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Out of Esau
When a woman questioning her marriage encounters the kind and steadfast pastor of her small town, they are both forced to reconsider their pasts, their faith, and their future
Robert Glory has never quite felt as though he fit in the small town of Esau, Michigan, but he finds solace in his role as the pastor of Esau Baptist and in his spare, orderly routine. When Susan Shearer arrives at his church seeking the strength to stay true to her increasingly volatile husband, neither expect that their immediate connection will upend both of their lives. As their relationship deepens and Susan’s life at home becomes more unstable, Robert and Susan are forced to confront the wounds that have shaped them and discover if they still have the power to change.
Told from five different perspectives—including Susan’s husband, Randy, her brilliant but high-strung young daughter, Willa, and Robert’s long-estranged mother, Leotie—Out of Esau is a visceral look at the dynamics of an abusive marriage, a nuanced portrait of faith and its loss, and a sweeping story of redemption.
Robert Glory has never quite felt as though he fit in the small town of Esau, Michigan, but he finds solace in his role as the pastor of Esau Baptist and in his spare, orderly routine. When Susan Shearer arrives at his church seeking the strength to stay true to her increasingly volatile husband, neither expect that their immediate connection will upend both of their lives. As their relationship deepens and Susan’s life at home becomes more unstable, Robert and Susan are forced to confront the wounds that have shaped them and discover if they still have the power to change.
Told from five different perspectives—including Susan’s husband, Randy, her brilliant but high-strung young daughter, Willa, and Robert’s long-estranged mother, Leotie—Out of Esau is a visceral look at the dynamics of an abusive marriage, a nuanced portrait of faith and its loss, and a sweeping story of redemption.
336 pages, Hardcover
Published October 11, 2022
14 people are currently reading
2429 people want to read
About the author
Michelle Webster Hein
1 book34 followersMichelle Webster-Hein's debut novel Out of Esau was published in October of 2022 by Counterpoint Press. Her work has been nominated four times for a Pushcart Prize, recognized in the Best American series, and featured on the show “Stateside” from Michigan Radio. She's also been published in Modern Farmer, Ruminate Magazine, LitHub, River Teeth, and Hunger Mountain, among other places. She and her husband and children work a small homestead in the southern Michigan countryside where she was born and raised.
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November 24, 2022
Michelle Webster-Hein’s 'Out of Esau,' set in a dying Midwest town that feels a lot like that of David Rhodes’ 'Driftless' or Stephen Markley’s 'Ohio,' is the most beautiful, dark, gritty, and realistic character study of 2022, and it stands as a towering achievement of the kind of work that a small, independent press can put out into the literary world of today, showcasing the idea that you don’t need a big publisher’s backing to have an incredible novel in your hands.
The premise of 'Out of Esau' is simple enough—through the eyes of five different characters, we spend a couple of months at the end of 1996 watching the happenings of a small, dying town in Michigan, and we follow along as the characters interact with one another and other citizens of Esau during their daily lives. The viewpoints are chosen wisely—Willa is the daughter of Susan and Randy, arguably the main characters of the novel, and we see the story unfold through all three of their eyes. Webster-Hein paints a picture of a painful, abusive marriage between Susan and Randy, and we get their unique individual perspectives on all aspects of the relationship, both from Susan and Randy themselves and their daughter. Willa’s chapters provide a devastating insight into what a child watches when she sees her parents fight and her father abuse both her and her mother, and readers struggle and want to shake her as we see her justify mentally her father’s behavior to herself, forcing us to understand how some kids grow up still loving their abusive parents, albeit difficultly and understanding the duality of doing so. Susan’s and Randy’s viewpoints also offer different sides to the same relationship, and the dueling narratives fully flesh out their characters and the relationship to the point where it seems to be written straight out of a real-life story, the twists and turns and excuses and fights all completely formed and realistic. We also see the story expand through the eyes of Robert, a pastor in his late thirties who’s been in town at the local church for around a full decade, and his mother, Leotie, who, in the first few pages of the novel, shows up on Robert’s doorstep after not seeing him for nearly thirty years, right before the state took him away into protective custody after they deemed her unfit to provide for his wellbeing.
As the novel goes on, Robert and Susan start to slowly fall in love with one another, and this is the main thrust of the small plot that runs throughout the story—the ‘will they, won’t they’ aspect of the story helps to propel it along, and it provides reactions to and from the other characters as they respond to the development of the relationship between the two lost souls, both good and bad. Leotie helps her son see the hole that has formed in both his heart and his faith over the years, and readers watch as he struggles with his faith and his role as the leader of the church where he preaches, especially as he starts to pour over contradictory Bible passages as he writes his weekly sermons and deals with an ineffective and lazy church board that seems to thwart his needs and desires at every chance they get. The story builds to a sudden and jolting climax, and we only learn in the closing pages the ultimate resolution to all five characters’ lives, at least in the present day of the novel, and the ending, which could’ve been ambiguous depending on how Webster-Hein wanted to write it, instead is immensely satisfying, if also a little melancholic.
