11 h 59 minAudiobook10 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 294 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 294 pagesAbout this book
What if the house you inherit holds a wrong that refuses to stay in the past?
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables, a decaying New England mansion stands on land Colonel Pyncheon takes from Matthew Maule. Maule loses his life as an accused wizard, and his supposed curse shadows the family. Generations later, proud, impoverished Hepzibah Pyncheon opens a tiny shop to survive and care for her fragile brother, Clifford.
Their young cousin Phoebe brings warmth into the gloomy house, while Holgrave, a mysterious lodger, questions the past’s hold on the living. But Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon wants a family secret and treats his wishes as rights. As Hawthorne blends ordinary life with the half supernatural, the family faces a troubling question: must descendants keep bearing the wrongs of their ancestors?
What you’ll discover
- A house heavy with history Step beneath a mossy roof where poverty, pride, and old injustice share the rooms.
- Warmth against the shadows Meet Phoebe, whose cheerful presence offers a vivid contrast to the mansion’s gloom.
- A smile worth questioning Look past Judge Pyncheon’s public kindness to the cold demands beneath his smile.
- The burden of inheritance Explore whether guilt belongs only to the guilty or also shapes those who follow.
- Between realism and mystery Follow Hawthorne through daily struggles, unsettling legends, and the possibility of love and renewal.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who enjoy old American fiction, gothic atmosphere, and stories about family secrets and inherited guilt. It also suits anyone curious about Hawthorne's style. If you want fast action and modern pacing, its slow, descriptive manner may feel heavy.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A house built on a stolen claim
- Hepzibah opens her little shop
- A young cousin brings sunlight
- Clifford comes home, a broken man
- Judge Pyncheon and his cold smile
- Old legends and the Maule family
- Guilt, inheritance and the weight of the past
- How Hawthorne builds his atmosphere
- What to watch for as you read
Who’s who
- Hepzibah PyncheonAn elderly, proud and poor woman who lives in the old house and opens a small shop to survive and care for her brother.
- Clifford PyncheonHepzibah's gentle, fragile brother, who comes home after long years away and longs for beauty and peace.
- Phoebe PyncheonA cheerful young cousin from the country whose warmth and practical skill bring life back into the gloomy house.
- HolgraveA young lodger and daguerreotypist with radical ideas, who has tried many trades and believes the past should not rule the living.
- Judge Jaffrey PyncheonA wealthy, respected cousin with a cold smile, who wants a family secret and treats his wishes as rights.
- Colonel PyncheonThe Puritan founder who takes Maule's land and builds the house, setting the family's fortunes and the curse in motion.
- Matthew MauleThe carpenter who loses his land and his life, and whose dying curse is said to follow the Pyncheons.
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 11 h 59 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 10 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in, 294 pages: USD 11.95 when you start free, USD 17.95 on its own.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in, 294 pages: USD 18.95 when you start free, USD 24.95 on its own.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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The House of the Seven Gables
by Nathaniel Hawthorne· 1851
A family lives under the shadow of an ancestral wrong.
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Language: English
“And I found that but to glean after this man, is better than to be in at the harvest of others.”
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 9
A house built on a stolen claim
The novel opens by telling the history of the house. In the late 1600s, Colonel Pyncheon wants a piece of land in a New England town. The land belongs to Matthew Maule, a humble man who has built a cottage and dug a well there. The colonel is rich and powerful, and he is determined to have it.
Maule is accused of witchcraft during the panic of those years and is hanged. The colonel gets the land, and Hawthorne hints that his accusation helped to bring that about. As Maule stands at the gallows, he speaks a curse against his enemy. In the tale, he says that God will give the colonel blood to drink.
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The author
Nathaniel Hawthorne
1804–1864 · American novelist
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short-story writer born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1804. He lived in Massachusetts and served as a United States consul in Liverpool, England. He wrote The Scarlet Letter (1850) and The House of the Seven Gables (1851). He died in Plymouth, New Hampshire, in 1864.
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What is The House of the Seven Gables about?
It is about the Pyncheon family and their old mansion in a New England town. A wrong done by an ancestor and a supposed curse shadow the family, and the book asks whether guilt passes down through generations.
Is The House of the Seven Gables a true story?
No, it is fiction, published in 1851. Hawthorne drew on Salem's history, including the witchcraft trials, and a real old house in Salem is linked to the book, but the characters and events are invented.
Who is Holgrave in The House of the Seven Gables?
Holgrave is a young lodger in the Pyncheon house who works as a daguerreotypist, making early photographs. He has tried many trades, holds radical views, and becomes a friend to Phoebe.
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