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The Invisible Hour - Hoffman
3 stars

I wanted to like this book more than I did. The setting was wonderful. I like books about books and people who love books. I have no trouble understanding The Scarlet Letter as highly relevant to the 21st century. I looked forward to this book. I probably set my expectations too high.

The contemporary portion introduces a very young, pregnant Ivy who becomes entangled with a cult leader following the rejection of her own family. Ivy remains in the repressive Community after the birth of her daughter, Mia. It was difficult to read about the oppression and abuse of this farming community. As Mia grows up, her mother helps her develop skills of deception and an attitude of rebellion. Ivy encourages Mia’s illicit trips to the small town library. Foreknowledge of Mia’s escape plans are given in the prologue, but this didn’t spoil the build up of suspense. That was the good part.

This is an Alice Hoffman book. I expected a supernatural plot element. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I couldn’t buy into the time travel romance of this book. It was overly contrived. It felt rushed to an unbelievable conclusion. The details of Hawthorne’s life were given more as an info dump than as character development. So disappointing. I thought it could have worked, but it didn’t.

Clearly, the author intended this book to deliver a message. It is overtly pro-choice. I don’t object to the message. A message, any message, does not necessarily make bad fiction. The Scarlet Letter is great literature that continues to deliver a powerful message. I don’t believe that Hoffman came anywhere close to that with this book. I would tag this book for a young adult audience. It might encourage more readers to pick up Hawthorne’s classic. That might be the best thing that could happen.