海角大神

Ever wonder if a real woman might have inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne鈥檚 Hester Prynne? On rereading 鈥淭he Scarlet Letter鈥� as an adult, novelist Laurie Lico Albanese was so taken with its heroine, 鈥渨ho defies powerful men and vengeful villagers by wearing the symbol of her shame like a badge of courage,鈥� that she fabricated a backstory behind the classic. Her new novel is colorful, in more ways than one.

鈥淗ester鈥� is told from the point of a view of Isobel McAllister Gamble, a young Scottish woman stuck in an unfortunate marriage. Soon after she immigrates to America, Isobel falls hard for the handsome, haunted, aspiring writer Nat Hathorne (the 鈥渨鈥� in his last name was added later). She announces boldly at the start of her tale: 鈥淭he true story of how he found his scarlet letter 鈥� and then made it larger than life 鈥� begins when I was a child in Scotland and he was a fatherless boy writing poetry that yearned and mourned.鈥澛�

Set in 19th-century Glasgow, Scotland, and Salem, Massachusetts 鈥� with flashbacks to 17th-century witch hunts in both places 鈥� 鈥淗ester鈥� is a chronicle of ill-fated passion and female persecution. The book explores the weight of family history as Isobel and Nat each grapple with an ancestor鈥檚 role in the witch trials, one accused, the other an unrepentant prosecutor.聽 Albanese鈥檚 consideration of inherited guilt also encompasses questions about culpability for forebears鈥� enrichment through slave trade and labor. (One of the novel鈥檚 surprising subplots involves efforts to outfox bounty hunters on the trail of enslaved people who had escaped. The hunters were permitted by law to pursue their human prey even in the supposedly free North.)聽聽聽

With 鈥淗ester,鈥� Albanese has tapped into a rich vein of historical fiction that reimagines famous novels from a female character鈥檚 point of view. 鈥淗ester鈥� joins books like Jean Rhys鈥� 鈥淲ide Sargasso Sea鈥� (1966), which imagines a backstory behind Rochester鈥檚 鈥渕ad鈥� first wife from Charlotte Bront毛鈥檚 鈥淛ane Eyre鈥�; Sena Jeter Naslund鈥檚 鈥淎hab鈥檚 Wife鈥� (1999), which offers a fresh angle on Herman Melville鈥檚 鈥淢oby Dick鈥�; and Christina Baker Kline鈥檚 鈥淎 Piece of the World鈥� (2017), inspired by Andrew Wyeth鈥檚 iconic painting, 鈥淐hristina鈥檚 World.鈥� Like these novels, 鈥淗ester鈥� dramatizes the challenges for women seeking freedom and autonomy in a male-dominated world.聽

Albanese reminds us in an author鈥檚 note that of the five novels Hawthorne published in his lifetime, 鈥淭he Scarlet Letter鈥� is the only one whose source of inspiration remains murky. Conjectures that Hawthorne shared more with his hypocritical clergyman Arthur Dimmesdale than he ever let on, and that his book was written as a veiled penance, underlie the plot of 鈥淗ester.鈥澛�

Albanese鈥檚 version of the woman who inspired Hester Prynne will appeal to contemporary readers as both a proto-feminist and a forceful single mother. She comes from a long line of red-haired Isobels, beginning with the healer Isobel Gowrie, who barely escaped the murderous zealotry of witch-hunters in 17th century Scotland. One hundred and fifty years later, young Isobel, a gifted needlewoman, dreams of her own escape from the limited options open to women; her greatest desire is to own a dressmaking shop. Alas, she has hitched her star to Edward Gamble, an apothecary with a ruinous penchant for poppy that lands the couple in debtor鈥檚 prison. After Isobel鈥檚 father bails them out, they sail to Salem in 1829 in hopes of a fresh start. Things don鈥檛 turn out as planned.

In addition to her extraordinary talent for embroidery, Isobel is blessed 鈥� or cursed, in her late mother鈥檚 opinion, who feared its association with sorcery 鈥� with what we now know as synesthesia. Isobel鈥檚 form of this sensory phenomenon of 鈥渏oined perception鈥� leads her to associate sights, sounds, words, and letters with specific colors. Fittingly for the purposes of this novel, she associates the letter A with the color scarlet. But in a move that feels too much like narrative convenience, she signs all her needlework with a tiny, hidden scarlet letter A 鈥� not for adultery, but for Abington, her birthplace beside the River Clyde in Scotland.

Because most of Isobel鈥檚 experiences are literally tinted by the hues she associates with them, the novel is awash in color. Isobel hears her beloved father鈥檚 voice as soft caramel, her mother鈥檚 as sapphire and emerald. Most women in the book, however, generally speak in pastels. When Nat touches her, Isobel sees 鈥渆xplosions of color鈥� persimmon, cinnamon, India-ink blue, lemon yellow, poppy red, tangerine.鈥澛�

Unfortunately, weaving this unusual condition into the narrative comes to feel like a heavy-handed distraction. 鈥淗ester鈥� is already richly threaded with so many details, including vivid pictures of life in the bustling port town of 19th century Salem, where newcomers are not welcome and a young redhead with a brogue, however highly skilled, is spurned by employers. While Isobel鈥檚 way of seeing leads to rainbow gardens and vibrant tapestries that map her life story, it also leads to some 鈥� I hate to say it 鈥� purple prose.聽聽

Albanese鈥檚 Hathorne is an intriguing character who does not come across well: He is a cad, both cowardly and arrogant. Still, he is not the worst person in 鈥淗ester.鈥� Yet Albanese carefully offsets these villains with a wonderful, multiracial cast of supportive, heroic men and women whom Isobel comes to love. Her refusal to be a victim or to allow her daughter to become an object of scorn turns 鈥淭he Scarlet Letter鈥� on its head. 鈥淗ester鈥� is an inspirational tale about the importance of self-determination and the power of women joining together to overcome oppression in its many forms.

Heller McAlpin reviews books regularly for The Monitor, The Wall Street Journal, and NPR.