With Queen Esther, after 40 years John Irving returns to the world of 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.
Literary LitStackers, listen up! Another beauty is in presale now. Simon & Schuster invites readers on a journey into Queen Esther, a new novel by John Irving. Early indications suggest a work of profound literary exploration. Though details remain carefully guarded, the publisher’s evocative description and the cover art hint at a reading experience sure to resonate with discerning readers. Here’s the scant advance reader word on the book. Consider Queen Esther a literary must own and pre-order today.
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In This Spotlight On Queen Esther
About Queen Esther
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. In the final chapter, set in Jerusalem in 1981, Esther Nacht is seventy-six.
John Irving’s sixteenth novel is a testament to his enduring ability to weave complex characters and intricate narratives that challenge and captivate. Queen Esther is not just a story of survival but a profound exploration of identity, belonging, and the enduring impact of history on our personal lives showcasing why Irving remains one of the world’s most beloved, provocative, and entertaining authors—a storyteller of our time and for all time.
Praise for Cider House Rules by John Irving
“Witty, tenderhearted, fervent, and scarifying . . . This novel is an example, now rare, of the courage of imaginative ardor.”—The New York Times Book Review
“[Irving] is among the very best storytellers at work today. At the base of Irving’s own moral concerns is a rare and lasting regard for human kindness.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer
“Superb in scope and originality, a novel as good as one could hope to find from any author, anywhere, anytime. Engrossing, moving, thoroughly satisfying.”—Joseph Heller
“An old-fashioned, big-hearted novel . . . with its epic yearning caught in the nineteenth century, somewhere between Trollope and Twain . . . The rich detail makes for vintage Irving.”—Boston Sunday Globe
“Entertaining and affecting . . . John Irving is the most relentlessly inventive writer around. . . . A truly astounding amount of artistry and ingenuity.”—The San Diego Union
“Clearly Irving’s best-made book and a book of importance. It is a tour de force, a heavyweight among books, as John Irving must be accounted among writers. . . . He accomplishes his feat with both humanity and wisdom. . . . A moving, sometimes hilarious, and unfailingly entertaining story.”—St. Petersburg Times
“With each new novel John Irving displays widening of compass. . . . It is the breadth and spread, the depth of characterization that lift this novel beyond anything that Irving has done before. . . . This may be a novel of Maine, but it carries a far wider meaning.”—John Barkham Reviews
“Irving is in top form in this capacious novel of personal discovery. . . . Deft realism in both scene and characterization . . . The Cider House Rules is a mature, entertaining novel.”—Library Journal
About John Irving, Author of Queen Esther
John Irving was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1942. His first novel, Setting Free the Bears, was published in 1968, when he was twenty-six. He competed as a wrestler for twenty years, and coached wrestling until he was forty-seven. He is a member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 1980, Mr. Irving won a National Book Award for his novel The World According to Garp. In 2000, he won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Cider House Rules. In 2013, he won a Lambda Literary Award for his novel In One Person.
Internationally renowned, his novels have been translated into almost forty languages. His all-time bestselling novel, in every language, is A Prayer for Owen Meany. A dual citizen of the United States and Canada, John Irving lives in Toronto.
You can connect with John Irving on his website, and on Facebook.
Source: Publisher
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
ISBN Hardcover 9781501189449
Pub Date: Nov 4, 2025
Other Titles by John Irving
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