The Book of Essie: A novel and millions of other books are available for instant access. view Kindle eBook | view Audible audiobook
The Book of Essie has been added to your Cart
Sold by owl_of_minerva_books
Comment: ALMOST VERY GOOD CONDITION CLEAN, LIGHT-MODERATE WEAR. As Pictured. ISBN Match. FULFILLMENT BY AMAZON.
Sold by: TTPDC
Sold by: Zoom-Deals
Sold by: Wordery USA
Meghan MacLean Weir
The Book of Essie Paperback – May 7, 2019
Meghan MacLean Weir (Author)
› Visit Amazon's Meghan MacLean Weir Page
Audible Audiobook, Unabridged
Free with your Audible trial
Hardcover, Deckle Edge
$0.00 Free with your Audible trial
$13.96 113 Used from $1.89 47 New from $8.77 5 Collectible from $10.95
$11.00 26 Used from $6.42 37 New from $7.00
Note: Available at a lower price from other sellers that may not offer free Prime shipping.
ALEX AWARD WINNER
FINALIST FOR THE 2018 NEW ENGLAND BOOK AWARD
"Both timelessly beautiful and unbelievably timely." —Chris Bohjalian, New York Times bestselling author of Midwives and The Flight Attendant
Esther Ann Hicks—Essie—is the youngest child on Six for Hicks, a reality television phenomenon. She's grown up in the spotlight, idolized and despised for her family's fire-and-brimstone brand of faith. So when Essie's mother, Celia, discovers that Essie is pregnant, she immediately arranges an emergency meeting with the show's producers. Do they sneak Essie out of the country for an abortion? Pass the child off as Celia's? Or do they try to arrange a marriage—and a ratings-blockbuster wedding?
Meanwhile, Essie is quietly pairing herself up with Roarke Richards, a senior at her school with a secret of his own. As the newly formed couple attempt to sell their love story to the media through exclusive interviews with the infamously conservative reporter Liberty Bell, Essie finds she has questions of her own: What was the real reason for her older sister leaving home? Who can she trust with the truth about her family? And how much is she willing to sacrifice to win her own freedom?
Inspire a love of reading with Prime Book Box for Kids
Discover delightful children's books with Prime Book Box, a subscription that delivers new books every 1, 2, or 3 months — new customers receive 15% off your first box. Sign up now
This item:The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir Paperback $11.00
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens Hardcover $15.60
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine: A Novel by Gail Honeyman Paperback $9.60
Jonathan Evison
The Black God's Drums
P. Djèlí Clark
Green: A Novel
Sam Graham-Felsen
Home After Dark: A Novel
The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After
Clemantine Wamariya
The High Season: A Novel
"I was immediately captivated by The Book of Essie, a unique and moving story about a young woman whose life has been hijacked by fame, family and faith--and her spectacular, surprising plot to take it back." –Vanessa Diffenbaugh, bestselling author of The Language of Flowers and We Never Asked for Wings
"Every once in a while, a novel comes along that is both timelessly beautiful and unbelievably timely. The Book of Essie is such a story. Meghan MacLean Weir has given us a young heroine who is at once authentic and courageous — and a tale that is wonderful and mysterious and relentlessly surprising." —Chris Bohjalian, bestselling author of Midwives and The Flight Attendant
"A page-turning tale." —Minneapolis Star Tribune
"Weir does a fine job of portraying Essie initially as a teen whose mindset is reflexively strategic, and increasingly as a young woman with an elegant intelligence and a beating and quite breakable heart." —WBUR
"The youngest daughter of an Evangelical preacher-turned-reality TV star hatches a plan to wrangle her freedom—and expose the dark truth about her family—in Weir's debut novel... Deeply sympathetic... well-paced... and the unexpected tenderness between Essie and Roarke gives the novel genuine emotional punch." —Kirkus
"Topical… Essie's father may be a famous evangelical preacher, but her ruthless mother, Celia, runs the family empire from behind the scenes. When her family discovers Essie is pregnant, it's decided that she should marry, but whom?... Weir's narrative features some finely nuanced characters… An incisive novel." —Publishers Weekly
"A resourceful, resilient teen heroine is at the heart of Meghan MacLean Weir's propulsive debut novel… Weir, a doctor whose first book was a memoir about her pediatric residency, doles out the details of Essie's past slowly but steadily, gaining a momentum that keeps the pages turning… Weir is also adept at using the language of evangelical life, lending an authenticity that takes the book beyond a Duggar-family pastiche. The tentative trust that grows between Essie and Roarke gives The Book of Essie emotional depth, and the questions at its center have a surprising moral weight. Readers will root for Essie through every twist and turn of her story." —Trisha Ping, BookPage
"A gripping page-turner." —Bustle
MEGHAN MACLEAN WEIR was raised in the rectory of her father's church in Southbridge, Massachusetts, and later moved with her family to Buffalo, New York. Her memoir, Between Expectations: Lessons from a Pediatric Residency, chronicles her years in training at Boston Medical Center and Boston Children's Hospital. She continues to live and work as a physician in the Boston area. This is her first novel.
