Which perhaps explains the recent contention by Publisher's Weekly magazine that Irving's 16th novel is likely to ruffle feathers.
Irving himself seems unruffled by such a prediction. After all, he has long prospered with his own unique fictional formula -- invoking the sentiments and devices of Victorian fiction, particularly the works of his beloved Charles Dickens, to write freely and often explicitly about homosexuality, rape, incest, transgender culture, religious extremism and prejudice of every stripe. So why, at 83, should he worry about controversy over Queen Esther, a novel that ends up in the minefield of Middle East politics and features a title character who will become actively involved with the Israeli Defense Forces and Mossad?