Queen Esther by John Irving
Esther Nacht is born in Vienna in 1905. Her father dies on board a ship from Bremerhaven to Portland, Maine, and anti-Semites murder her mother in Portland. In the orphanage at St. Cloudās, itās clear to Dr Larch, the physician and director of the orphanage, that the abandoned child not only knows sheās Jewish, but sheās familiar with the biblical Queen Esther she was named for. Dr Larch knows it wonāt be easy to find a Jewish family to adopt Esther; he doubts heāll find any family to adopt her.
When Esther is fourteen, soon to become a ward of the state, Dr. Larch meets the Winslows, a philanthropic family with a history of providing for unadopted orphans. The Winslows arenāt Jewish, but they detest anti-Semitism and similar prejudice. Estherās gratitude to the Winslows is unending. As she retraces her steps to her birth city, Esther keeps loving and protecting the Winslows ā even in Vienna.
- Format:
- Hardback
- 432 pages
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd
- Imprint: Scribner UK
- ISBN: 9781471179129
- Published: 6 Nov 2025
- Classifications:
- Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945),
- Historical fiction
- Weight: 596g
- Dimensions: 242 x 163 x 35Ā (mm)
| Brand: Harpercollins publishers |
| Manufacturer: Harpercollins publishers |