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If certain novelists have an golden phase, during which they reach the summit consistently, then U.S. writer John Irving’s extended through a series of four long, gratifying books, from his 1978 hit His Garp Novel to the 1989 release A Prayer for Owen Meany. These were rich, humorous, big-hearted works, tying characters he refers to as “misfits” to cultural themes from women's rights to reproductive rights.

After His Owen Meany Novel, it’s been diminishing returns, save in page length. His last book, 2022’s The Last Chairlift, was 900 pages in length of themes Irving had delved into more skillfully in previous novels (inability to speak, dwarfism, gender identity), with a 200-page screenplay in the middle to fill it out – as if padding were needed.

Thus we approach a recent Irving with caution but still a small spark of optimism, which burns brighter when we find out that His Queen Esther Novel – a just four hundred thirty-two pages in length – “returns to the universe of His Cider House Rules”. That 1985 work is part of Irving’s finest books, located mostly in an institution in Maine's St Cloud’s, run by Dr Wilbur Larch and his assistant Homer Wells.

Queen Esther is a letdown from a author who once gave such delight

In His Cider House Novel, Irving discussed abortion and acceptance with richness, comedy and an all-encompassing empathy. And it was a major book because it abandoned the topics that were becoming repetitive tics in his works: wrestling, bears, the city of Vienna, sex work.

The novel starts in the fictional village of Penacook, New Hampshire in the early 20th century, where Thomas and Constance Winslow welcome teenage foundling the title character from the orphanage. We are a few years ahead of the action of His Earlier Novel, yet Wilbur Larch stays recognisable: still using ether, adored by his caregivers, beginning every talk with “Here in St Cloud’s …” But his role in this novel is limited to these initial sections.

The couple worry about bringing up Esther correctly: she’s Jewish, and “in what way could they help a teenage Jewish girl discover her identity?” To tackle that, we flash forward to Esther’s later life in the twenties era. She will be a member of the Jewish migration to the area, where she will join the Haganah, the Jewish nationalist armed group whose “purpose was to defend Jewish communities from opposition” and which would later establish the basis of the Israeli Defense Forces.

Such are huge topics to take on, but having presented them, Irving backs away. Because if it’s frustrating that the novel is not actually about the orphanage and Wilbur Larch, it’s even more disheartening that it’s additionally not really concerning the main character. For causes that must involve narrative construction, Esther ends up as a substitute parent for a different of the Winslows’ daughters, and gives birth to a male child, the boy, in 1941 – and the lion's share of this book is his narrative.

And at this point is where Irving’s preoccupations return strongly, both regular and particular. Jimmy goes to – of course – the city; there’s talk of evading the Vietnam draft through bodily injury (His Earlier Book); a pet with a significant title (the dog's name, remember Sorrow from His Hotel Novel); as well as the sport, prostitutes, writers and penises (Irving’s throughout).

He is a less interesting figure than Esther hinted to be, and the secondary players, such as students the pair, and Jimmy’s teacher Annelies Eissler, are one-dimensional also. There are some enjoyable episodes – Jimmy deflowering; a confrontation where a handful of thugs get battered with a walking aid and a tire pump – but they’re brief.

Irving has not ever been a delicate author, but that is is not the difficulty. He has always reiterated his points, telegraphed story twists and let them to build up in the audience's mind before bringing them to completion in lengthy, jarring, funny scenes. For instance, in Irving’s novels, physical elements tend to go missing: remember the speech organ in The Garp Novel, the hand part in Owen Meany. Those losses echo through the narrative. In the book, a major character loses an upper extremity – but we only learn 30 pages before the end.

She reappears in the final part in the story, but just with a final impression of ending the story. We do not do find out the entire narrative of her time in the region. Queen Esther is a failure from a writer who in the past gave such pleasure. That’s the negative aspect. The upside is that His Classic Novel – upon rereading together with this work – even now holds up wonderfully, 40 years on. So choose it in its place: it’s double the length as this book, but a dozen times as enjoyable.