I want to emphasize that this novel has a very loose plot to it, and that's anything but a bad thing—readers spend the vast majority of the novel getting glances into each character’s past, some more detailed than others, and Webster-Hein introduces warts and all to her readers, every salacious or gratifying personal detail throughout. This helps to form a well-rounded view of each character, and it allows them to jump off the page—I felt like I knew these characters in real life by the time I was done reading the novel, and I found myself wanting to scream and shake and congratulate the characters at various times throughout, all because I cared about them. And it’s that distinct lack of a larger plot that makes the novel so fascinating—by being, essentially, a character study of several different people, the novel allows you to dive more into the world of the story and feel like you could live next door to each and every one of these people. The little world-building details that Webster-Hein provides as well, including setting it in 1996 and making the time of the year (it’s basically told from October 1996-January 1997) a character in and of itself, add even more depth to the novel as a whole, and you don’t even realize there’s basically no plot throughout most of it because you’re too interested in seeing the interactions between the many characters as the chapters unspool.
Speaking of chapters—each one is rather short, usually between five and ten pages, and this allows the story to both flow languidly from one place to the next, the pacing of it almost perfect, and give the novel itself a sense of urgency underneath all of its words, propelling readers forward when the action on the page seems to ebb and flow from chapter to chapter. By only spending a few pages within each character’s head at a time, it helps to create a vague sense of unease and hurriedness that adds to the urgency of the crisis that builds as time goes on between the five characters, and it allows readers to spend just enough time to get an opinion on each character before shifting gears and hearing about the same events from another perspective.
This book is dark—as previously mentioned, it deals with an abusive relationship, and Webster-Hein does a beautiful job of painting why some people choose to/have to stay in an abusive relationship. No one wants to be abused by the one they love, physically or emotionally or mentally, and a lot of times, people who aren’t in the relationship don’t understand why people would stay with a partner who abuses them. The relationship that unravels on the page between Susan and Randy is so well-written, so realistic, and so painful that I struggle to say that it’s not the most realistic relationship I’ve read in a novel over the past year at least. We watch as Susan torments herself into both forgiving her abusive husband and wanting to leave him immediately, and we see her also considering the life she could have with Robert and what it does to her faith. Webster-Hein handles the details of abuse very delicately as well, and they are neither over-the-top nor overwritten, giving an even bigger sense of realism to the entire thing.
I, personally, was also nervous to read this based on the description—I was worried this was going to be a story that justified/celebrated Christianity, something I struggled with for years before finally extricating myself from the Church, but this is the exact opposite. Webster-Hein spells out in perfect language the hypocrisy of many modern-day Christians, especially those in small town America, and how they hold everyone but themselves to a set of Biblical standards that are both unrealistic and outdated in today’s world. We watch as both Robert and Susan struggle with their faith, their calling in life, and the idea of God in general, and the subtle ways that Webster-Hein herself calls out the contradictions of Christian faith and scripture, especially those found in the story of Jacob and Esau, are incredible and mortifying at the same time. The author paints a picture here of a crisis of faith that could be expanded to the world at large today, and she does so by distilling it into the thoughts and actions of just a few characters in a dying Michigan town. Many authors would stumble and struggle to do so without it seeming stuffed down readers’ throats, but Webster-Hein perfectly walks that line and creates a story that shows the hidden dualities of the Christian faith while not shaming the faith itself at large.
If you want to read one of the best novels of 2022, please pick this book up. It’s the most beautiful character study I’ve read in a while, and I sincerely hope Webster-Hein might write a sequel in the future that shows the characters in the present-day. I savored the time I spent with the characters in Esau, Michigan, and it helped that I read this in November, the same time as much of the story itself. You can read it anytime, however, and just imagine in your mind the cold, grey landscape that surrounds the characters in the novel as they contemplate their places in life. An absolutely incredible debut novel, this marks the beginning of what has to be a long and fruitful career for Webster-Hein and her incredible storytelling abilities.
Thanks to NetGalley, Counterpoint Press, and Michelle Webster-Hein for the digital ARC of 'Out of Esau' in exchange for an honest review.
