.” Even those unfamiliar with the classic will be hooked by this account of a capable woman standing up to the sexist and racial prejudices of her time.

September 15, 2022
This novel reimagines The Scarlet Letter from the point of view of a woman who might have inspired Hester Prynne. Isobel Gamble is still a teenager when she emigrates from her native Scotland to Salem, Massachusetts, with her much older husband, Edward. Isobel comes from a long line of women with secret knowledge--her namesake is an ancestor known as Isobel Gowdie, Queen of Witches. But she's been taught since childhood to mask such knowledge, including her synesthesia, a condition that lets her see colors associated with sounds and letters. She's bent her energy to her skill at needlework, which has helped her support her family. With Edward, who's an apothecary, she believed she'd made a good marriage--until they ended up in the poorhouse because of his drug use. Salem is their second chance, but almost as soon as they arrive, he turns around and goes back to sea as a medic, leaving her almost penniless. Isobel gets to work and finds support from some people in the community. She also gets to know a tall and handsome young fellow named Nat Hathorne, a man she saw the day she arrived in town. Isobel is a red-haired beauty, and Nat's interest in her quickly turns into flirtation and more. The Salem witch trials are more than a century in the past, but Nat, an aspiring poet, is haunted by the role of his great-great-grandfather, John Hathorne, one of the most implacable judges in the trials. The trials haunt this book, too, woven through its story of Isobel, a woman who bears the bigotry of the town because she's an immigrant and a woman whose husband may have deserted her. The author has incorporated plentiful research about the witch trials and, in Isobel's present, the Underground Railroad. The rich details of life in Salem in the early 19th century, and especially about Isobel's creative work as a seamstress and designer, enliven the tale. Nathaniel Hawthorne plays an unexpected role in this lively fictional look at the origins of his masterpiece.

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October 1, 2022
Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is required reading in many a high school. Albanese (Stolen Beauty, 2017) imagines an inspiration for the character of Hester Prynne. Thanks to her apothecary husband's opium addiction, Scotswoman Isobel Gamble must flee the old world for the new in the 1820s, landing in Salem, Massachusetts. Isobel's husband leaves to seek his fortune, leaving her to support herself with her beautiful needlework. Isobel harbors secrets, her ancestress was tried as a witch, and she is a synesthete, who perceives colors in what she hears. When she befriends Nat Hathorne, a struggling author haunted by his ancestor's role as judge in the witch trials, descendants of the accused and accuser come together, and Hathorne's creativity is sparked. Descriptions of how synesthetes perceive and the creativity of Isobel's needlework are engaging and aid in character development. With a subplot about Isobel's Black neighbors, who have secrets of their own, Albanese's novel will engage readers seeking racial themes, a resilient heroine, and a feminist origin story for one of America's always relevant nineteenth-century classics.

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Starred review from October 14, 2022

The protagonist of this novel from Albanese (Stolen Beauty) is mesmerizing and believable as the inspiration for Hawthorne's Hester Prynne. Isobel Gamble and her husband Edward leave Scotland and head for America after Edward's opium addiction has ruined his finances and reputation. Upon arrival in Salem, Edward promptly abandons Isobel and heads back out to sea, working as a medic. While Isobel is a talented seamstress, she must now depend on her needle to survive. Living in America is not what she imagined. Her skills and immigrant status earn her suspicion, forcing her to carefully conceal her synesthesia, and the accusations of witchcraft in her ancestral history. Despite her vulnerable situation, Isobel strikes up an acquaintance with a young Nat Hathorne, which quickly develops into a spellbinding passion, resulting in Isobel's becoming the inspiration for one of the most well-known and controversial novels ever written. VERDICT This generously researched and compelling novel will draw readers deep into Isobel's refusal to be suppressed and her determination to live life on her own terms. It is a seductive, ambitious, and triumphant story of resilience and courage.--Julie Whiteley

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