Queen Esther

By: John Irving

Narrated by: Ari Fliakos

After forty years, John Irving returns to the world of his bestselling classic novel and Academy Award–winning film, The Cider House Rules, revisiting the orphanage in St. Cloud’s, Maine, where Dr. Wilbur Larch takes in Esther—a Viennese-born Jew whose life is shaped by anti-Semitism.

Esther Nacht is born in Vienna in 1905. Her father dies on board the ship to Portland, Maine; her mother is murdered by anti-Semites in Portland. Dr. Larch knows it won’t be easy to find a Jewish family to adopt Esther; in fact, he won’t find any family who’ll adopt her.

When Esther is fourteen, soon to be a ward of the state, Dr. Larch meets the Winslows, a philanthropic New England family with a history of providing foster care for unadopted orphans. The Winslows aren’t Jewish, but they despise anti-Semitism. Esther’s gratitude for the Winslows is unending; even as she retraces her roots back to Vienna, she never stops loving and protecting the Winslows. In the final chapter, set in Jerusalem in 1981, Esther Nacht is seventy-six.

John Irving’s sixteenth novel is a testament to his enduring ability to weave complex characters and intricate narratives that challenge and captivate. Queen Esther is not just a story of survival but a profound exploration of identity, belonging, and the enduring impact of history on our personal lives showcasing why Irving remains one of the world’s most beloved, provocative, and entertaining authors—a storyteller of our time and for all time.

Critic reviews

"Narrator Ari Fliakos brings a compassionate tone and exquisite pacing to Irving’s sequel to THE CIDER HOUSE RULES—40 years in the making. Complicated, quirky, and enigmatic characters highlight this exploration of anti-Semitism and how Esther Nacht, a Viennese-born Jewish orphan, ends up at an orphanage in St. Cloud’s, Maine, where Dr. Wilbur Larch takes her in. Fliakos portrays Esther with a tinge of melancholy and world-weariness as she ages out of the orphanage and is then taken in by the Winslows, a wealthy family strongly opposed to anti-Semitism. Irving delivers this exploration of identity and belonging in a story that mirrors the creation of the State of Israel. Fliakos’s dexterous vocalizations of the men and women in Esther’s life create a compelling and entertaining world."

Crafty characters as written by John Irving. His specialty.

You will make new friends with Mr.Irving's characters. Been singing Dylan's song Hard Rain for days on end. Really like the genre of Jewish historical fiction portrayed.

Classic Irving with a new spin

I imagine this book won’t be for everyone, but if you are an Irving reader you will enjoy and appreciate it. IYKYK.

Getting ready

I love John Irving. I got tired of our characters preparing for some kind of action. I began to count how many times the name Ester was repeated, my focus was at sea, I bailed out!

Too Much Vienna

“Queen Esther” was a bait-and-switch novel. It’s promoted as a follow-up to “The Cider House Rules,” but the orphanage from that novel appears only briefly at the beginning, and then it’s gone. And the Esther of the title plays a minor role. She’s interesting, a German-Jewish child refugee, quasi-adopted by the Winslow family in New Hampshire as a nanny for their fourth child at the start. Then she plays a critical role at the end. But most of the novel focuses on her son Jimmy, studying in Vienna, living with a German grandmother, mother and son, as well as a lesbian, a French student and a German Shepherd. It’s a coming-of-age for Jimmy, but it just didn’t grab me.

Much of Jimmy’s life tracks the life of John Winslow Irving—New Hampshire, prep school, wrestling, junior year abroad, fiction writing. I don’t know how much of the plot was taken directly from Irving’s life, but even if some of the more bizarre plot turns happened to Irving, that doesn’t make them credible in a novel.

Overall, this novel works for lovers of John Irving. I liked it, but I didn't love it.

He weaves a personal relevant and entertaining story that few authors can do.

I had to learn the names of all the German characters and remember who they were and what part they played in the story.