The premise of 'Out of Esau' is simple enough—through the eyes of five different characters, we spend a couple of months at the end of 1996 watching the happenings of a small, dying town in Michigan, and we follow along as the characters interact with one another and other citizens of Esau during their daily lives. The viewpoints are chosen wisely—Willa is the daughter of Susan and Randy, arguably the main characters of the novel, and we see the story unfold through all three of their eyes. Webster-Hein paints a picture of a painful, abusive marriage between Susan and Randy, and we get their unique individual perspectives on all aspects of the relationship, both from Susan and Randy themselves and their daughter. Willa’s chapters provide a devastating insight into what a child watches when she sees her parents fight and her father abuse both her and her mother, and readers struggle and want to shake her as we see her justify mentally her father’s behavior to herself, forcing us to understand how some kids grow up still loving their abusive parents, albeit difficultly and understanding the duality of doing so. Susan’s and Randy’s viewpoints also offer different sides to the same relationship, and the dueling narratives fully flesh out their characters and the relationship to the point where it seems to be written straight out of a real-life story, the twists and turns and excuses and fights all completely formed and realistic. We also see the story expand through the eyes of Robert, a pastor in his late thirties who’s been in town at the local church for around a full decade, and his mother, Leotie, who, in the first few pages of the novel, shows up on Robert’s doorstep after not seeing him for nearly thirty years, right before the state took him away into protective custody after they deemed her unfit to provide for his wellbeing.
As the novel goes on, Robert and Susan start to slowly fall in love with one another, and this is the main thrust of the small plot that runs throughout the story—the ‘will they, won’t they’ aspect of the story helps to propel it along, and it provides reactions to and from the other characters as they respond to the development of the relationship between the two lost souls, both good and bad. Leotie helps her son see the hole that has formed in both his heart and his faith over the years, and readers watch as he struggles with his faith and his role as the leader of the church where he preaches, especially as he starts to pour over contradictory Bible passages as he writes his weekly sermons and deals with an ineffective and lazy church board that seems to thwart his needs and desires at every chance they get. The story builds to a sudden and jolting climax, and we only learn in the closing pages the ultimate resolution to all five characters’ lives, at least in the present day of the novel, and the ending, which could’ve been ambiguous depending on how Webster-Hein wanted to write it, instead is immensely satisfying, if also a little melancholic.
I want to emphasize that this novel has a very loose plot to it, and that's anything but a bad thing—readers spend the vast majority of the novel getting glances into each character’s past, some more detailed than others, and Webster-Hein introduces warts and all to her readers, every salacious or gratifying personal detail throughout. This helps to form a well-rounded view of each character, and it allows them to jump off the page—I felt like I knew these characters in real life by the time I was done reading the novel, and I found myself wanting to scream and shake and congratulate the characters at various times throughout, all because I cared about them. And it’s that distinct lack of a larger plot that makes the novel so fascinating—by being, essentially, a character study of several different people, the novel allows you to dive more into the world of the story and feel like you could live next door to each and every one of these people. The little world-building details that Webster-Hein provides as well, including setting it in 1996 and making the time of the year (it’s basically told from October 1996-January 1997) a character in and of itself, add even more depth to the novel as a whole, and you don’t even realize there’s basically no plot throughout most of it because you’re too interested in seeing the interactions between the many characters as the chapters unspool.
Speaking of chapters—each one is rather short, usually between five and ten pages, and this allows the story to both flow languidly from one place to the next, the pacing of it almost perfect, and give the novel itself a sense of urgency underneath all of its words, propelling readers forward when the action on the page seems to ebb and flow from chapter to chapter. By only spending a few pages within each character’s head at a time, it helps to create a vague sense of unease and hurriedness that adds to the urgency of the crisis that builds as time goes on between the five characters, and it allows readers to spend just enough time to get an opinion on each character before shifting gears and hearing about the same events from another perspective.
This book is dark—as previously mentioned, it deals with an abusive relationship, and Webster-Hein does a beautiful job of painting why some people choose to/have to stay in an abusive relationship. No one wants to be abused by the one they love, physically or emotionally or mentally, and a lot of times, people who aren’t in the relationship don’t understand why people would stay with a partner who abuses them. The relationship that unravels on the page between Susan and Randy is so well-written, so realistic, and so painful that I struggle to say that it’s not the most realistic relationship I’ve read in a novel over the past year at least. We watch as Susan torments herself into both forgiving her abusive husband and wanting to leave him immediately, and we see her also considering the life she could have with Robert and what it does to her faith. Webster-Hein handles the details of abuse very delicately as well, and they are neither over-the-top nor overwritten, giving an even bigger sense of realism to the entire thing.
I, personally, was also nervous to read this based on the description—I was worried this was going to be a story that justified/celebrated Christianity, something I struggled with for years before finally extricating myself from the Church, but this is the exact opposite. Webster-Hein spells out in perfect language the hypocrisy of many modern-day Christians, especially those in small town America, and how they hold everyone but themselves to a set of Biblical standards that are both unrealistic and outdated in today’s world. We watch as both Robert and Susan struggle with their faith, their calling in life, and the idea of God in general, and the subtle ways that Webster-Hein herself calls out the contradictions of Christian faith and scripture, especially those found in the story of Jacob and Esau, are incredible and mortifying at the same time. The author paints a picture here of a crisis of faith that could be expanded to the world at large today, and she does so by distilling it into the thoughts and actions of just a few characters in a dying Michigan town. Many authors would stumble and struggle to do so without it seeming stuffed down readers’ throats, but Webster-Hein perfectly walks that line and creates a story that shows the hidden dualities of the Christian faith while not shaming the faith itself at large.
