The Book of Essie
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Abby Weintraub (design)
 | |
| Author | Meghan MacLean Weir |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Sarah Toure (photograph) Abby Weintraub (design) |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Published | 2018 |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf |
| Publication place | US |
| Pages | 336 |
| ISBN | 978-0-525-52031-3 |
The Book of Essie is the 2018 debut novel of American author Meghan MacLean Weir. It features a 17-year-old named Essie Hicks who is pregnant. To avoid embarrassing her conservative Christian family who are stars of a reality television show, Essie's mother arranges for her to hastily marry an acquaintance of hers from school.
Esther "Essie" Anne Hicks becomes pregnant shortly before turning 17, which is problematic as she is the daughter of a charismatic pastor. The pastor and his family are the subject of a reality television show "Six for Hicks"—Essie has thus spent much of her life in the public eye. Essie's mother Celia decides that the best solution for the pregnancy so as not to harm their reputation would be for Essie to get married immediately. Though she does not have a boyfriend, Essie subtly influences her mother to suggest she marry Roarke Richards, a fellow teenager whose family is experiencing financial difficulties, yet who has aspirations to attend Columbia University. Celia offers Roarke and his family hundreds of thousands of dollars for him to marry Essie.[1]
The identity of the baby's father is not known to the reader for much of the novel, though it is eventually revealed that Essie's brother Caleb repeatedly raped her from age twelve and impregnated her. Roarke and Essie marry; with the money they gained from Essie's parents in exchange for doing so, Essie gains financial freedom. After wavering whether or not to do so, Essie decides to release a memoir of her diaries, detailing the abuse she experienced and exposing her family for covering it up.
The book is told in first-person perspective through three characters: Essie Hicks, Roarke Richards, and Liberty Bell, a cult survivor-turned-reporter.[2]
Characters
- Esther "Essie" Hicks: the youngest child of the Hicks family (17) who gets pregnant.
- Roarke Richards: The teenager Essie's mother arranges for her to marry
- Liberty Bell: former hyperconservative teen-blogger turned reporter whom Essie enlists to help her release her side of the story to the public
- Celia Richards: Essie's calculating mother
- Caleb Hicks: Essie's older brother who raped her and her sister