1
of
1
Queen Esther
Brief Description
After forty years, John Irving returns to the world of his bestselling classic novel and Academy Award–winning film, The Cider House Rules, revisiting the orphanage in St. Cloud’s, Maine, where Dr. Wilbur Larch takes in Esther—a Viennese-born Jew whose life is shaped by anti-Semitism. Esther Nacht...
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$3299
$4199
Elsewhere:
Unit price
/
Unavailable
OVERNIGHT NZ-WIDE DELIVERY
Found a better price? Request a price match
Queen Esther
$3299
$4199
Elsewhere:
Unit price
/
Unavailable
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
After forty years, John Irving returns to the world of his bestselling classic novel and Academy Award–winning film, The Cider House Rules, revisiting the orphanage in St. Cloud’s, Maine, where Dr. Wilbur Larch takes in Esther—a Viennese-born Jew whose life is shaped by anti-Semitism.
Esther Nacht is born in Vienna in 1905. Her father dies on board the ship to Portland, Maine; her mother is murdered by anti-Semites in Portland. Dr. Larch knows it won’t be easy to find a Jewish family to adopt Esther; in fact, he won’t find any family who’ll adopt her.
When Esther is fourteen, soon to be a ward of the state, Dr. Larch meets the Winslows, a philanthropic New England family with a history of providing foster care for unadopted orphans. The Winslows aren’t Jewish, but they despise anti-Semitism. Esther’s gratitude for the Winslows is unending; even as she retraces her roots back to Vienna, she never stops loving and protecting the Winslows. In the final chapter, set in Jerusalem in 1981, Esther Nacht is seventy-six.
John Irving’s sixteenth novel is a testament to his enduring ability to weave complex characters and intricate narratives that challenge and captivate. Queen Esther is not just a story of survival but a profound exploration of identity, belonging, and the enduring impact of history on our personal lives, showcasing why Irving remains one of the world’s most beloved, provocative, and entertaining authors—a storyteller of our time and for all time.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781471179136
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 06 November 2025
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Scribner UK
Edition: Export/Airside
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Width: 153.0mm
Height: 234.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 432
About the Author
John Irving was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1942. His first novel, Setting Free the Bears, was published in 1968 when he was twenty-six. He competed as a wrestler for twenty years and coached wrestling until he was forty-seven. In 1992 he was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Irving has been nominated for a National Book Award three times, winning in 1980 for The World According to Garp. In 2000, he won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Cider House Rules. In 2013, he won a Lambda Literary Award for In One Person. Internationally renowned, his books have been translated into more than thirty-five languages. A Prayer for Owen Meany is his bestselling novel, in every language.
A dual citizen of the United States and Canada, John Irving lives in Toronto. The Last Chairlift is his fifteenth novel.
Also by John Irving
View all-
A Prayer For Owen Meany
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving is a compelling narrative that melds humour, tragedy, and faith into an unforgettable story. Set in the small-town backdrop of Gravesend, New Hampshire, the novel begins in the summer of 1953. Eleven-year-old John Wheelwright and his best friend, the diminutive yet brilliant Owen Meany, are playing in a Little League baseball game....Paperback$2899Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
The Last Chairlift
John Irving, one of the world’s greatest novelists, returns with his first novel in seven years — a ghost story, a love story, and a lifetime of sexual politics. In Aspen, Colorado, in 1941, Rachel Brewster is a slalom skier at the National Downhill and Slalom Championships. Little Ray, as she is called, finishes nowhere near the podium, but she...Paperback$3500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Avenue of Mysteries
Avenue of Mysteries, the latest novel by the internationally acclaimed author John Irving, is a masterful blend of reality and magical realism, a poignant exploration of how our pasts continually shape our present and influence our futures. Set against a richly detailed backdrop, the story follows the life of Juan Diego Guerrero, a man haunted by his memories and guided...Paperback$4500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
In One Person
In One Person is a masterful novel that weaves the complexities of sexual identity, desire, and secrecy through the life of Billy Abbott, a bisexual man coming of age in a small New England town. Spanning fifty years, the story captures the essence of Billy’s journey from adolescence to adulthood, blending humour and heartache in equal measure. From his teenage...Paperback$3500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Last Night in Twisted River
