Queen Esther
A novel
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3 Months Free
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Queen Esther
Narrated by:
Ari Fliakos
Buy Now for £25.09
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Narrated by:
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Ari Fliakos
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By:
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John Irving
Esther Nacht is born in Vienna in 1905. Her father dies on board a ship from Bremerhaven to Portland, Maine, and anti-Semites murder her mother in Portland. In St. Cloud’s, it’s clear to Dr. Larch, the orphanage physician and director, that the abandoned child not only knows she’s Jewish, but 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 doubts he'll find any family to adopt her.
When Esther is fourteen, soon to become a ward of the state, Dr. Larch meets the Winslows, a philanthropic family with a history of providing for unadopted orphans. The Winslows aren’t Jewish, but they detest anti-Semitism and similar prejudice. Esther’s gratitude to the Winslows is unending. As she retraces her steps to her birth city, Esther keeps loving and protecting the Winslows—even in Vienna.
The final chapter of this historical novel is set in Jerusalem in 1981, when Esther is seventy-six.
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Critic reviews
Indigo’s Best Books of 2025
“Few skewer sanctimony quite like Irving at his best. More important: I fell in love, once again, with his people.” —The New York Times Book Review
“The novel is quintessential Irving: layered, funny, heartbreaking, and full of the strange humanity he has always captured so well.” —Canadian Jewish News
“It’s hard to imagine this historical novel landing at a more timely moment.” —Zoomer
“Irving has a lot on his mind [in Queen Esther]—the flow of history, to be sure, but also relationships, the nature of identity and the gnawing horror of antisemitism.” —National Post
"A story that's unmistakably Irving—amiably peopled, compellingly plotted and, above all, compassionate for its characters." —NPR
"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
“Few skewer sanctimony quite like Irving at his best. More important: I fell in love, once again, with his people.” —The New York Times Book Review
“The novel is quintessential Irving: layered, funny, heartbreaking, and full of the strange humanity he has always captured so well.” —Canadian Jewish News
“It’s hard to imagine this historical novel landing at a more timely moment.” —Zoomer
“Irving has a lot on his mind [in Queen Esther]—the flow of history, to be sure, but also relationships, the nature of identity and the gnawing horror of antisemitism.” —National Post
"A story that's unmistakably Irving—amiably peopled, compellingly plotted and, above all, compassionate for its characters." —NPR
"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
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