If you want to read one of the best novels of 2022, please pick this book up. It’s the most beautiful character study I’ve read in a while, and I sincerely hope Webster-Hein might write a sequel in the future that shows the characters in the present-day. I savored the time I spent with the characters in Esau, Michigan, and it helped that I read this in November, the same time as much of the story itself. You can read it anytime, however, and just imagine in your mind the cold, grey landscape that surrounds the characters in the novel as they contemplate their places in life. An absolutely incredible debut novel, this marks the beginning of what has to be a long and fruitful career for Webster-Hein and her incredible storytelling abilities.
Thanks to NetGalley, Counterpoint Press, and Michelle Webster-Hein for the digital ARC of 'Out of Esau' in exchange for an honest review.
August 5, 2022
"Susan's mother had always told her that marriage was a journey, not over land but over water. When the storms came, you lashed yourself to the mast and you rode it out. And if you couldn't do it for your husband, you did it for your children, and you did it for yourself because you wouldn't make it on your own."
Reading Out of Esau was like travelling in a time machine to my childhood and watching the slow demise of my own family. Michelle Webster Hein has beautifully written a debut novel that delves into the raw and poignant spiral of a rural Michigan family, and tackles what happens when the foundation you have built based on promise, faith and love begins to crumble under the weight of financial hardship, dead end dreams and the loss of oneself. Throw in a steadfast, handsome pastor who is questioning his own path and choices and you've got yourself a slow burning, character driven read that will keep you turning pages until the igniting finale.
I did struggle at times with how I felt about these characters and their choices, but isn't that life? People are messy and complicated, and I found myself rooting for them, regardless, to find their way. Heartbreaking and wholly relatable, Out of Esau will be painfully relevant to those who choose to pick it up and crawl inside.
Thank you to Counterpoint Press for this gifted arc, via NetGalley, for my honest review.
Reading Out of Esau was like travelling in a time machine to my childhood and watching the slow demise of my own family. Michelle Webster Hein has beautifully written a debut novel that delves into the raw and poignant spiral of a rural Michigan family, and tackles what happens when the foundation you have built based on promise, faith and love begins to crumble under the weight of financial hardship, dead end dreams and the loss of oneself. Throw in a steadfast, handsome pastor who is questioning his own path and choices and you've got yourself a slow burning, character driven read that will keep you turning pages until the igniting finale.
I did struggle at times with how I felt about these characters and their choices, but isn't that life? People are messy and complicated, and I found myself rooting for them, regardless, to find their way. Heartbreaking and wholly relatable, Out of Esau will be painfully relevant to those who choose to pick it up and crawl inside.
Thank you to Counterpoint Press for this gifted arc, via NetGalley, for my honest review.
August 19, 2022
Five very different narrators tell their stories that center around the declining Michigan town of Esau in Webster-Hein’s debut. Susan’s marriage is on the rocks, so she impulsively decides to visit a church one Sunday; she feels inexplicably drawn to the pastor and finds herself thinking of him often in subsequent days, comparing him to her unstable husband, Randy. Randy is plagued by doubts, some about his job and family, and most about Susan herself. Caught between her parents is nine-year-old Willa, keenly aware of the discord at home and trying but failing to manage the strife she faces. The church pastor is Robert, who feels isolated among his church members even after serving for a decade; he is also interested in Susan, both personally as well as for her family, something he craves. The fifth voice is Robert’s mother, Leotie, who has always vowed to regain custody of the son taken from her in his childhood. Now she is near death and when she learns where Robert lives, she travels to Esau hoping to reconnect with him before she dies. I enjoyed the character development as they interacted, looking for redemption and resolution. Beautiful. Thanks to Edelweiss for the arc!
October 18, 2022
The characters in “Out of Esau” feel in some ways excruciatingly familiar and yet I didn’t want to put this book down. Not to confuse familiar with predictable; these characters developed carefully - which caused a welcome tension in me as I attached myself to their voices and their choices. I also felt the strangest sense of nostalgia, or maybe it is something like deja vu - but for a town and people I don’t know, and a story that isn’t mine.
It’s difficult to explain why and how much I enjoyed this book. Maybe it’s because I’m more like Willa, the daughter, than I’d like to be….what I do know - is that there’s a cadence and soft brilliance to the way this is written that speaks to me: “Sometimes the plainest moments became unbearably beautiful, like this one, seated in a soft armchair in a quiet house, listening to the silence and all of its interruptions…”
It’s difficult to explain why and how much I enjoyed this book. Maybe it’s because I’m more like Willa, the daughter, than I’d like to be….what I do know - is that there’s a cadence and soft brilliance to the way this is written that speaks to me: “Sometimes the plainest moments became unbearably beautiful, like this one, seated in a soft armchair in a quiet house, listening to the silence and all of its interruptions…”
January 23, 2023
Teehee. But I am pretty proud of it.
