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 A captivating novel of family, fame, and religion that tells the story of the seventeen-year-old daughter of an evangelical preacher, star of the family’s hit reality show, and the secret pregnancy that threatens … 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? Who can she trust with the truth about her family? And how much is she willing to sacrifice to win her own freedom?
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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.
Addictive page turner!
Essie’s story is a great example of how we would rather turn a blind eye and avoid the truth of what’s really going on, for the sake of keeping up appearances.
I loved how so many different things were woven together in this novel: evangelical lifestyle, reality TV, social issues of the day (don’t want to say what issues because that would give away plot points). The writing is gorgeous and Essie is a character I truly loved.
I enjoyed The Book of Essie – it had interesting characters, a unique plot, and was well-written. I also liked the book’s message near the end, about the complicity of an entire society in believing the “perfect” lie, instead of seeing the obvious and awful truth. However, I did wish this book had a bit more “oomph” to it – if we’d read about Roarke’s experience earlier in the book it would’ve given more gravity to his motivation; if the Hicks family were shown with a bit more insidiousness, their actions/expressions made more ominous, it would’ve added more emotion and intensity for the reader. I also would’ve liked to read more about the “after” (but maybe there will be a sequel?). Overall, a good read.
A real page turner.
I’ve always been fascinated by the reality show families. This is loosely based on a reality family that is quite large and has rules based on gender roles within the family structure.
Love this book. Reminiscent of a good soap opera.
Essie is a fighter, cleaver and devious. She needs to be.
The Book of Essie is a story of Essie, a 17 year old girl, whose family are famous due to her father’s evangelical church. There are on TV and monitored nearly all the time. Everything she does falls under scrutiny. So, when it is discovered that she is pregnant, a solution to this ‘problem’ must be found.
Essie is smart and shrewd, and is calling the shots, although her parents are unaware that she is doing so. Essie enlists the help of a boy at school, Roarke, and another woman who was under a lot of scrutiny – Libby, or Liberty, Bell.
The three of them set out to take down Essie’s family in a most satisfying way.
I really enjoyed this story, and I liked Essie’s approach to things. I liked that she was practical but sincere in her plot. I liked how she was kind to Roarke. I also liked how she put her faith in Libby.
The three of them are misfits in a way, but are so likeable. Their faults add to their personality in good ways. I felt Essie’s concern for others, the hurt she was enduring, and also her need to get away. I liked Roarke’s vulnerability and his concern and compassion for Essie.
This is a story for our times. With all the TV evangelists and the constant media attention of reality TV stars – and keeping up appearances, The Book of Essie allows us to look at what is truly important, and worth fighting for in our lives. It is always about doing the right thing, protecting children, and being true to yourself. It is about being kind to others
#TheBookofEssie #MeghanMacLeanWeir
Good story, nice buildup to eventual ending. I did however have a few questions about why some of the characters did what they did and can only guess at what the author intended.
Loved almost everything about this book. Certainly a timely issue and certainly believable as to how Essie’s situation came about. Her fascinating solution to the problem makes up the greatest part of the book and wanting to know how much strength she will be able to demonstrate keeps the pages turning. My only problem was the author’s prejudicial presentation of Cuba, mimicking the one-sided presentation of the US media. Upon learning the author is a physician it was easier to see why she shaded the image of the Cuban medical profession, today rated as one of the best in the world with many traveling there for care, unlike the impression the author left that one had to travel to the US for quality care. While the US is #1 in healthcare costs, it is #12 of developed nations in quality of care. Even in a work of fiction the reality of US medical care should be honestly presented, as should the high quality of medical care associated with free or low-cost medical care in other coubtries.
Beautifully written, original first novel. Thoroughly enjoyable read.
Poignant and timely. I was so happy to receive this debut novel as a gift and will keep it on my shelves to read again.
The Book of Essie is a unique behind the scenes look at reality tv and a mega-church family(think the Duggars). Essie is 17, the youngest of the family and pregnant. The lengths the families to cover up Essie’s pregnancy amazed me! I truly enjoyed Essie and Roarke and reading how their relationship changed.
I probably would have never read this book, but it was up as a choice for our January pick (it didn’t win)! I thought it sounded interesting so I still picked it up from the library. I was not disappointed. I read it in one night and I loved it.
I was pretty much sold on the blurb for this one: Teenage Esther Hicks is a daughter on a Christian family reality show… and also secretly pregnant.
Essie’s mother has turned her husband’s ministry and their family (including fertility struggles, premature babies, and now new daughters-in-law) into Six for Hicks, a popular reality show, a growing congregation and a substantial income. It’s hard not to see the Duggars in the growing brood of Christian reality TV stars and even in the language of courtship and publicly-performed service trips.
Essie has grown up with constant cameras on her, and readers can see how that’s affected her in a thousand ways. She doesn’t tell her mother that she’s expecting a baby, instead she fake-hides her pregnancy test someplace she knows her mother will find. Part of this story is just a fascinating look at lifestyle reality shows and an outwardly perfect family, and that alone would be a pretty great novel. But I was very quickly drawn in by the characters. Essie and her “fiance” Roarke are both realistic, complex teenagers in a wild and improbable situation, just trying to survive and still treat each other kindly.
While outwardly behaving as a faithful daughter and bride-to-be for the cameras and gossip-mongers, Essie decides to turn her secret journals into a tell-all, describing life as a Six for Hicks daughter and admitting the truth about her pregnancy. Journo/producer Liberty Bell, herself a former child of a survivalist cult and bestselling memoir author, may be able to tell Essie’s story to the world, but there are consequences to revealing the truth.
This was a rare novel in which I wasn’t sure how the story was going to end. (When one reveal was completely unsurprising to me, Liberty also sighed and asked why people have to be so predictable.) It was great because I wasn’t sure until the very end whether or not Essie would get married, or whether she’d release her book, and how things could go if she did one or both of these things.
The Book of Essie is a book that touches on some heavy topics. It is a fast paced, quick reading book. It is well written using three different POV. It was a really good and entertaining book.
Loved it! Incredible story of family betrayal and resolution.
The characters, particularly Essie and Roarke, kept you wanting more until the last page. The stories of the main character, Esther “Essie” and Liberty Bell are tragic in their own right but the book has a redemptive ending that is more than satisfying for the reader. Spoiler alert: Don’t believe everything you see on reality TV!
We meet Essie, a member of the TV family, the Hicks. They have a reality tv called Six of Hicks. Essie is pregnant and she’s set to marry a friend by the name of Roarke Richards.
This marriage is a convenience for both of them. Essie gets to leave her family and Roarke’s gets to keep their store and house. Roarke also gets to go to Columbia. This book was so twisty and good. Can’t wait to read her next one