05/01/2023
Hoffman (the Practical Magic series) keeps up her flair for the fantastical with this enchanting tale of a woman and her daughter living in an oppressive modern-day commune, where they find comfort in books. Ivy Jacob’s ever-disappointed mother and stern father react badly to news of her teen pregnancy, prompting her to run away from her tony Boston home for Western Massachusetts, where she’s embraced by a group called The Community. There, she gives birth to her daughter, Mia, and marries the group’s charismatic but controlling leader, Joel, when Mia is three months old. The Community’s rules are draconian—members are branded with letters corresponding to their alleged crimes—and eventually the abuse weighs on Ivy’s conscience. At 16, Mia secretly takes out books from a nearby library (education and reading are forbidden after members turn 15), and she tries to convince her mother to join her in an escape. Alternate chapters portray Nathaniel Hawthorne’s writing life in the mid-19th century, and a series of time-traveling twists illuminate Hawthorne’s inspiration for The Scarlet Letter, Mia’s favorite book. Though the evil Joel is a bit one-dimensional, the portrayal of Hawthorne is credible and the conceit feels truly magical. For the most part, Hoffman manages not to break the spell. Agent: Amanda Urban: ICM Partners. (Aug.)
07/01/2023
Hoffman (The Book of Magic) again brings a touch of the otherworldly to serious issues in a novel opening with Ivy Jacob's flight from her tony Boston home when she becomes pregnant. Finding refuge at a Western Massachusetts commune, she immediately comes under the control of Joel, the commune's leader. He allows commune members no personal possessions, not even books, and he denies them families of their own, administering punishments to those who disobey. Ivy knows she has made a mistake but cannot leave, and daughter Mia grows up at the commune, chafing at the rules. Mia secretly goes to the town library, where she finds a copy of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter with an inexplicable dedication to her on the flyleaf. When Ivy is killed in a freak accident, Mia decides that it's time to escape, but Joel still stalks her. One magical day, she is transported to 1837 and meets Hawthorne, encouraging him to write the book that will save her life more than a century later. VERDICT Hoffman's integrated storylines effectively highlight the subjugation of women throughout time, with results that will appeal to a wide range of fiction readers.—Joanna M. Burkhardt
2023-05-24
In this story of a young woman’s attempt to control her destiny, Hoffman combines a paean to reading and books—specifically one book—with time-travel fantasy.
Fifteen-year-old Mia Jacob lives unhappily in the Community, a modern-day cult in western Massachusetts, where women who fail to obey the rigid rules set by despotic leader Joel Davis must wear letters around their necks or branded on their arms. (Sound familiar?) Mia’s mother, Ivy, who came to the Community as a pregnant, runaway teen and reluctantly married Joel, now secretly encourages Mia’s small rebellions, steering her to read books, an activity Joel made Ivy abandon. Mia becomes obsessed with The Scarlet Letter after finding a first edition mysteriously inscribed “To Mia.” After Ivy’s death, Mia escapes the Community. Under the tutelage of Constance Allen and Sarah Mott, a loving couple of lesbian librarians in Concord (where Hawthorne is buried), she finishes growing up and becomes a librarian herself, although Joel continues hounding her. One day, while visiting Hawthorne’s grave, she makes a wish that she could meet the author. Poof! At its midpoint, Hoffman’s novel transforms from a relatively realistic story of female empowerment and the spiritual/psychological magic of reading into pure fantasy. Mia finds herself transported to 1837 Salem. Hawthorne, a struggling young writer whose book Twice-Told Tales has recently been a commercial flop, finds Mia asleep in the grass. She lamely announces, “I came from another time only to meet you,” and they fall rapturously in love, but the inevitable time-travel question arises: If she stays with him, will she alter history? Mia recognizes that The Scarlet Letter is her life story; if the book did not exist, would she? Hoffman makes Nathaniel dreamily appealing and creates a riveting voice for his sister Elizabeth, whose brilliance is thwarted by the times in which she lives, but Mia is more author’s puppet than character, and Hoffman’s worthy message concerning women’s rights feels repetitive and ultimately didactic. More important, the realism and fantasy never quite jibe.
Not one of Hoffman’s best, but it may spark a desire to reread Hawthorne.
"I was immediately immersed in The Invisible Hour. It’s a wonderful story of love and growth, but it’s also a narrative engine of great power. Alice Hoffman is wonderful on stories and writing."
— Stephen King, New York Times bestselling author of FAIRYTALE
What a thrill to discover Nathaniel Hawthorne in the pages of Alice Hoffman’s exquisite new novel, The Invisible Hour! And what delight to experience the melding, across the centuries, of two prodigious American literary imaginations—Hoffman’s and Hawthorne’s—in this redemptive tale of daughters and mothers and one true love for a man and his book.
Megan Marshall, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Peabody Sisters, Margaret Fuller: A New American Life, and Elizabeth Bishop: A Miracle for Breakfast
"Alice Hoffman's The Invisible Hour is a rich, immersive, magical reading experience. This beautiful novel is about the stories women tell each other and the ones that save us, about the price and peril of motherhood, and the difficulties women have faced throughout history in controlling their own fates. Alice Hoffman, the reigning queen of magical realism, takes her readers on a fantastic, mystical journey that celebrates the joy and power of reading and dares to believe in the impossible."
—Kristin Hannah, New York Times bestselling author of The Four Winds
"The incomparable Alice Hoffman has written a transcendent novel that will stay with you all of your reading life. Ivy Jacob is broken beyond repair when she enters a community without books. Soon, her daughter Mia is born into the same world, her fate is also sealed, until the girl steals away and finds respite in a forbidden library. As Mia reads, she disappears into the story as readers do and finds herself there, in a place and time that will unlock her destiny. The Invisible Hour is an inventive yet practical fairytale where the prince is Nathaniel Hawthorne, freedom is love andbooks are our salvation. And frankly, when that book is written by Alice Hoffman, we be truly redeemed."
—Adriana Trigiani, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Left Undone
This fascinating historical fiction is performed dynamically by Jessie Mueller. Mia lives in the Community, a cult that restricts contact with the outside world. All she has known comes into question when she reads THE SCARLET LETTER and observes how the story mysteriously reflects her sheltered and oppressed life. Now Mia seeks a way out and a way back in time to meet Nathaniel Hawthorne and ask her many questions. Mueller expertly delivers a unique performance. Mia is depicted as a complex character full of intrigue as she navigates her way through a compelling story. Mueller offers the right cadence and tone for this reflective novel. Her performance will transport listeners back in time. G.M. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