December 10, 2022
A small-town in Michigan circa 1996. If you live here the cover art could represent a number of towns dotting the landscape.
Told in five distinct voices this debut is touching and real. Susan, the wife & mother struggling to keep it together; Randy, the troubled and angry husband; Pastor Robert, the local Pastor who has never felt at home in Esau; Robert's mother Leoti, who turns up on his doorstep, and my favorite voice in the story- Willa, the young daughter of Susan and Randy who is deeply effected by the turmoil in their home. Now is the perfect time of year to settle into this story.
"Night arrived before supper and lingered until after breakfast, framing a series of dim gray days that never quite shook the darkness."
Told in five distinct voices this debut is touching and real. Susan, the wife & mother struggling to keep it together; Randy, the troubled and angry husband; Pastor Robert, the local Pastor who has never felt at home in Esau; Robert's mother Leoti, who turns up on his doorstep, and my favorite voice in the story- Willa, the young daughter of Susan and Randy who is deeply effected by the turmoil in their home. Now is the perfect time of year to settle into this story.
"Night arrived before supper and lingered until after breakfast, framing a series of dim gray days that never quite shook the darkness."
October 18, 2022
There are very few authors who can take the ordinary motions of life and make them thought-provoking. Michelle Webster Hein has done this throughout this novel. A brilliantly written and well-rounded story about townsfolk in Esau, MI, and how even when life is simple, our feelings on it aren't always that.
September 22, 2022
Great book although it was a little bleak. Susan only knew one kind of man, and it was the type her father was. He was intimidating and boorish with explosions of temper. When Susan went off to college she met Randy who treated her well and took care of her. She became pregnant, neither one finished their college dreams. Randy took a job where he never progressed or was promoted and became bitter. At home, he had mood swings and a violent temper. He was controlling and constantly checking up on Susan. One night, he takes his aggression too far and Susan has enough. In trying to change the life of her and her children, she starts going to church. This is the story that shows the effects of Susan’s attempts to change her and her children’s lives. This novel is not a pretty story but it rings true. It kept me interested from beginning to end. I was privileged to receive an ARC from NetGalley and Counterpoint Publishing. This review and rating is heartfelt and honest.
September 2, 2022
With a troubled marriage and a future as bleak as the Michigan winter landscape, Susan seeks friendship at the Baptist Church. This sets off several events that affect not only her family but also the pastor and his mother. In a way, I found this book sad. Life is not always easy and sometimes it's hard to cope. The story is told from different points of view of each of the main characters. Unfortunately, they are either lonely and depressed or mad at the world. This author has a way of really making the reader feel this range of emotions. Thanks to the author, Counterpoint Press, and NetGalley. I received a complimentary copy of this ebook. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
October 20, 2023
Michelle Webster Hein has written a new modern classic — a story of family tenderness and devotion balanced with an individual's s courage to love oneself well and ask for themself as much as they give to others. I read this novel months ago, and it continues to resonate in my subconscious today. Whole sections of the book I read sobbing, because it felt that even though the characters and circumstances were not specifically mine, there was so much that resonated intimately to me. I sympathized deeply with the characters' depth of yearning for meaning and connection; their willingness to sacrifice for love and for the hope that potential might someday be realized; and the painful but liberating lessons they ultimately learned about how much of themselves they could give away without disappearing. I love this book, these people, this town, these families. Hein's honesty, lyrical writing, understanding about the human heart make her a novelist to watch. I can't wait to read her next book, and the next, and the next. She's a magnificent new voice in American literature. I'm so happy I found her debut.
November 9, 2023
This book is exceptional, and instantly earns its place among my favorite books of all time. Webster Hein did a breathtakingly magnificent job crafting such a gorgeous and heartbreaking story, and she deserves vastly more than the mere 128 people who reviewed this book on here before me. Thousands would be appropriate. (I’d also like to give a special shout out and thank you to Andy Kristensen for your incredible review that informed me of the existence of this beautiful book!!) (I have absolutely no idea how to link to a review but at least the blue words look fancy)
Out of Esau is a subtle, dignified, and devastating portrait of two families and a rural town struggling with betrayal, abuse, the transience between hope and hopelessness, and the terrible consequences of even the best intended actions. I feel honored to have picked this heart-wrenching book up, and I hope that many more people give it a chance.
Out of Esau is a subtle, dignified, and devastating portrait of two families and a rural town struggling with betrayal, abuse, the transience between hope and hopelessness, and the terrible consequences of even the best intended actions. I feel honored to have picked this heart-wrenching book up, and I hope that many more people give it a chance.
