Echoes of The Scarlet Letter: A Personal Take on The Invisible Hour
The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is about shame and guilt, fear and bravery. The Invisible Hour, by Alice Hoffman, is a parody of it—modern day, similar universal story, but with a cult-ish theme and includes a deep love for literature. The descriptions are as lovely as the countryside and fit well. The points of view are so honest that character development has a genuine flow. The love themes throughout this novel are more complicated than in The Scarlet Letter because of the different eras. Because of this, the reader rides over hills of different emotions.
The story begins with rejected Ivy. But Mia, her daughter—who reminds me of Pearl—becomes the main character. Desperate to be herself, Mia is a risk-taker. She longed to be invisible in public—free. But invisible is a metaphor for many things throughout the entire book, including love. There is purpose and mystery to the story as well: find the library book in which she had spotted her name. And adventure: escape.
Trick your enemy, do what you must, believe in enchantments, save yourself.
The mystery and adventure are subtle, so halfway through the novel it could have ended as a novella. The first part was mostly backstory, but continues on with Mia’s life. In her 20s, with a college degree and a dream job, in love with Nathaniel Hawthorne, a dead author, we move into Part Two and travel back in time with her to him: two people who believe in magic.
“I am out with lanterns, looking for myself.” —Emily Dickinson
It starts in third-person, Nathaniel’s point-of-view. Here is where this book spoke to me, like the calling of the crows only some people hear.
“Love was cruel and unpredictable, and yet he wanted it more than words, more than anything. He was a madman, it was true, but wasn’t every writer?”
In Part Three Mia’s past catches up with her. But...
“She was reminded that nothing was written in stone, and that fate could change, and that not everyone who filled her pockets with river rocks drowned.”
Parts One and Two merged, new surprises arise.
I give this book Five Stars.
Love,
Twilight
10/24/2026
