Read in 2026 - 22: Queen Esther

Queen Esther

John Irving

It’s been a while since I last read an Irving, and I remember that I have not liked each of his books to the same extent. My favourites so far were “Widow for a Year” and “Owen Meany”.

For my birthday this year, my sister gave me “Queen Esther”, and although I have finished it weeks ago, I only now got round to writing my review.

 

In short, it’s a great read. Irving’s handling of language, his descriptions of characters, places and situations as well as dialogue are at their best in this book.

The decisions people take and how they deal with each other may not always be plausible or relateable, but that’s life, isn’t it – we don’t always “get” other people and why they do (or don’t) what they do (or not).

 

The book spans eight decades, following Esther’s life and that of her son from 1905 to 1981.

There are occasional dips further back in time to when Esther’s Au Pair employers (and something like adoptive parents for her) were young.

 

I’d say that the life of Esther’s son takes up more room than hers, but she is always hovering in the background even when she is elusive.

 

Born in Vienna and orphaned at the age of 4 after her father dies on the ship to Portland and her mother is murdered by anti-Semites in Portland, Esther is unwavering in her determination to live as her mother taught her, as a Jew, She is exceptionally clever and loved by everyone at the orphanage. When she is 14, the Winslows, a philanthropic New England family, take her in as their latest Au Pair. They aren’t Jewish themselves but despise anti-Semitism.

Again, she is loved by the entire family and fully returns that love.

 

The youngest daughter, Honor, wants a child but without all the physical things involved from conception through pregnancy, giving birth and breastfeeding. Esther, on the other hand, has an insatiable appetite for knowledge and life and wants to at least try everything she can - including pregnancy and birth.

Together, the two young women work out a solution that satisfies them both – Jimmy is the result, with Esther as his biological mother but Honor the mother he grows up with.

 

In the 1960s, he studies in Vienna and makes friends for life there. His approach to fatherhood is as unusual as that of Esther and Honor to motherhood, but it all works out in the end, making for happy families and lasting friendships.

 

I could go on and on about the various elements of the story; the characters and their quirks, the recurring references to being tall or short, to Jewishness and what it means, to wrestling and working for the Mossad.

But I’d rather have you read the book for yourselves, if you found my brief outline interesting enough. I believe you won’t regret it.

 

There is no need to link to further introduce John Irving, I guess – he is well known and popular enough, and of course he has his own website as well as an article on wikipedia if you want to look him up.