The Book of Essie, Meghan MacLean Weir
The Book of Essie, Meghan MacLean Weir
5 Rating(s)
List: $22.50 | Sale: $15.75
Club: $11.25

The Book of Essie
A novel

Author: Meghan MacLean Weir

Narrator: Robbie Daymond, Tara Sands, Erin Spencer

Unabridged: 11 hr 4 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/12/2018


Synopsis

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 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?

Reviews

Goodreads review by Meredith B. on June 20, 2018

4.5 Stars! I finally finished another BOTM book in the same month I got it! I read this as a buddy read with the #essiebuddies on Instagram and it's really sparked some great stories and outlooks on mega churches and religious experiences! Essie is a seventeen year old girl. Her father is a Preacher i......more

Goodreads review by Chris on February 02, 2018

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.......more

Goodreads review by Vanessa on July 10, 2018

Interesting concept, I did enjoy the idea of the book better than the execution. It had all the makings for an excellent read. However I did not fully buy into the characters and storyline, it was all too contrived, with too many themes thrown at you, it was hard to care about the main issue which w......more

Goodreads review by Susan's Reviews on December 01, 2021

This was an incredible story with a horrifying reveal/twist! Esther's parents are the "stars" of a reality tv show, "Six For Hicks". Her father is a televangelist and her mother enjoys playing the matriarch. Of course, their actual lives behind the camera lens cannot be more different. Seventeen year......more

Goodreads review by JanB on July 24, 2018

Essie has been living her entire life under the glare of TV cameras. She’s the youngest of 6 kids on a reality TV show called 'Six for Hicks'. Her father is an evangelical minister and her mother is the woman behind the man, a devout and demure wife and mother. At least in front of the camera. The o......more


Quotes

"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

"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


Awards

  • Alex Award - YALSA