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  • The Invisible Hour

  • A Novel
  • By: Alice Hoffman
  • Narrated by: Jessie Mueller
  • Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (302 ratings)

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The Invisible Hour  By  cover art

The Invisible Hour

By: Alice Hoffman
Narrated by: Jessie Mueller
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Publisher's summary

The latest New York Times best seller from beloved author Alice Hoffman celebrates the enduring magic of books and is a “wonderful story of love and growth” (Stephen King).

One June day when Mia Jacob can no longer see a way to survive, the power of words saves her. The Scarlet Letter was written almost two hundred years earlier, but it seems to tell the story of Mia’s mother, Ivy, and their life inside the Community—an oppressive cult in western Massachusetts where contact with the outside world is forbidden. But how could this be? How could Nathaniel Hawthorne have so perfectly captured the pain and loss that Mia carries inside her?

Through a journey of heartbreak, love, and time, Mia must abandon the rules she was raised with at the Community. As she does, she realizes that reading can transport you to other worlds or bring them to you, and that readers and writers affect one another in mysterious ways. She learns that time is more fluid than she can imagine, and that love is stronger than any chains that bind you.

As a girl Mia fell in love with a book. Now as a young woman she falls in love with a brilliant writer as she makes her way back in time. But what if Nathaniel Hawthorne never wrote The Scarlet Letter? And what if Mia Jacob never found it on the day she planned to die?

From “the reigning queen of magical realism” (Kristin Hannah, New York Times bestselling author), this is the story of one woman’s dream. For a little while it came true.

©2023 Alice Hoffman (P)2023 Simon & Schuster Audio

What listeners say about The Invisible Hour

Average customer ratings
Overall
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Such a good read

I have read so many of her books and loved them all. This one hit different. Sometimes we have to end this story to find our next one.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Loved it!

An artful braiding of time, personalities, history, and the impact our choices and words make in our own lives and the lives of others ~ both today and in the future.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The best one yet of your stories.

A story that transported you back in time weaving the love of books, authors and magic together. Mahalo Alice for honoring the feminine ice again.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing-

I could not put this down! Sumptuous writing and a beautiful blend of fantasy and modern day relevance to current events. Who knew Hawthorne could be a hottie😄

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Good start…

It started very interesting, then Part 1 ended and Part 2 was just odd. It got very, very, very repetitive and almost pointless and anticlimactic? Part 2 explained nothing at all… just a lot of love, live, make the best of it, mothers love their children over everything else…. Blah, blah, blah…

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful

Alice just gets it. Absolutely loved it. If you like her other work you’ll like it.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

An exquisite story about love and libraries.

Another beautifully written and performed story. It took me on a journey I didn't know I needed to take and I am changed by it. I couldn't stop listening once I started and at the same time, I didn't want it to end.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Well, That Was Unexpected!

Loved this book. The second half was an interesting surprise. Now, I want to know a lot more about Nathaniel Hawthorne.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

plot twist and political commentary not needed

I was enjoying the story, the narrator was very good. the plot twist and political commentary almost ruined this for me. I lost interest

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A story of love, of mothers and daughters

This is such a good book. A lovely tale of how far off path we can go and still find our way to love.

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