Esther (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Henry Adams (Author), Lisa MacFarlane (Contributor)

Book Description

Series: Penguin Classics | Publication Date: December 1, 1999

Best known for his classic American memoir, The Education of Henry Adams, Henry Adams was one of the most lively, probing writers between the Civil War and World War I. An offspring of presidents, Adams was steeped in the intellectual and moral traditions of the eighteenth century yet became an enthusiast of the energy, science, and industry of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Esther -- originally published in 1884 under a female pseudonym -- is the story of Esther Dudley, a young painter, who meets a clergyman, Stephen Hazard of St. John's in New York City. At first she recoils from him, owing to his preoccupation with ministry and her radical views imbibed from her moribund father. When Esther receives a commission to renovate the decorations of the church, however, Stephen becomes an admirer of her painting and a friend to her ailing father. Esther finds herself drawn to the clergyman and, after her father's passing, even becomes engaged to him. But can she surrender her moral independence to marry him? A memorable portrait of a woman in an agonizing transition, Esther is also an insightful portrait of a confident age encountering the tensions among science, art, and religion.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (December 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140447547
• ISBN-13: 978-0140447545
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,482,295 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Faith and reason clash in this comic masterpiece, January 30, 2003

By 

D. Cloyce Smith (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Esther (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

A neglected comic masterpiece that deserves to be rediscovered, "Esther" features an inspired premise as its plot: a young, free-thinking socialite falls desperately in love with an Episcopal minister. The result is a free-for-all clash of intellects, a confrontation between faith and reason, and the inevitable battle of the sexes.

The marvels of Adams's novel are his remarkably nuanced and fully realized characters. Esther, the free-thinker, wants to share her lover's faith and "is trying to get it by reason"--but doesn't initially understand that a person "can never reason yourself into it." Mr. Hazard, the minister, is confident that he will "succeed in drawing her into the fold, because his lifelong faith, that all human energies belonged to the church, was on trial, and, if it broke down in a test so supreme as that of marriage, the blow would go far to prostrate him forever." Esther's principles of independence and self-education collide with Hazard's desire to steer her into submission as his wife and fellow believer.

But my favorite character is relegated to a supporting role: Catherine, a recent transplant from the frontiers of Colorado, befriends Esther and dazzles New York society with her innocence, naivete, and sincerity. It's never really quite clear, however, whether her simplicity is the genuine article or just a show mocking the pretensions of her admirers. As one of the intellectuals who lightheartedly teases her wonders, there was "a little doubt whether she was making fun of him or he of her, and she never left him in perfect security on this point."

The novel sparkles with banter and quarrels, jokes and ripostes, but any attempt to reproduce the humor in a short review would fall flat: Adams's witticisms are dependent upon context and character. Still, I caught myself laughing out loud often at the book's cleverness and hilarity.