The Book of Essie

A Novel

By: Meghan MacLean Weir

Narrated by: Robbie Daymond, Tara Sands, Erin Spencer

Finalist for the 2018 New England Book Award

"Both timelessly beautiful and unbelievably timely." (Chris Bohjalian, New York Times best-selling author of Midwives and The Flight Attendant)

A captivating novel of family, fame, and religion that tells the story of the 17-year-old daughter of an evangelical preacher, star of the family's hit reality show, and the secret pregnancy that threatens to blow their entire world apart.

Esther Ann Hicks - Essie - is the youngest child on Six for Hicks, a reality television phenomenon. She's grown up in the spotlight, both idolized and despised for her family's fire-and-brimstone brand of faith. When Essie's mother, Celia, discovers that Essie is pregnant, she arranges an emergency meeting with the show's producers: Do they sneak Essie out of the country for an abortion? Do they 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 to protect. As the newly formed couple attempt to sell their fabricated love story to the media - through exclusive interviews with an infamously conservative reporter named Liberty Bell - Essie finds she has questions of her own: What was the real reason for her older sister leaving home? Whom can she trust with the truth about her family? And how much is she willing to sacrifice to win her own freedom?

©2018 Meghan MacLean Weir (P)2018 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“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, best-selling author of The Language of Flowers and We Never Asked for Wings)

"A resourceful, resilient teen heroine is at the heart of Meghan MacLean Weir's propulsive debut novel... 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)

"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)

So, so good

Words can not express how much I enjoyed this story. The narrators were fantastic, the build up was incredible, and I felt overwhelmed by the plot twists. A must listen.

Skimmed the surface

Honestly, this book has a fascinating premise and so much potential, but it barely develops or skims the surface of Essie's character/story. Instead, we're subjected to Liberty Bell's story, which should be a book on its own. Right now, it's just a distraction.

We never really get to know anyone in this book. The characters are flat, but my god, there was such opportunity here to write such complex and fascinating characters. Overall, reading this book felt like reading the cliff's notes of a much more interesting story.

Could've Been Great But Wasn't

The book started out promising but fell flat and dragged on and on becoming a light YA story and losing my interest. The issues and characters were never fully developed. The narration was mixed: Essie and Rourke were okay but Liberty was extremely annoying to listen to. All in all, it was a disappointing missed opportunity by the author.

Great Story

I loved the story, however the narration was a little weird at times. Some of the accents were annoying and some of the inflections seemed a bit off. Overall, not bad.

Great debut novel

I wasn’t really sure where this was going to go. An idea wiggled in about a quarter of the way in. The way the writer unfolded it was perfect.

Excellent!

Well written, fresh, timely and beautifully performed. So realistic that the story could be a feature in a national magazine, but the nature of fiction allows this disturbing story to be palatable enough to explore and to bring the listener a satisfying conclusion. Well done!

Absolutely wonderful!

This is a must read book for any girl with religious and family trauma. Essie is such a great character and so much braver than I am.

Glad I didn’t pass up this great book!

I almost passed on this book when I was looking through the “two for one” credit listing. I am so glad I didn’t miss out on such a great book. The narrators were all excellent. I was interested from the beginning to the end. There was not a part that I wanted to rush through, and I kept wanting to see what direction this story would go next. I finished this book with a warm, uplifted feeling.

Nice Writing but Plot Not as Original as I Hoped

This story will get you from Point A to Point B easily and it’ll be a picturesque journey even with all its uncomfortable and "ugly" topics that this book covers. My opinion is it's an unsurprising journey that can even be boring in a predictable way.

I realize that the reveals are supposed to slowly revealed but these secrets were so easy to figure out I already knew Roarke's by the second chapter, his first appearance in the book, and this makes me super unsatisfied. This isn't a thriller or mystery so the author didn't mean to be so predictable with the story. In truth, the writing is super engaging and kept me from DNFing the story at 49%, which is when I figured out everyone's secrets and who the baby's father is. If it wasn't for the fact I was listening to an audiobook, I might have DNFed this story. The audiobook is nicely done with 3 different narrators for each POV brought up within the story (Ester, Roarke, and Liberty).

There is no way the author didn't get "inspiration" from the Duggar Family and their scandals. It's so similar. There is also the hint of fascination the Hicks receive that also made me think of the Kardashians. You either love them or hate them but you'll hear about them in the entertainment news. For this reason, I feel this story is unoriginal but serves as a way to bring up sexual abuse, rape, homophobia, religious beliefs, and other dark topics.

This wasn't a book for me but others may like it more than I did. If you're a reader who likes books with a heavy focus on characters and their stories then this is the book for you.

Narrator adds too much "acting"

I think I would be totally absorbed in this story if I were reading the print version. The primary narrator is listenable but she is trying to cream as much emotion and acting as possible into each word. Her standard voice for the main character is "wobbly voice on the verge of tears" which gets annoying. I would prefer a more restrained and neutral reading style. This one feels like she is adding her own interpretation of the characters, or like she is reading to a toddler.