January 21, 2023
I read this because a good friend (JG) recommended it to me. (I think he also knows the author?)
This was very well-written. It’s a very sad and desolate story about an abusive marriage, and I found the whole thing depressing. I’m not saying it wasn’t accurate or well-done—it’s more that I don’t know that I really want/need to spend much time reading fictional stories about abuse. They already exist in reality, and so for me, reading fictitious accounts about abuse doesn’t really “get me anywhere” (other than sad).
I will say, it was interesting how the church played a (negative) role in this story. But again, we can already see this IRL, too. So the church angle in this story also just made me sad and I’m not sure I need/want to be reading fictitious accounts of how a church fails people in need.
This was very well-written. It’s a very sad and desolate story about an abusive marriage, and I found the whole thing depressing. I’m not saying it wasn’t accurate or well-done—it’s more that I don’t know that I really want/need to spend much time reading fictional stories about abuse. They already exist in reality, and so for me, reading fictitious accounts about abuse doesn’t really “get me anywhere” (other than sad).
I will say, it was interesting how the church played a (negative) role in this story. But again, we can already see this IRL, too. So the church angle in this story also just made me sad and I’m not sure I need/want to be reading fictitious accounts of how a church fails people in need.
July 10, 2023
I received an ARC of this book via Adventures by the Book.
I wrote this review in collaboration with bookish event company Adventures By the Book based in Southern California, where I am interning. You can check out ABTB https://adventuresbythebook.com/
This author is a member of Novel Network where you can reach out to them for an appearance in your book club for free! Find more information about Novel Network at: https://novelnetwork.com/our-authors/
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I’ve never read a book like Out of Esau. Hein paints marriage, relationships, self-help, and toxicity in a way I have never seen before. It is absolutely refreshing to read such a detailed account of the beauty of love, as well as the dangers of it. The structure of Hein’s novel allows readers to perceive and experience the story from five different perspectives, even from the villain of the story. Hein’s writing is stunning, as it fluctuates from dark and pensive to light hearted and jovial. A beautiful feat to say the least.
I wrote this review in collaboration with bookish event company Adventures By the Book based in Southern California, where I am interning. You can check out ABTB https://adventuresbythebook.com/
This author is a member of Novel Network where you can reach out to them for an appearance in your book club for free! Find more information about Novel Network at: https://novelnetwork.com/our-authors/
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I’ve never read a book like Out of Esau. Hein paints marriage, relationships, self-help, and toxicity in a way I have never seen before. It is absolutely refreshing to read such a detailed account of the beauty of love, as well as the dangers of it. The structure of Hein’s novel allows readers to perceive and experience the story from five different perspectives, even from the villain of the story. Hein’s writing is stunning, as it fluctuates from dark and pensive to light hearted and jovial. A beautiful feat to say the least.
October 28, 2022
Excellent, especially for a debut novel. I read it quickly only because I couldn’t stop. I only heard of Michelle Webster-Hein through my local book store, where I signed up to hear this author speak. Her talk was amazing and I am excited to say that her new book will feature some of the characters from Out of Esau! That’s good news because I can’t stop thinking about their story and want to know more! I’d give this book more than 5 stars if I could.
November 6, 2022
Wow, so many topics to keep me thinking. This book was a masterpiece of how the biggest challenges of life can lead to the most beautiful things. I want to read this again with a book club, not only to keep thinking about these challenging topics but to hear the perspectives of others. Michelle Webster-Hein needs to put more novels into the world.
November 13, 2022
This was excellent - I couldn’t put it down. Michelle weaves together the story of a small-town pastor and a wife and mother who is trying to keep her life together, all using five different character’s perspectives to show the dynamics and complexities of domestic life. Beautifully rendered.
January 14, 2023
This story is both bleak and gentle, easing into a town full of characters, secrets, and anxiety, and ultimately arriving at the possibility that we do know how to find what we most need. The author creates a deft, engaging world for the reader and carries us through the realities of life in a way that leaves room for hope. A satisfying, rapid read. Can't wait for her next book.
May 31, 2023
I liked this book from the very beginning and I liked it better and better the more I read. The small, midwestern town - Esau, Michigan - was so dismally and woefully described. But it was so realistically portrayed with its limited opportunities and its even more limited potential. The main characters were many-layered and filled with feelings. Robert, Susan, Leotie, Randy - I wanted so much for their lives to change and improve even as I knew the chances were slim. And the children - Willa and Lukas - even the children were many-layered and complex.
This book had a perfect ending - one which I really was afraid to hope for and also one in which I said, as I read the last page, 'so that's why the author chose this title.'
This book had a perfect ending - one which I really was afraid to hope for and also one in which I said, as I read the last page, 'so that's why the author chose this title.'
March 6, 2023
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
December 21, 2022
First novel. Wonderfully, and generously told. I was able to say a few things about it on Michigan Radio's Stateside. December 19th show. Right at the beginning of the hour:
https://www.michiganradio.org/show/st...
