House of the Seven Gables

Nathaniel Hawthorne

For the past 30 years Hepzibah Pyncheon has lived alone in the old family home. The dwelling is an forbidding building, both in appearance with its 7 gables and overhanging stories, and in its history. The first owner, Colonel Pyncheon, purportedly cheated another man, Matthew Maule, out of the property, then died suddenly when the house was finished.

Hepzibah does not have the family riches, has a fierce scowl from near sightedness, and is very poor. Her beloved brother, Clifford, is coming home from jail, so she decides to open a small cent shop to make some money. Fortunately for her, a country relative comes into the town and moves in with Hepzibah and Clifford.

Phoebe is what Hepzibah, Clifford, the cent store, and the house need. She is young, full of life, pretty, and has a good business head for the store. Clifford comes out of his doldrums when she is around. Even the neighbor who rents one of the gables of the house visits with the Pyncheon family on Sunday afternoons now. The only looming shadow in their lives is Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon, Hepzibah's and Clifford's cousin. He is an evil man with a facade of friendliness and good humor. He wants the old house and the secret to the land that the Pyncheons were cheated from owning.

I could add a few more paragraphs and tell the complete story. The books itself can probably be abridged to about a quarter of its length without losing any of the storyline. Unfortunately, Hawthorne chose to use extremely flowery writing in this book. He drew good pictures - too good. It took him about 3 pages to describe the chickens in the garden. A full chapter is devoted to the death, and what is happening without the character. The body is alone in the parlor as the writer contemplates what should have been happening in that person's life.

Yes, this book is a classic. But that doesn't make it any better in my opinion. Despite the lengthy sentences and descriptions, there are holes in the explanations of the story. The storyline itself is simple. Hawthorne's writing is too heavy handed. If you want to read good Hawthorne, I recommend The Scarlet Letter instead.