Hester Prynne, the protagonist from Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, captured my imagination when I was in high school. I admired her willingness to take on the Pilgrim establishment despite her punishment for adultery, being forced to wear “[o]n the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold-thread, appeared the letter A.”

Imagine how excited I was to pick up a modern historical novel reimagining Hawthorne’s story from the perspective of a Hester-like Isobel Gamble who meets and falls in love with the young Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Hester: A Novel by Laurie Lico Albanese did not disappoint.

Many elements of Hawthorne’s masterpiece remain—adultery, a child born out of wedlock, and a courageous protagonist with superb needlework skills endangered by narrow minds.

But there were two masterful differences from the original story. One difference was a careful exploration of Isobel’s early life In Scotland. The other was the to imbue Isobel with the gift of synesthesia.

Hester Prynne, the protagonist from Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, captured my imagination when I was in high school. I admired her willingness to take on the Pilgrim establishment despite her punishment for adultery, being forced to wear “[o]n the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold-thread, appeared the letter A.”

Imagine how excited I was to pick up a modern historical novel reimagining Hawthorne’s story from the perspective of a Hester-like Isobel Gamble who meets and falls in love with the young Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Hester: A Novel by Laurie Lico Albanese did not disappoint.

Many elements of Hawthorne’s masterpiece remain—adultery, a child born out of wedlock, and a courageous protagonist with superb needlework skills endangered by narrow minds.

But there were two masterful differences from the original story. One difference was a careful exploration of Isobel’s early life In Scotland. The other was the to imbue Isobel with the gift of synesthesia.

Synesthesia is the condition where a person’s senses overlap. Most commonly, a synesthete might see letters, numbers, or sounds as colors. Or they might see or hear a word and taste food. Here’s a short YouTube video that explains it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkRbebvoYqI

And, to find out if you or someone you know is a synesthete, sign up to take a test at this website: https://synesthete.org/home Sadly, my test revealed I am not one of the one to four percent of the populations who are synesthetes. I’d love to know if you or someone you know has synesthesia.

While researching for this blog, I came upon a fascinating article written by a synesthete and a neuroscientist. The gist of it is that, like a firefly trapped in amber, people with synesthesia make sensory pairings in early childhood that get trapped in “psychological amber.” Here’s a link to check it out: https://www.openmindmag.org/articles/cultural-synesthesia#reader-tools

Bottom line: I highly recommend this lush, innovative novel, and not just because my protagonist, Lily, wears a firefly trapped in amber.

You can find Hester: A Novel in your local bookstore or here: https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Hester-A-Novel/dp/B09Q7XKSLR/ref=sr_1_1?crid=24HNJJQY3CQEG&keywords=hester+book&qid=1685969973&sprefix=hester%2Caps%2C115&sr=8-1