Copy of Stitch & Knit Book Club

205 West 6th Street,Georgetown TX 78626

23 October, 2022

Description

**Update to the Lark & Owl Book Club policy** In order to balance the continued interest in our book clubs with the frequent no-shows, we have moved to a $5.00 fee for all book club events. At the book club meeting, all registered attendees will be given a $5.00 voucher to be used towards the next book club book, or a future purchase. Any individuals who register but do not attend will have 1 week from the event date to pick up their voucher from the bookstore. If the voucher is not claimed, it will be considered forfeited. Please be mindful of this change in policy as you are registering! __________________________________________________________________________________________ Bring your current knitting or stitching project and join our discussion about HESTER by Laurie Lico . Talk over the book and pick up some crafty tips! The bistro is up and running! You can purchase food and drinks when you arrive, including adult beverages!. About the book: "A hauntingly beautiful––and imagined––origin story to The Scarlet Letter." ––People WHO IS THE REAL HESTER PRYNNE? Isobel Gamble is a young seamstress carrying generations of secrets when she sets sail from Scotland in the early 1800s with her husband, Edward. An apothecary who has fallen under the spell of opium, his pile of debts have forced them to flee Glasgow for a fresh start in the New World. But only days after they've arrived in Salem, Edward abruptly joins a departing ship as a medic––leaving Isobel penniless and alone in a strange country, forced to make her way by any means possible. When she meets a young Nathaniel Hawthorne, the two are instantly drawn to each other: he is a man haunted by his ancestors, who sent innocent women to the gallows––while she is an unusually gifted needleworker, troubled by her own strange talents. As the weeks pass and Edward's safe return grows increasingly unlikely, Nathaniel and Isobel grow closer and closer. Together, they are a muse and a dark storyteller; the enchanter and the enchanted. But which is which? In this sensuous and hypnotizing tale, a young immigrant woman grapples with our country's complicated past, and learns that America's ideas of freedom and liberty often fall short of their promise. Interwoven with Isobel and Nathaniel's story is a vivid interrogation of who gets to be a "real" American in the first half of the 19th century, a depiction of the early days of the Underground Railroad in New England, and atmospheric interstitials that capture the long history of "unusual" women being accused of witchcraft. Meticulously researched yet evocatively imagined, Laurie Lico Albanese's Hester is a timeless tale of art, ambition, and desire that examines the roots of female creative power and the men who try to shut it down.