The Invisible Hour: A Novel

By Alice Hoffman

Book Overview

The latest New York Times bestseller from beloved author Alice Hoffman celebrates the enduring magic of books and is a "wonderful story of love and growth" (Stephen King).

One June day when Mia Jacob can no longer see a way to survive, the power of words saves her. The Scarlet Letter was written almost two hundred years earlier, but it seems to tell the story of Mia's mother, Ivy, and their life inside the Community--an oppressive cult in western Massachusetts where contact with the outside world is forbidden. But how could this be? How could Nathaniel Hawthorne have so perfectly captured the pain and loss that Mia carries inside her?

Through a journey of heartbreak, love, and time, Mia must abandon the rules she was raised with at the Community. As she does, she realizes that reading can transport you to other worlds or bring them to you, and that readers and writers affect one another in mysterious ways. She learns that time is more fluid than she can imagine, and that love is stronger than any chains that bind you.

As a girl Mia fell in love with a book. Now as a young woman she falls in love with a brilliant writer as she makes her way back in time. But what if Nathaniel Hawthorne never wrote The Scarlet Letter? And what if Mia Jacob never found it on the day she planned to die?

From "the reigning queen of magical realism" (Kristin Hannah, New York Times bestselling author), this is the story of one woman's dream. For a little while it came true.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1982175370
• ISBN13: 9781982175375
• Release Date: August 2023
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.03 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Here we go again

DNF Started out with such potential. Pretty much followed the usual Alice Hoffman recipe: -1 cup of mother daughter duo -1 tablespoon of teenage angst -1/4 cup of a group of people doing old fashioned stuff in a modern setting. -1/2 cup witchcraft (or in this case time travel?) -1 teaspoon of at least one red haired and/or red boot affixed character. -3/4 cup evil cult and/or religious village folk that are also always evil and have no idea what they are doing. All jokes aside, it just got really weird and awkward for me when the time travel and hooking up occurred with Nathaniel Hawthorne. I just feel like this is a cool idea poorly executed. I kept feeling like I was watching an educational PBS show on authors with the main characters traveling through time to talk to and learn about Hawthorne! Only it was the adult version with skinny dipping and a ton of assumptions made on actual historical people's opinions on modern issues. Just another modern book filled with politically correct prose and tik-tok worthy gross "spicy" scenes that were just awkward and unnecessary. It would be really cool if the publishing industry as a whole could churn out something a little different eventually, but I digress.