John Irving’s 16th novel, Queen Esther (2025), is a multi-generational, historical saga that marks a triumphant return to the orphanage setting of The Cider House Rules. The narrative follows Esther Nacht, a Viennese-born Jewish orphan whose life is profoundly shaped by antisemitism and a fierce commitment to her namesake—the biblical Queen Esther—who protected her people. […]
This is a memorable story that can, at times, be dirty, sappy, and heavily nostalgic. It also paints a fascinating picture of the New England home-front in the war-ravaged year 1942. One could also argue about whether this quasi-novel belongs on our list of New England based novels, because it’s based on the semi-autobiographical screenplay
A Separate Peace by John Knowles is a great example of a New England prep school story. It’s a coming-of-age novel set against the backdrop of the early 1940s at the Devon School, an all-boys boarding school in New England, while World War II rages abroad. The story is narrated by Gene Forrester, who returns
