£2.40
Blithedale Romance
“To do nothing is the way to be nothing.”
Early Life
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts. His father, a sea captain, died when Nathaniel was 4, and Nathaniel, always a shy child, spent his early years with his mother and two sisters. Hit on the leg by a ball, doctors could find nothing wrong, but he went lame and was bedridden for a year.
Education and Early Works
He entered Bowdoin College in 1821, and graduated in 1825. Hawthorne anonymously published his first work, the novel Fanshawe, in 1828. He continued to publish in various periodicals, which he collected in 1837 as Twice-Told Tales.
Personal Life
The next year, he became engaged to Sophia Peabody, eventually marrying her in 1842. His defining work The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850, followed by a succession of other novels. The majority of his works center on New England and have a Puritan inspiration and outlook, with their inherent evil and sin of humanity.
Later Years and Legacy
A political appointment took Hawthorne and his family to Europe before their return in 1860. Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864, leaving behind his wife and their three children. Here, with The Blithedale Romance, he leaves us with another classic tale.
