The Absolute Value of Hester

Description

She wasn’t born Hester, of course. But her real name, Ysmr Kolisnychenko, was such a mouthful, especially in rural Iowa. So when she leaves Ukraine to marry Nathan Branch—a man she met through an online mail-order-bride dating service—and moves to America, Ysmr chooses a more American sounding name to go with her new life. Nathan proves to be a kind, if distant husband, but his daughter Monday is not so welcoming. Fourteen, and brimming with resentment, Monday makes no secret of her animosity to her dad’s Ukrainian “child bride.”

Not long after Hester arrives, the quiet town is shocked by the abduction and murder of Holly Sonderman, a seventeen year old girl from Monday’s high school. Rumors fly. There are a lot of suspects, but none of them quite add up. When it is revealed that Nathan knew the girl, the town sheriff becomes convinced that he is involved. Nathan insists he only casually met the girl, he barely remembered her. But he has no alibi, and suspicion infects the town. And there is much that seems mysterious about the man. He keeps odd hours, and disappears for days at a time to visit a cabin somewhere in the woods, and the fate of Holly Sonderman may not be the only secret he is hiding. What has Hester gotten herself into?

Part police procedural, part family drama, The Absolute Value of Hester is told in shifting perspectives, from personal narratives to podcast transcripts to police records—all adding up to a story about hope, about trust, and about the importance of believing.