Hester: A Story of Contemporary Life

by Mrs. Oliphant

A Story of Contemporary Life by Margaret Oliphant was first published in 1883. Oliphant, a prolific Scottish author, is known for her detailed and socially-conscious novels that often address themes such as women’s roles in society, marriage, and the intricacies of everyday life in Victorian England. Hester is one of her more intimate and reflective works, focusing on personal morality, emotional complexity, and societal expectations.

603 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 26, 2025

About the author

Margaret Oliphant Wilson Oliphant (née Margaret Oliphant Wilson) was a Scottish novelist and historical writer, who usually wrote as Mrs. Oliphant. Her fictional works encompass "domestic realism, the historical novel and tales of the supernatural".

Margaret Oliphant was born at Wallyford, near Musselburgh, East Lothian, and spent her childhood at Lasswade (near Dalkeith), Glasgow and Liverpool. As a girl, she constantly experimented with writing. In 1849 she had her first novel published: Passages in the Life of Mrs. Margaret Maitland which dealt with the Scottish Free Church movement. It was followed by Caleb Field in 1851, the year in which she met the publisher William Blackwood in Edinburgh and was invited to contribute to the famous Blackwood's Magazine. The connection was to last for her whole lifetime, during which she contributed well over 100 articles, including, a critique of the character of Arthur Dimmesdale in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.

Reviews

[Lorri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mrs Oliphant explores the difficulties negotiating between the social and familial ties that bind and sustain us, with those that overly constrict and oppress us.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first novel by Margaret Oliphant. It is well written, although it vacillated between a pleasure to read it and repetition. The story centered on Hester coming of age, as well as the internal and external happenings of 65-year old woman, Catherine Vernon, the matriarch of the family. There were interesting issues about the role of the woman in 19th century's society from a very feminist point of view.