Publisher’s Summary:

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.

Review:

I knew I was late getting through Alice Hoffman’s THE INVISIBLE HOUR, but I didn’t realize how late until today. I only finished the book last night August 5, 2024 and it came out a year ago. I was set back with some intense depression and anxiety; then, eye surgery which took me a while to navigate reading again. All those excuses aside…

How to sum up my emotions after this reading experience: I should be hopeful for the ending that was meant to be. It was an ending that Mia, ultimately the one who became the main character, fought for throughout her entire life. Her mother made the worst of mistakes—not the choice in having a baby while she was only a teen, but in her solution to the situation. Her mother, Ivy, ran away to The Community, a place that allegedly took anyone in who was willing to escape the pains of 21st century life. It was supposed to be a haven. An isolated farm that made its income from apple orchards. But that idyllic life was a lie as all promises from patriarchal societies are.

Ivy became a favorite of the cult leader, Joel. Even though she arrived pregnant, he decided he was the father of her child. In fact, he made that a rule for all children in The Community. The children lived separated from the adults in dormitory style housing. They were schooled and punished with a heavy hand, as were all the women.

Reading was absolutely forbidden, much like in Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. It was considered the devil’s work. As a rebellious woman, Ivy began to explain things to her daughter in secret meetings or when they could work at the farmers’ market among the outsiders. Ivy always wished to escaped when she realized how cruel The Community life was. She had the intuition to know or at least to wish that Mia would be free. That happened the day Mia was allowed to go into the library in town—a building shaped like a castle with thousands of worlds waiting for her.

The Community in Hoffman’s version of a dangerous cult is absolutely accurate. We’ve seen other fictionalized versions, countless of them; but light is being shed on the real world ones from the past and present. From Jonestown to The Moonies to NXIVM to Scientology—today’s techology allows people to be shown that these communes aren’t farms run by pacifists. In many ways, the steps a cult leader takes to have control are the exact ones taken in abusive relationships:

• Step One—Isolate people from their support system;
• Step Two—Ban books and only allow “approved” curriculum;
• Step Three—Demoralize them so they believe that new “family” is the only group to care about them;
• Step Four—Get control of all the money.

These may be out of order, but it’s a playbook.

Hoffman makes her young girls and adult women powerful in their own respects and not only through magic. There’s always going to be a penchant for rebellion and marching to the beat of one’s own drum. She allows her women to be sexually free when they’re in time-spanning societies that begin from the demonization of Eve to the Feminist Revolution. Yet, the supporting characters will play out the roles of those who want, wish, and dream of the spirited fight in the main characters.

As the publisher’s summary says, Mia is a modern woman, a librarian who moves from the hidden cult world to making her own in New York City. She doesn’t think she has a place for intimacy with another person. Then there is the remarkable gift of time travel which takes her into the village where she meets the only person she could ever love romantically, Nathaniel Hawthorne. She credits his famous book, The Scarlet Letter, for saving her life. Time traveling is always a questionable as a plot device. In The Invisible Hour, Mia is very much aware that her visits to the past may undo what brought her there in the first place, namely Hawthorne’s writing of The Scarlet Letter.

It’s wonderful that Alice Hoffman and her peers continue to warn us about the patriarchy; classism; the dangers of forgetting history; the importance of education (whether book-smart, street-smart, or ingenuity); and that marginalized people no matter how young or old make a difference to someone out there. Yet, it is 2024 and another Presidential election year and things are dismal in our real world. How many times do novelists, academics, philosophers, and scientists have to warn us about allowing it to happen again?

Key points:

• Hoffman gives multiple examples of what makes a family (good and bad examples).
• Fight for and maintain your autonomy in the ways that are best for you. (#FreeKesha, #FreeBritney)
• Magic is real because it is science. The way there is no light without darkness, there is no science without magical thinking to get to the theories which lead to proofs.
• If you’re eligible to vote, people fought long and hard for that right. Don’t waste it.
• “You’re in a cult. Call your dad.” — This one actually comes from My Favorite Murder, but I’m sure Alice Hoffman would agree that it fits in here perfectly.

Summary:

It’s truly difficult to come up with new ways to say how much I love spending time deep in the words of Alice Hoffman; and that I wish I read faster so I could consume everything in her catalog.

THE INVISIBLE HOUR delivers characters who come from the complexity of the emotional spectrum. From love (platonic, parental, sibling, adoptive, romantic) to narcissistic (controlling, self-absorbed, fear-based, authoritative)

• Ivy against Joel;
• Mia against Joel;
• Nathaniel pressured by his family;
• The Community clashing with the townspeople;
• Sarah and Constance adopting Mia informally and without any doubts about their commitment;
• Nathaniel’s mental health;
• and, not to be left out, mothers for their daughters.

Rating: 5 shining stars

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.