Here are the notes I took preparing my radio moment:
I don’t know a lot about the author. But rural, southern Michigan. Note says she lives on a farmstead, with her husband and children. Lots of distractions for someone who wants to write novels. But that world is the one that has shaped, informed her book.
Not Meth and Militia!! Those are real, yes, but most people who live in rural Michigan are working hard to make a living, to keep their families together. They’re not all conservatives. They may go to church – and church is a big part of this novel – but that doesn’t mean they are all judgmental, although some are. Some of them even think deeply about theological questions (this bears some resemblance to the brilliant novels of Marilyn Robinson)
But that doesn’t mean things are easy. Out of Esau is a novel about the breakup of a family. About an abusive marriage foundering, despite Susan’s attempt to keep it together. She goes to her pastor for help – pastors are afterall the poor man’s shrink! But there things get complicated.
So, yes, it’s a difficult story. But there is something different there – the sense that Hein loves her characters. She understands them and sympathizes with them – even with the husband who is always on the edge of losing control, working too hard at an often mind-numbing job. Hein knows these people and the places where they live, and she knows what they’re going through.
She writes gorgeous sentences, rich in detail.
Highly recommended. Perhaps the ending came a little quickly – or maybe I was just greedy for more about these people I had come to care about.
https://www.michiganradio.org/show/st...
Here are the notes I took preparing my radio moment:
I don’t know a lot about the author. But rural, southern Michigan. Note says she lives on a farmstead, with her husband and children. Lots of distractions for someone who wants to write novels. But that world is the one that has shaped, informed her book.
Not Meth and Militia!! Those are real, yes, but most people who live in rural Michigan are working hard to make a living, to keep their families together. They’re not all conservatives. They may go to church – and church is a big part of this novel – but that doesn’t mean they are all judgmental, although some are. Some of them even think deeply about theological questions (this bears some resemblance to the brilliant novels of Marilyn Robinson)
But that doesn’t mean things are easy. Out of Esau is a novel about the breakup of a family. About an abusive marriage foundering, despite Susan’s attempt to keep it together. She goes to her pastor for help – pastors are afterall the poor man’s shrink! But there things get complicated.
So, yes, it’s a difficult story. But there is something different there – the sense that Hein loves her characters. She understands them and sympathizes with them – even with the husband who is always on the edge of losing control, working too hard at an often mind-numbing job. Hein knows these people and the places where they live, and she knows what they’re going through.
She writes gorgeous sentences, rich in detail.
Highly recommended. Perhaps the ending came a little quickly – or maybe I was just greedy for more about these people I had come to care about.
September 8, 2022
Out of Esau, the debut novel by Michelle Webster-Hein, comes out on October 11, 2022. Counterpoint Press provided an early galley to review.
As a Michigan resident for almost a decade, I am always instantly drawn to books set in the state. It helps me learn about the area through the words and narratives of authors. The author even comes from here. Unfortunately, other than a couple references this story really could take place in any northern state and would still work.
The story is told from five different perspectives (Robert's, Susan's, her husband Randy's, their young daughter Willa's, and Robert's estranged mother Leotie's). This can either work very well or very poorly for me, as a reader. Here, the author has done a good job establishing the "voices" of each of the five so that it is easy to distinguish from whose eyes the reader is viewing the most recent actions.
I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised by some of the unexpected turns this story took. The characters also act in very realistic manners. It kept me wanting to read more. And though the story inevitably ended in a way I thought it might, it was an interesting read to get to that point.
Highly recommended for those readers who like contemporary, realistic fiction.
As a Michigan resident for almost a decade, I am always instantly drawn to books set in the state. It helps me learn about the area through the words and narratives of authors. The author even comes from here. Unfortunately, other than a couple references this story really could take place in any northern state and would still work.
The story is told from five different perspectives (Robert's, Susan's, her husband Randy's, their young daughter Willa's, and Robert's estranged mother Leotie's). This can either work very well or very poorly for me, as a reader. Here, the author has done a good job establishing the "voices" of each of the five so that it is easy to distinguish from whose eyes the reader is viewing the most recent actions.
I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised by some of the unexpected turns this story took. The characters also act in very realistic manners. It kept me wanting to read more. And though the story inevitably ended in a way I thought it might, it was an interesting read to get to that point.
Highly recommended for those readers who like contemporary, realistic fiction.
January 12, 2025
Just finished Michelle Webster Hein’s *Out of Esau*. Really great novel with exquisite character development that connects several strands of my life: Michigan, small church life, a nurturing pastor. And there are elements less familiar to me: loss of faith, dying, spousal abuse, and a bleak childhood. There are so many good novels these days about Michigan. And this one gets religion. Highly recommended.
