About the Book

The House of the Seven Gables is a Gothic novel written in beginning of mid-1850 by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne and published in April 1851 by Ticknor and Fields of Boston. The novel follows a New England family and their ancestral home. In the book, Hawthorne explores themes of guilt, retribution, and atonement and colors the tale with suggestions of the supernatural and witchcraft. A time-worn mansion in Salem is the setting of The House of the Seven Gables, the story of a distinguished but troubled New England family—the Pyncheons.

"To inherit a great fortune. To inherit a great misfortune." These words, from Nathaniel Hawthorne's notebook, neatly encapsulate the theme of The House of the Seven Gables, that of a family whose fortunes are poisoned by its past misdeeds. This intriguing and insightful novel truly deserves its significant place in the canon of American literature.