Hester

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.