Queen Esther

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.

Not just a story of survival, but a profound exploration of coming of age, identity, belonging, and the enduring impact of history on our personal lives, Queen Esther “is richly textured with unforgettable characters, vivid settings, and familial love that will stay with you long after you put the book down” (The Jewish Book Council), showcasing why Irving remains one of the world’s most beloved, provocative, and entertaining authors—a storyteller of our time and for all time.

"Few skewer sanctimony quite like Irving at his best. More important: I fell in love, once again, with his people." —Peter Orner, The New York Times Book Review

"A story that's unmistakably Irving—amiably peopled, compellingly plotted and, above all, compassionate for its characters." —NPR

"Irving masterfully threads the narrative, from New England to Vienna to Jerusalem, while exploring the themes he frequently wrestles with—orphans, sexuality, and found families. Irving’s luminous prose embodies his singular gifts; the novel is expansive, darkly comic, melancholic, and deeply compassionate, conveying a profound empathy for his flawed characters. Countless literary references, lyrical flourishes, and allusions add depth to the Dickensian motif as Irving brilliantly blends moral ambiguity and emotional truth in this essential addition to his oeuvre." —Booklist (starred)

"Queen Esther is rich­ly tex­tured with unfor­get­table char­ac­ters, vivid set­tings, and famil­ial love that will stay with you long after you put the book down." —The Jewish Book Council

"To read a John Irving novel is to call to mind the classic works of Charles Dickens with their broad, melancholy searches for families lost and their acceptance of families made. Irving’s new work is especially potent." —Steven Whitton, The Anniston Star

"The novel is quintessential Irving: layered, funny, heartbreaking, and full of the strange humanity he has always captured so well.” —Canadian Jewish News

“It’s hard to imagine this historical novel landing at a more timely moment.” —Zoomer

“Irving has a lot on his mind [in Queen Esther] — the flow of history, to be sure, but also relationships, the nature of identity and the gnawing horror of antisemitism.” —National Post

“A profound exploration of identity and belonging, shaped by a story of survival and a call for tolerance.” —Diario de Burgos

“Irving continues to believe in the novel as an art form, and in characters conceived as moral destiny." —Ángeles López, La Razón