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Chargement... Hesterpar Laurie Lico Albanese
Chargement...
Inscrivez-vous à LibraryThing pour découvrir si vous aimerez ce livre Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre. If you've ever heard of Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, this is the fictional story of the woman behind the main character of that book, Hester Prynne. Woven into the fabric of 19th-century Salem, Massachusetts stands Isobel Gamble, a talented seamstress and embroiderer from Scotland, looking to make a life for herself in America. She arrives in Salem about 125 years after the Witch Trials, and is forced to consider her own lineage as she walks the tightrope of status and reputation in Salem society. Isobel goes through many trials and tribulations as she seeks to define love, freedom, and strength: many of those qualities that, if bared too much, garnered a woman to be labeled as a witch herself. I loved the depth of character and history in this well-narrated tale. Will definitely look out for more of Albanese's work. This book has been on my TBR since its publication. When it came up as a read-along on Book Cougars, I jumped it up to the top. So glad I did. This is a retelling of A Scarlet Letter. However, the protagonist in this story is a contemporary of Hawthorne c. 1930s. She is a talented needleworker with a special gift for bringing color to her work. The inclusion of what we now know as synesthesia was brilliant. Albanese brings life to the town of Salem filled with an array of characters that allows the reader to learn about 19th c fashion, cookery, religion, politics, and the dark topics of abuse and slavery. She paints a not so positive picture of young Hawthorne. Using him as a tortured soul, she moves her story forward. I found the characters rich and resonant of the times. Her research served her well as she looked at the whole community of fictional Salem. Her imagination took her the rest of the way. I was particularly drawn to her color descriptions and was able to visualize the embroidery as if I had seen it. This is top notch historical fiction told with a creative and imaginative voice.
In this retelling of Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter,' a gifted seamstress embroiders color into a society shrouded in its sins. ...As "Hester" unspools in Albanese's vivid and emotionally rich novel, Isobel reveals the story of her female ancestor, another Isobel, who was caught up in one of the last gasps of the European witch panics. ...Albanese has written a novel that brings together 17th-century witch trials with the novel for which Hawthorne is most famous TNathaniel Hawthorne plays an unexpected role in this lively fictional look at the origins of his masterpiece. his novel reimagines The Scarlet Letter from the point of view of a woman who might have inspired Hester Prynne. Prix et récompensesDistinctionsListes notables
"A vivid reimagining of the woman who inspired Hester Prynne, the tragic heroine of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, and a journey into the enduring legacy of New England's witchcraft trials. Who is the real Hester Prynne? Isobel Gamble is a young seamstress carrying generations of secrets when she sets sail from Scotland in the early 1800s with her husband, Edward. An apothecary who has fallen under the spell of opium, his pile of debts have forced them to flee Edinburgh for a fresh start in the New World. But only days after they've arrived in Salem, Edward abruptly joins a departing ship as a medic--leaving Isobel penniless and alone in a strange country, forced to make her way by any means possible. When she meets a young Nathaniel Hawthorne, the two are instantly drawn to each other: he is a man haunted by his ancestors, who sent innocent women to the gallows--while she is an unusually gifted needleworker, troubled by her own strange talents. As the weeks pass and Edward's safe return grows increasingly unlikely, Nathaniel and Isobel grow closer and closer. Together, they are a muse and a dark storyteller; the enchanter and the enchanted. But which is which? In this sensuous and hypnotizing tale, a young immigrant woman grapples with our country's complicated past, and learns that America's ideas of freedom and liberty often fall short of their promise. Interwoven with Isobel and Nathaniel's story is a vivid interrogation of who gets to be a "real" American in the first half of the 19th century, a depiction of the early days of the Underground Railroad in New England, and atmospheric interstitials that capture the long history of "unusual" women being accused of witchcraft. Meticulously researched yet evocatively imagined, Laurie Lico Albanese's Hester is a timeless tale of art, ambition, and desire that examines the roots of female creative power and the men who try to shut it down"-- Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
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Google Books — Chargement... GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999Classification de la Bibliothèque du CongrèsÉvaluationMoyenne:
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The book has a strong sense of place, and the characters were well developed. The author imagines an adulterous love affair as the inspiration for Hawthorne's memorable heroine, Hester Prynne. Independent and strong, Isobel overcomes love gone wrong by "trusting the needle" and using her gifts and talents to make her own way in the world. ( )