Money quote: “By the time Thanksgiving morning rolled around, Leotie had come to an understanding of her fate. Dying was not how she’s expected it to be. In most ways, it was just like living. There was happy, and there was sad. There was pain, and then there were times that weren’t so painful. There were rivers of fear, and occasional waves—giant, crashing waves that left her cold and shaking—but there was relief, too, that she didn’t have to keep herself going anymore. Old worries would come back to her, and she’d realize she could let them go. Money—no need for it. Her teeth rotting out—so what. She would eat on them for a little longer, and then she wouldn’t. There was a deep relief in giving up. She hadn’t expected that.”
Money quote: “By the time Thanksgiving morning rolled around, Leotie had come to an understanding of her fate. Dying was not how she’s expected it to be. In most ways, it was just like living. There was happy, and there was sad. There was pain, and then there were times that weren’t so painful. There were rivers of fear, and occasional waves—giant, crashing waves that left her cold and shaking—but there was relief, too, that she didn’t have to keep herself going anymore. Old worries would come back to her, and she’d realize she could let them go. Money—no need for it. Her teeth rotting out—so what. She would eat on them for a little longer, and then she wouldn’t. There was a deep relief in giving up. She hadn’t expected that.”
Want to read
October 8, 2022A marriage dissolves in this novel set In a small town in Michigan told by the people involved. Susan been unhappy for some time with her husband Randy and their life together but its been exacerbated by their recent move, Her children Willa and Lukas knows things are troubled. Robert, the pastor at their new church seems like a safe harbor for Susan but he has his own issues. He was removed from his own mother as a child and knows this is one of the things his congregation unfairly judges him for (as well as his mixed heritage). Everyone collides, including Robert's birth mother but this isn't a big drama- more of.a slow burn with characters that will wind their way into your head. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. Grim in spots but a very good read.
February 27, 2025
The story as being told by the main characters, from their personal viewpoint gives the problems, issues and challenges they face an interesting and diverse narrative of the plot. With each character’s telling from their unique perspective, Michelle Webster Hein deftly manages to give the reader an overview of the story and situations evolving in the novel. Anyone who has ever lived in a small rural village or town could read this book and “Ya, she nailed it.” It can de difficult as somewhat dark, but it portrays difficult real life situations. Definitely not a happily ever after Disneyland fantasy, but she has crafted a good story.
March 4, 2023
3.5
This isn’t typically a genre that I enjoy and I think that plays a large roll in the rating I got. I struggled to get into the story and felt like it really took a while to understand where the book was headed. With that being said, I think the author did a great job making you question what you wanted to happen with each character. In the end, I wish there was more about what happened to the characters, it felt like it ended abruptly
This isn’t typically a genre that I enjoy and I think that plays a large roll in the rating I got. I struggled to get into the story and felt like it really took a while to understand where the book was headed. With that being said, I think the author did a great job making you question what you wanted to happen with each character. In the end, I wish there was more about what happened to the characters, it felt like it ended abruptly
August 13, 2023
This is the first time I remember seeing the phrase "dicking around" in print. This came recommended from Byron Borger's BookNotes, and I flew through it.
There was one detail that stuck out to me as a glaring anachronism: Leotie appears in a Starbucks (presumably in the late 80s or early 90s in Oklahoma (page 124)). There wasn't a Starbucks I'm Oklahoma until 2001 (I googled it, I'm not some weird Starbucks history nerd).
There was one detail that stuck out to me as a glaring anachronism: Leotie appears in a Starbucks (presumably in the late 80s or early 90s in Oklahoma (page 124)). There wasn't a Starbucks I'm Oklahoma until 2001 (I googled it, I'm not some weird Starbucks history nerd).
August 29, 2023
I enjoyed this story of ordinary working people in a small Michigan town. Susan struggles to make ends meet and raise her two children on her husband's small paycheck. Randy, her husband, is a volatile, angry man, working a dead end job. Local Pastor Robert befriends Susan. The arrival of Robert's mother, elderly and very sick, requires him to become her caregiver and reconsider his religious vocation.
The ending is pretty predictable and in Susan's case somewhat unbelievable.
The ending is pretty predictable and in Susan's case somewhat unbelievable.
January 23, 2023
Wow, excellent debut novel! This woman can write. Her descriptions of living in an abusive marriage ring very true. This is a character-driven novel, and I liked the shifting among the five points of view. The book is full of trauma and bleakness but ultimately hope. Great read, and I look forward to more.
Read
December 6, 2022I abandoned Out of Esau after 50 pages and that is no fault but my own. The novel is certainly quite good, but the characters are all sad, lonely and unhappy and they are seeking intimacy, connections and love. I really was not in the mood for this type of story.
April 17, 2023
This is a book that I couldn't read fast enough; however, I forced myself to slow down to savor the prose and richness of every detail. This novel is about love; it's about faith; it's about duty; it's about life and so much more. Read this book. I know you will love it.
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