Barbara’s Pick
June 2024
The Invisible Hour
Alice Hoffman
Atria Books
August 15, 2023
It’s always a delight when there is a new book from Alice Hoffman. Her brand of magical realism has entertained this reader for more than three decades. Although the hook of this novel is not the Owens family, which she’s written about in a handful of books, the story involves fellow New Englander Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Scarlet Letter.
The main character, Mia, is a teen living with her mother in a cultish group that shuns all outsiders. After something terrible occurs, she runs away and ends up at the library, finding a copy of The Scarlet Letter seemingly inscribed to her. She doesn’t understand how the author seems to have known her history, but she travels through time for real and not just by imagination to answer all her questions and take control of her story.
Hoffman’s lush prose is mesmerizing; I had trouble putting the book down. I most enthusiastically recommend it!