Last Night in Twisted River, from the award-winning author of A Prayer for Owen Meany, tells a breathtaking and intricately woven story of a father and son navigating through the tumultuous landscape of 20th-century North America. Set against the backdrop of a logging and sawmill settlement in northern New Hampshire in 1954, the novel opens with a gripping incident where...Paperback$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
The Hotel New Hampshire
The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving is a captivating tale that masterfully blends humour and poignancy, defining the unique narrative journey of the Berry family. Set against a backdrop of peculiar and unpredictable experiences, the novel unfolds through the eyes of John Berry, who recounts the vivid and eccentric adventures of his family members. This novel starts with a...Paperback$2899Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
The Cider House Rules
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • John Irving’s classic novel about a troubled doctor, the conflicted young orphan he mentors, and what it means to be of use in the world—the basis for the Academy Award–winning film starring Tobey Maguire, Michael Caine, and Charlize Theron. “Witty, tenderhearted, fervent . . . This novel is an example, now rare, of the courage...Paperback$5700Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 2-3 weeks -
A Prayer for Owen Meany
A remarkable novel. A Prayer for Owen Meany is a rare creation. An amazingly brave piece of work so extraordinary, so original, and so enriching. Readers will come to the end feeling sorry to leave this richly textured and carefully wrought world. --STEPHEN KING, Washington Post I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice--not because of his...Paperback$5300Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 2-3 weeks -
The World According to Garp
Winner of the National Book Award “Nothing in contemporary fiction matches it.” —The New Republic “Wonderful . . . full of energy and art, at once funny and horrifying and heartbreaking.” —Washington Post Powerful and political, with unforgettable characters and timeless themes, The World According to Garp is John Irving’s breakout novel. The precursor of Irving’s later protest novels, it...Paperback$5400Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 2-3 weeks -
Pre-orderA Prayer For Owen Meany
A masterpiece from one of the great contemporary American writers. 'A work of genius' Independent 'Brilliantly cinematic . . . Irving shows considerable skill as scene after scene mounts to its moving climax' New York Times 'A remarkable novel, a rare creation, an amazingly brave piece of work. So extraordinary, so original, and so enriching' Stephen King 'Brave and subtly...Paperback$3500Unit price /UnavailableOut 25 Aug 2026Pre-order -
Pre-order
The Cider House Rules
A modern masterpiece from one of the great contemporary American writers. Witty, tenderhearted, fervent - New York Times Difficult to define, impossible not to admire - Daily Telegraph An old-fashioned, big-hearted novel... somewhere between Trollope and Twain - Boston Globe Superb in scope and originality, a novel as good as one could hope to find from any author - Joseph...Paperback$3500Unit price /UnavailableOut 25 Aug 2026Pre-order -
The World According To Garp
An unforgettable journey through the highs and lows of life, The World According to Garp by John Irving follows the poignant and humorous story of T.S. Garp, a writer grappling with his place in a world filled with eccentric characters and unexpected events. Garp's life is intricately woven with that of his mother, Jenny Fields, a trailblazing feminist who challenges...PaperbackSold Out
More from General Fiction
View all-
The Wedding People
'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people — but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...Paperback$2399Elsewhere:$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Throne of Glass Box Set (Paperback)
Enter the realm. Unleash the darkness. Live the legend. Discover the worldwide phenomenon of the #1 New York Times-bestselling Throne of Glass series in this gorgeous 8-book box set! In a land without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She has no love for the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass, but she has not...Set$12400Elsewhere:$15500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Theo of Golden
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON'For anything to be truly good, there must be love in it. Nothing is what it's supposed to be if love is not at the core.' One morning, a stranger arrives in the town of Golden. No one knows who he is or where he came from…His name is Theo and he's arrived there by chance –...Paperback$2899Elsewhere:$3499Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
The Score
