Queen Esther
Queen Esther
Queen Esther
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Description
Description
After 40 years, John Irving revisits the setting of his classic novel, The Cider House Rules--the orphanage in St. Cloud's, Maine, where a Jewish girl, not yet four, is abandoned one winter night. Esther Nacht is born in Vienna in 1905. Her father dies on board a ship from Bremerhaven to Portland, Maine; anti-Semites murder her mother in Portland. In the orphanage at St. Cloud's, it's clear to Dr. Larch that the abandoned child not only knows she's Jewish; she's familiar with the biblical Queen Esther she was named for. Dr. Larch knows it won't be easy to find a Jewish family to adopt Esther; he won't find any family who'll adopt her. When Esther is fourteen, about to become a ward of the state, Dr. Larch meets the Winslows--a philanthropic family with a history of providing foster care for unadopted orphans. The Winslows aren't Jewish, but they detest anti-Semitism and like-minded prejudice. Esther's gratitude to the Winslows is unending. While she retraces her steps to her birth city, Esther never stops loving and protecting the Winslows--not even in Vienna. In the final chapter of this historical novel--set in Jerusalem, in 1981--Esther Nacht is seventy-six.
About the Author
About the Author
John Irving was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1942. His first novel, Setting Free the Bears, was published in 1968, when he was twenty-six. He competed as a wrestler for twenty years, and coached wrestling until he was forty-seven. He is a member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 1980, Mr. Irving won a National Book Award for his novel The World According to Garp. In 2000, he won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Cider House Rules. In 2013, he won a Lambda Literary Award for his novel In One Person. Internationally renowned, his novels have been translated into almost forty languages. His all-time bestselling novel, in every language, is A Prayer for Owen Meany. A dual citizen of the United States and Canada, John Irving lives in Toronto.
Critical Reviews
Critical Reviews
"A story that's unmistakably Irving -- amiably peopled, compellingly plotted and, above all, compassionate for its characters."-- "NPR"
"I needed this dose of old-school New England decency. Few skewer sanctimony quite like Irving at his best. More important: I fell in love, once again, with his people....Irving's championing of alternative families is not only welcome but necessary -- especially these days in a post-Dobbs United States. Let 2026 be the year of an Irving revival. Of course, he's never gone away; he has been publishing regularly since 1968. But we may need his singular sense of compassion now more than ever....I'm grateful for this book."-- "Peter Orner, The New York Times Book Review"
"Irving masterfully threads the narrative, from New England to Vienna to Jerusalem, while exploring the themes he frequently wrestles with--orphans, sexuality, and found families. Irving's luminous prose embodies his singular gifts; the novel is expansive, darkly comic, melancholic, and deeply compassionate, conveying a profound empathy for his flawed characters. Countless literary references, lyrical flourishes, and allusions add depth to the Dickensian motif as Irving brilliantly blends moral ambiguity and emotional truth in this essential addition to his oeuvre."-- "Booklist (starred)"
"Queen Esther is richly textured with unforgettable characters, vivid settings, and familial love that will stay with you long after you put the book down."
-- "The Jewish Book Council"
-- "The Jewish Book Council"
Publishing Information
Publishing Information
Publisher:
Simon & Schuster
Pub date:
2025-11-04
Length:
432 pages
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