Queen Esther

Welp! Man, this one hurts to write. John Irving has written some amazing, thought provoking, and emotion evoking books over the years. It has always been a joy to read one of his books. I had such high hopes for Queen Esther. I went into this book thinking I would love it as much as I have his other books. Unfortunately, this book missed the mark entirely for me.

The book begins with Esther Nacht who has had a hard time in life. Her father died on the ship taking them from Europe to Portland, Maine. Her mother was murdered by anti-Semites, and she becomes a ward of an orphanage. When she is fourteen, she is taken in by a non-Jewish family who despise anti-Semitism. From there her story begins. I believe I would have enjoyed this book more if the book was entirely about Esther. But the book then takes a turn and becomes about Jimmy Winslow.

This book does touch on important themes such as anti-Semitism, identity, family, loss, survival, history, motherhood, and love to name a few. I found this book to be slow moving and frankly, I became bored. Perhaps some editing would have saved some of the book for me.

I cannot recommend this book, but I can recommend A Prayer for Owen Meany,The World According to Garp and The Cider House Rules.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.