Invisible Hour Summary
Alice Hoffman

Invisible Hour Overview

In the fantasy novel The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman, Hoffman celebrates the power of literature and the bonds between mothers and daughters through the story of Ivy Jacobs and her daughter, Mia. When Ivy, a teen, discovered she was pregnant, her parents planned to put the baby up for adoption. Rather than give up her daughter, Ivy joined a strict commune where books were forbidden and misbehavior was severely punished. Ivy, however, encouraged her daughter to visit the community library and read. After Ivy was killed in a farming accident, Mia wanted to die also, but happened to read Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, a book that seemed to tell Mia about herself and gave her a reason to live. Themes in the novel include the power of literature, the bond between mother and daughter, and women’s rights.