Hester

Hester is a 2022 novel by American author Laurie Lico Albanese. The novel follows Scottish seamstress Isobel Gamble as she moves to Salem, Massachusetts and begins an affair with a young Nat Hathorne before he begins his career as famous author Nathaniel Hawthorne. In this feminist reimagining of The Scarlet Letter, Albanese fashions Isobel as the inspiration for Hester Prynne, the heroine of Hawthorne’s famous novel.

Hester is Albanese’s fifth novel. Her previous publications include Stolen Beauty (2017), which, like Hester, imagines how a famous creator (in this case, Gustav Klimt) may have been influenced by a woman in his life. Hester was named an Audible Best Book of 2002, an IndieNext and Canadian and American Librarians October 2022 selection, a Book of the Month selection, and a finalist for Goodreads’ Best Book of the Year for 2022.

This guide refers to the 2022 St. Martin’s Publishing Group e-book edition.

Content Warning: Hester references sexual assault and slavery, and depicts misogyny, addiction, racism (including period-appropriate language), maternal and infant death (by childbirth), injury (by self-flagellation), and violence (including domestic violence).

Plot Summary

Hester begins with narrator Isobel Gamble imagining Nat Hathorne (who will become the author Nathaniel Hawthorne) as a young man in Salem after the death of his father, not knowing she will soon arrive and change his life. The narrative then returns to Isobel’s childhood in Glasgow, Scotland. During this time, she is taught to keep her synesthesia, which manifests as seeing different emotions and letters as certain colors, a secret. Isobel’s mother imparts this need for secrecy due to their ancestress, Isobel Gowdie, after whom Isobel is named, being tried as a witch. Isobel Gowdie is a real historical figure, while Isobel Gamble is entirely fictional. Gowdie’s story, including how she escaped her trial, is told in interludes.

After Isobel’s mother dies, she begins work as a poorly paid stitcher, using the embroidery skills her mother taught her to earn money. On her own projects, Isobel always hides a small scarlet “A,” which stands for Abington, the city of her birth. Isobel marries apothecary Edward Gamble, whose addiction to opium leads them to leave Scotland for America. They sail on the ship of Captain William Darling, who is kind to Isobel.

When the Gambles arrive in Salem, Massachusetts, Edward reveals he intends to board Darling’s ship again as an onboard doctor for a trip to Jamaica, as he believes he can discover an “elixir of life” via ingredients known to African-descended people. He leaves Isobel behind in Salem, where she lives in a small cottage on the edge of the town. She begins a friendship with her Black neighbor, Mercy, who also stitches ornate, seemingly magical patterns, and Mercy’s cousin Zeke and children, Ivy and Abraham. Isobel also develops an infatuation with Nat Hathorne, a brooding local man. After Edward leaves on Darling’s ship, Isobel learns he stole the scant coins her father gave her before they departed Scotland, leaving her with no money for food or rent. She seeks employment, which proves a struggle, given Salem’s prejudice against Scottish people. Isobel eventually finds a job at Felicity Adams’s dress shop, though the proprietress pays her a low wage compared to the high price she charges for her embroidery.

Isobel and Nat bond over their different arts, with Nat continually characterizing Isobel as someone he has imagined into being. Isobel is flattered by his fascination with her, though she is uneasy with his references to creating her as though by magic, given her family’s history of being accused of witchcraft. Nevertheless, as she learns about his own history with witchcraft—his ancestor being crucial in condemning supposed witches during the Salem Witch Trials, a history that plagues Nat—she feels an increasing connection with him. The pair begin a flirtation that involves leaving gifts, including a white cloth embroidered with a scarlet “A.”

Isobel develops her friendship with Mercy, which leads her to learn more about the injustices of slavery. She begins to believe Mercy is involved in something unlawful. She also befriends Nell, an Irish housemaid at the home of one of the grand families of Salem, the Silases. This friendship leads Isobel to a lucrative job sewing a trousseau for Charlotte Silas, the pregnant and unmarried daughter of the family. Mercy warns her against getting close to the Silases, who made their money via the slave trade, but Isobel doesn’t listen.

Isobel receives a letter from Darling telling her that Edward did not board the ship in Jamaica and is not en route to Salem. She begins a sexual affair with Nat and begins to fall in love with him. After encountering Mercy’s cousin Zeke in the woods while sneaking off to swim with Nat, she begins to suspect her neighbors are involved in helping escaped enslaved people avoid slave catchers, who have arrived in Salem. Isobel learns she is pregnant and confesses her love to Nat, who avoids her for days afterward; when they meet again, he accuses her of having bewitched him, leaving her heartbroken.

Distraught, Isobel attempts to terminate her pregnancy using an herbal tonic, which only succeeds in making her ill; Mercy nurses her back to health. Darling returns to Salem, reporting that Edward failed to rejoin his crew after abusing opium in Jamaica. He repaid Edward’s debts to creditors; in return, Isobel gifts him a pair of leopard-embroidered gloves that she intended for Nat. He wears the gloves to a gathering, leading to her being fired by a vengeful Mrs. Adams. Pregnant and unemployed, she fears for her future, but numerous women come to her for stitch work, offering to trade items.

Isobel attends a Salem banquet, announcing Edward as her child’s father for propriety. Nat sees her, but doesn’t approach. Later, he visits her house and reports he arranged for a carriage to take her to Maine in a week’s time, leaving Isobel uncertain if this is the best choice for her future. Before she can decide, Edward returns to Salem, reporting Darling had him arrested in Jamaica. He accuses Darling of capturing those who have escaped slavery and returning them to bondage for reward money. Edward intends to do this himself, targeting Mercy and her children. Isobel agrees to lure Mercy out, but secretly stitches a warning in fabric so Mercy will know to flee. When Mercy never arrives, Edward grows angry and strikes Isobel. She stabs him in the eye with a needle and escapes with the help of Zeke and the local undertaker.

Isobel is taken to a private sugar hut, where maple sugar is processed. Mercy informs her that the hut is a stop on the Underground Railroad and that Darling aids her in escorting those escaping slavery to Canada. Isobel lives in the hut through the winter until she gives birth to her daughter, Margaret, named after her own mother. She learns Edward went blind from her attack. Darling helps her leave Salem to go to Canada; as Isobel sails away, she sees Nat on the docks, and raises her infant daughter so he may see her. Isobel spends the rest of her life in Canada, where she raises her daughter and opens a dressmaking shop. She and Darling remain friends and, once Margaret is an adult, the pair become lovers. When Nat publishes The Scarlet Letter, Isobel tells her daughter the story of her life.