Queen Esther: A Novel
After forty years, John Irving returns to the world of his bestselling classic novel and Academy Award–winning film, The Cider House Rules, revisiting the orphanage in St. Cloud’s, Maine, where Dr. Wilbur Larch takes in Esther—a Viennese-born Jew whose life is shaped by anti-Semitism.
Esther Nacht is born in Vienna in 1905. Her father dies on board the ship to Portland, Maine; her mother is murdered by anti-Semites in Portland. Dr. Larch knows it won’t be easy to find a Jewish family to adopt Esther; in fact, he won’t find any family who’ll adopt her.
When Esther is fourteen, soon to be a ward of the state, Dr. Larch meets the Winslows, a philanthropic New England family with a history of providing foster care for unadopted orphans. The Winslows aren’t Jewish, but they despise anti-Semitism. Esther’s gratitude for the Winslows is unending; even as she retraces her roots back to Vienna, she never stops loving and protecting the Winslows. In the final chapter, set in Jerusalem in 1981, Esther Nacht is seventy-six.
John Irving’s sixteenth novel is a testament to his enduring ability to weave complex characters and intricate narratives that challenge and captivate. Queen Esther is not just a story of survival but a profound exploration of identity, belonging, and the enduring impact of history on our personal lives showcasing why Irving remains one of the world’s most beloved, provocative, and entertaining authors—a storyteller of our time and for all time.
Esther Nacht is born in Vienna in 1905. Her father dies on board the ship to Portland, Maine; her mother is murdered by anti-Semites in Portland. Dr. Larch knows it won’t be easy to find a Jewish family to adopt Esther; in fact, he won’t find any family who’ll adopt her.
When Esther is fourteen, soon to be a ward of the state, Dr. Larch meets the Winslows, a philanthropic New England family with a history of providing foster care for unadopted orphans. The Winslows aren’t Jewish, but they despise anti-Semitism. Esther’s gratitude for the Winslows is unending; even as she retraces her roots back to Vienna, she never stops loving and protecting the Winslows. In the final chapter, set in Jerusalem in 1981, Esther Nacht is seventy-six.
John Irving’s sixteenth novel is a testament to his enduring ability to weave complex characters and intricate narratives that challenge and captivate. Queen Esther is not just a story of survival but a profound exploration of identity, belonging, and the enduring impact of history on our personal lives showcasing why Irving remains one of the world’s most beloved, provocative, and entertaining authors—a storyteller of our time and for all time.
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Community Reviews
There story starts with typical JI meandering rants and tales, then it settles into really playful storytelling which reminded me why I enjoy his writing so much. Not his best but definitely entertaining. Hard Rain is a great character.
In wondering why the titular character spends much of the book existing as a reference rather than an active cast member, it’s a struggle not to overthink it. She is certainly a metaphor for her namesake as we see below, but you be the judge if the "hidden" theme goes too far.
"The biblical Esther, the queen who hides her Jewish identity. “God does not appear in the Esther of the Christian Old Testament or in the Esther of the Hebrew Bible—even God is hidden, Jimmy,” Honor said. In the holiday of Purim, when the Jews read the Scroll of Esther, they wear masks to hide their faces—more hiding, Jimmy.”"
I’m not complaining that the Queen’s prodigy stole the stage. It’s more a matter of expectations set by titles. “Jimmy Winslow, Ich weiß” would have done several things—prepare us for both his stage crashing and his reticence to express himself with more than, “I know.” Blame that on his grandfather Thomas as you will also do when you learn that it is he who triggered the avalanche of Dickens in this book. As proof, I offer the following—
"What Thomas Winslow didn’t expect was that reading Great Expectations aloud made Jimmy Winslow want to be a writer—but only if he could be a novelist like Charles Dickens. Thomas never meant to burden the boy with such an outdated desire; to be a novelist like Charles Dickens struck Thomas as a dinosaur of an ambition. Wasn’t James Winslow doomed to be out of date before he began—condemned to obscurity before he started? "
The complaint is that we suffer through pages and pages of soppy Dickens lessons when we actually want to learn about the mysterious Queen Esther. As they say grandfather Thomas, “no good deed goes unpunished.”
If there is a saving grace in this book, it is Jimmy’s time in Vienna. The characters in this period are priceless. There's Siegfried with his mutilated plastic soldiers, the suplay master Little Mirror, and roommates that are full of personality. If only the book had begun in Vienna!
Many thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for providing this eARC.
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