See all Editorial Reviews
Publisher: Vintage; Reprint edition (May 7, 2019)
#1127 in Coming of Age Fiction (Books)
#678 in Mothers & Children Fiction
#1002 in Women's Friendship Fiction
Start reading The Book of Essie: A novel on your Kindle in under a minute.
reality show liberty bell six for hicks well written book of essie maclean weir meghan maclean highly recommend year old essie and roarke high school debut novel page turner beautifully written behind the scenes family reality kids and counting twists and turns roarke richards loved this book
kjpo
5.0 out of 5 starsEssie is brave/heroic/an easy character to cheer for!
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
** spoiler alert ** This novel is exceptionally well done with seemingly effortless prose and a satisfying narrative arc that leaves no loose ends. It SHOWS (rather than tells) the consequences of patriarchy/homophobia in a way that never feels preachy. This book is not (as some have suggested) anti-faith/Christianity, but it does tackle "the evangelical machine," which runs on a blend of religion/shame-mongering/fame/money/influence/political power. Though the subject matter is heavy, the book didn't feel that way. I laughed at parts and liked this cast of characters--even the villains because they were so accurately drawn with some favorable attributes. I have not yet read any reviews with comparisons to the Josh Duggar scandal that took "17 Kids and Counting" off the air, but parallels certainly exist. I grew up around people who would have fit in with the Duggar clan and can attest that segments of "the church" have a long history of covering up the sins of men, and showcasing the perils of "immodesty" (a.k.a. "victim blaming"). I particularly liked the final takeaway--that we are all ultimately responsible in some way to see that justice prevails. We all have a voice and in cases like these, the court of public opinion matters. If the loudest voices are those shouting hate/victim-shaming, other victims/survivors may be scared into silence. The author seems to posit that we should all be using our voices to perpetuate justice and I agree.
5.0 out of 5 starsSuspenseful till the end......
On one level, this is a powerful indictment of the shameful hypocrisy of the TV evangelists who amass great wealth while harboring sinful lifestyles of their own. And in fact , this is a shot at the phoniness of so-called Reality TV in general. But it is more than that. It is a study of two sisters who struggle under the burdens imposed upon them by the immoral situation their family thrusts upon them. They take different routes. Lissa disappears. The pregnant Essie chooses a different route, or does she? The suspense remains tilll the final pages.
Ultimately this is a study of exceptional courage, and the portrait of Essie is beautifully written. My only complaint is that the secondary narrative--that involving Libby-who herself is victimized tragically by militant parents who take over and occupy a government building in the name of religion is less well drawn and, for me, anyway remains somewhat confusing. That said, this is a highly entertaining and suspenseful read.
Melissa Boone
3.0 out of 5 starsEngaging story, but something's missing
Let me be clear - the story of The Book of Essie itself is actually a pretty good one. I found myself wanting to know what happened next, and I wanted to read through to the end so I knew how the story ended. Weir wraps the story up nicely, with no loose ends or ambiguous endings, which is nice for a YA novel. But there are things missing here that take the story down to a 3-star, in my opinion. (This review does not have any spoilers.)