Welcome to Briar U! Get ready for your newest obsession... Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy! Read The Score now for the perfect friends with benefits romance! He knows how to score, on and off the ice... Allie Hayes is in crisis mode. With graduation looming, she still doesn't have...Paperback$2499Elsewhere:$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
The Goal
Welcome to Briar U!Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy!Read The Goal now for the perfect forced proximity romance! She's good at achieving her goals . . . College senior Sabrina James has her whole future planned out: graduate from college, kick...Paperback$2499Elsewhere:$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
The Mistake
Welcome to Briar U! Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy! Read The Mistake now for the perfect second chance romance! He's a player in more ways than one . . . College junior John Logan can get any girl he wants....Paperback$2499Elsewhere:$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Project Hail Mary
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, the SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of The Martian, offers a gripping new adventure in hard science fiction. With endorsement from notable figures such as Barack Obama and a slew of five-star reviews, this novel promises a thrilling and intellectually stimulating journey. Ryland Grace, a lone astronaut, finds himself on a...Paperback$2399Elsewhere:$2400Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
New Release
Yesteryear
A BOLD AND BITING SATIRE. WILL HAVE YOU GASPING TO THE FINAL PAGE — Nita Prose WICKEDLY FUNNY, BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN AND FRIGHTENINGLY PERCEPTIVE — Abigail Dean INVENTIVE, ADDICTIVE, A WILD RIDE — Ashley Audrain SHOT THROUGH WITH HUMOUR AND LACED WITH DARKNESS — Clare Mackintosh The Stepford Wives meets The Handmaid's Tale — Hannah Deitch My name was Natalie Heller...Paperback$2999Elsewhere:$3699Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
New ReleaseOn Mystic Lake
One of the greatest storytellers of our time - Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing Annie Colwater's only child has just left home for school in England. On that same day, her husband of twenty years confesses that he's in love with a younger woman. Left alone in the beautiful California house which was once a home, Annie...Paperback$3100Elsewhere:$3800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
The Legacy
Welcome to Briar U! Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from the Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy! Read The Legacy now for the much-anticipated answer to the question: Where are they now? Four stories. Four couples. Three years of real life after graduation . . . A wedding....Paperback$2499Elsewhere:$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
New ReleaseLand
Inspired by the mapping of Ireland in the mid nineteenth century, Land, the new novel from the author of Hamnet, is at once intimate and epic: a portrait of a family navigating a legacy of upheaval and loss with love and hope. On a windswept peninsula stretching out into the Atlantic, Tomás and his reluctant son, Liam, are working for the great...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Signed BookplateNew ReleaseLight Wielder
THE EPIC CONCLUSION TO METAL SLINGER, AKA THE BOOK WITH THE PLOT TWIST THAT BROKE THE INTERNET Sail the seas. Master the blade. Protect your heart. What would you do to have it all? READERS ARE GOING WILD FOR *METAL SLINGER* ‘The BEST plot twist to ever grace my Kindle’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘The author is a mastermind. Romantasy is back!!!!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
General Fiction lists from the team
Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!
-
![]()
![]()
![]()
Hannah's listGeneral Fiction
Gothic Reads for Dark Nights
With the advent of movie adaptations like Wuthering Heights and Frankenstein, it looks like pop culture is seeing a revival of the...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Shirl's listGeneral Fiction
Shirl's Top 10 Most Recommended Books
These are my Top 10 books that I always recommend to my friends and whānau when they ask for recommendations for getting...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Lizzy's listGeneral Fiction
Books to Escape a Reading Slump
A reading slump can be a frustrating feeling and hard to break out of, but we've gathered together a list of crowd...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![Star Shipped]()
Lizzy's listGeneral Fiction
Lizzy's Pride Fiction Picks!
June marks Global Pride Month so in case you're looking for your next great fiction read, here's a list of some of...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Lizzy's listGeneral Fiction
Readers’ Top 100 Novels of All Time - from The Guardian
There was some controversy when The Guardian released their critics and authors list of the top 100 novels of all time, but...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Shirl's listGeneral Fiction
Shirl's Favourite Books of 2026
The first half of 2026 has been packed with brilliant books, making it hard to choose favourites but here are a few...View the list
