Queen Esther

by John Irving ★★★☆☆

I went into Queen Esther intentionally blind about the plot of the novel. I didn't want to be encumbered by any pre-conceived notions before experiencing the latest from John Irving. If you're considering doing the same, however, I wouldn't recommend it. It's an odd and polarizing novel; I'll explain some of the reasons why without spoiling any of the plot, and you can decide if that sounds appealing to you.

The novel opens in the town of Pennacook, in southeastern New Hampshire, in the early 1900s. We are introduced to the Winslow family: Thomas, the patriarch, an English teacher at the local boarding school; Constance, his wife and the local librarian; and their three daughters: Faith, Hope and Prudence. For each of their daughters, the Winslows had fostered a teenage girl to be their nanny, and when they have a fourth daughter, Honor, eleven years after their last, they decide to repeat the pattern and begin searching orphanages for their latest fostered girl.

Enter our title character to fill that role; or, rather, enter other characters to tell stories about her. If Queen Esther were a movie rather than a novel, the amount of screen time for the actress playing Esther would be limited to only a few minutes. Esther is a larger-than-life figure, who we're introduced to almost entirely through the reactions and stories of others. Whether it's the uncontrollable sobbing by all at the orphanage as she's about to depart with the Winslows, or those in her future orbit who speak of her with reverence, Esther takes on an almost mythical quality.

But, interestingly, Esther's role in the novel, even through stories, is strangely limited for a book titled "Queen Esther". Her time nannying Honor is mostly glossed over, and the majority of the novel focuses on James "Jimmy" Winslow, the grandson of Thomas and Constance and the adopted son of Honor. As Jimmy puts it at one point, "His mom and Esther lived in the background, like peripheral characters in a novel." The greatest percentage of the novel takes place during Jimmy's year abroad in Vienna in 1964, where he studies as a foreign exchange student. "What happened to him in a foreign country confirmed his belief in his intrinsic foreignness," writes Irving, for reasons explained in the book. Jimmy begins to find his footing as a writer (his desired future profession) while coming into his own as a young man and slowly starting to establish his identity.

There are no shortage of strange and potentially polarizing topics covered in depth in the novel. Judaism and the history of Israel (and eventually Israel and Palestine) are prominently featured. A primary plot point is Honor's desire for Jimmy to find a way out of being drafted into the Vietnam War, and she settles on either causing a knee injury or (her eventual preferred choice) having Jimmy impregnate someone (fathers were exempt). This notion is treated cavalierly by nearly all characters in the novel. "Claude still believed that Jolanda's ex-girlfriend Mieke was the best mom for Jimmy's ticket out of Vietnam. Claude remained convinced that Jolanda should hold Mieke's head and talk to her throughout the knocking-up process." Abortion, religion, and even circumcision all also get significant treatment in the novel.

It's an eccentric book, populated by abnormal characters. It's mostly dialogue-driven, with the occasional historical diatribe on a topic thrown in. Interestingly, Irving's style reminds me a bit of Fredrik Backman (or perhaps Backman reminds me of Irving?), in that characters are atypical and both authors tend to repeat commentary and catchphrases continuously throughout. The same small awkward side comments are made dozens of times. For some readers, I'm sure that makes the characters more endearing and memorable; for me, I found it mostly annoying.

Were I not committed to an ARC of Queen Esther, there's a strong chance that I would not have finished this one. It's not horribly written (this is John Irving, after all), and for those that like his style, you might enjoy it. It's not one I would recommend, though, and if you're on the fence, I would look elsewhere.