{"product_id":"queen-esther","title":"Queen Esther","description":"\u003cb\u003eAfter 40 years, John Irving revisits the setting of his classic novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Cider House Rules\u003c\/i\u003e--the orphanage in St. Cloud's, Maine, where a Jewish girl, not yet four, is abandoned one winter night.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEsther Nacht is born in Vienna in 1905. Her father dies on board a ship from Bremerhaven to Portland, Maine; anti-Semites murder her mother in Portland. In the orphanage at St. Cloud's, it's clear to Dr. Larch that the abandoned child not only knows she's Jewish; she's familiar with the biblical Queen Esther she was named for. Dr. Larch knows it won't be easy to find a Jewish family to adopt Esther; he won't find any family who'll adopt her. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhen Esther is fourteen, about to become a ward of the state, Dr. Larch meets the Winslows--a philanthropic family with a history of providing foster care for unadopted orphans. The Winslows aren't Jewish, but they detest anti-Semitism and like-minded prejudice. Esther's gratitude to the Winslows is unending. While she retraces her steps to her birth city, Esther never stops loving and protecting the Winslows--not even in Vienna. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn the final chapter of this historical novel--set in Jerusalem, in 1981--Esther Nacht is seventy-six.","brand":"John Irving","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":46352890396908,"sku":"9781501189449","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/1791\/3068\/files\/9781501189449.jpg?v=1744252975","url":"https:\/\/intl.allstora.com\/products\/queen-esther","provider":"Allstora","version":"1.0","type":"link"}