I believe the author was trying to make some insightful commentary on the impact of religion - particularly evangelical Christianity; on feminism and being a woman; and on fame. I don't think the novel itself was long enough to really explore all of those with any nuance, though. Instead of trying to let the themes shine through with the characters' actions and motivations, Weir gives them internal monologues that align with her beliefs and the message she's trying to share. The problem is, they usually don't make sense - either for that character or the particular time frame they're having it. One example (non-spoiler) is when the conservative interviewer, Liberty Bell, notes that Essie has chosen to wear a red dress for an interview. She goes off on an internal monologue about what the color red has meant to women through the ages that both seemed out of place AND completely unnecessary to make the point; just having Essie wear the red dress, and maybe Liberty making an offhand comment about it, would've been fine enough on its own.
Additionally, this is like a plot device kitchen sink. There's the main plot of Essie's story; then there are the two B plots of Liberty's background story and Roarke's backstory. Both Liberty's and Roarke's are completely unnecessary to the plot and don't do anything to move it forward. Liberty's is actually pretty boring, and serves as a distraction when you really want to be moving forward with Essie's. All three storylines have secrets and 'twists' that are pretty predictable; the secret-keeping becomes more annoying than anything else. I figured out Liberty's and Essie's much earlier than they were actually revealed, and the artificial lengths the author went through to keep them concealed felt laborious rather than thrilling. Roarke's comes much earlier and was less expected, but that's because it kind of felt shoehorned in.
Finally, there's the character development. The only way a story like this really works is if you make the characters deep enough to reflect some understanding as to how they got the way they are - and flawed enough to make them seem real, relatable. But every character in this is pretty one-dimensional: they are either good or they are bad. Essie is probably the most well-developed character (she's got maybe 2 dimensions), but the story *never* explores the incredibly emotional and psychological impact that growing up on camera - not to mention her personal trauma, which is revealed in the plot - would have on her psyche and personality. In fact, for all that the book claims has happened to her, she seems remarkably well-adjusted. Her older sister, too, seems no worse for the wear, despite an incredibly similar story. Liberty Bell and Roarke Richards both have their own personal traumas that happened to them at very young ages - and these aren't teenage "she broke up with me" kinds of traumas; they are things that would break an adult - and yet *nothing* about them seems off or sad or even just a little messed up. Without counseling, without therapy, without much support from anyone at all, all of them seem to have come to terms with their traumas and come out the other side perfectly healthy in a very short period of time. For a book that claims to plumb the depths of how fame and the terribleness of the world can really touch and scar a person...none of the 'good guys' seem to have any scars.
And on the other hand, all of the bad characters are just bad. Essie's father is the one that comes the closest to being sympathetic. But her mother, the siblings she doesn't like, and others on the 'bad' side have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Without spoiling, this is even more tragic, because one character's personality (if correctly fleshed out) could go a long way towards demonstrating a key and really important tenet the book is trying to carry across - vaguely, how people can get away with terrible things, even when the truth is out.
All in all, I wouldn't skip - it's a good story, and it's interesting to see how it comes together. The first half is much better than the second half. Just adjust your expectations accordingly.
Kathryn Kirchoff-Torres
5.0 out of 5 starsFresh and fast paced!
From the moment I picked up The Book of Essie, I was drawn into the story of brave Essie and her two unlikely compatriots, and could not put it down until I knew what would happen to her. Until the very end there was a "Will she?" "Won't she?" that kept me turning the pages. So deep was the emotional attachment I felt for Essie that I found myself crying for the seemingly fragile protagonist at various points, but her triumph is her maturity and strength. I particularly enjoyed the character of Roarke and how the author, a woman, spoke so convincingly through the mind of a teenage boy. The characters Liberty and Margot added the perspective and comic relief that was needed at the perfect times. I officially apologize to my family for ignoring you while I read The Book of Essie this weekend, but it was just that good. If you enjoy the author's writing, have a look at her non-fiction autobiographical first book about pediatrics residency "Between Expectations". As a medical professional, that is how I first began to follow her writing. Although I read it years ago, the vignettes were so vivid and poignant that I can still recall some in detail.
This item: The Book of Essie
Where the Crawdads SingHardcover
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine: A NovelPaperback
Then She Was Gone: A NovelPaperback
Before We Were Yours: A NovelPaperback