House of the Seven Gables (1851)

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. The setting for the book was inspired by the Turner-Ingersoll Mansion, a gabled house in Salem, Massachusetts, belonging to Hawthorne's cousin Susanna Ingersoll, as well as ancestors of Hawthorne who had played a part in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.

Set in the mid-19th century, but flashbacks to the history of the house, which was built in the late 17th century, are set in other periods. The house of the title is a gloomy New England mansion, haunted since its construction by fraudulent dealings, accusations of witchcraft, and sudden death. The current resident, the dignified but desperately poor Hepzibah Pyncheon, opens a shop in a side room to support her brother Clifford, who has completed a thirty-year sentence for murder. She refuses all assistance from her wealthy but unpleasant cousin, Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon. A distant relative, the lively and pretty young Phoebe arrives and quickly becomes invaluable, charming customers and rousing Clifford from depression. A delicate romance grows between Phoebe and the mysterious attic lodger Holgrave, who is writing a history of the Pyncheon family.

The house was built on ground wrongfully seized from its rightful owner, Matthew Maule, by Colonel Pyncheon, the founder of the Massachusetts branch of the family. Maule was accused of practicing witchcraft and was executed. According to legend, at his death Maule laid a curse upon the Pyncheon family. During the housewarming festivities, Colonel Pyncheon was found dead in his armchair; whether he actually died from the curse or from a congenital disease is unclear. His portrait remains in the house as a symbol of its dark past and the weight of the curse upon the spirit of its inhabitants.

Phoebe arranges to visit her country home, but plans to return soon. Clifford, depressed by his isolation from humanity and his lost youth spent in prison, stands at a large arched window above the stairs and has a sudden urge to jump. The departure of Phoebe, the focus of his attention, leaves him bed-ridden.

Judge Pyncheon arrives at the house hoping to find information about land in Maine, rumored to belong to the family. He threatens Clifford with an insanity hearing unless he reveals details about the land or the location of the missing deed. Clifford is unable to comply. Before Clifford can be brought before the Judge (which would destroy Clifford's fragile psyche), the Judge mysteriously dies while sitting in Colonel Pyncheon's chair. Hepzibah and Clifford flee by train. The next day, Phoebe returns and finds that Holgrave has discovered the Judge's body. The townsfolk begin to gossip about Hepzibah and Clifford's sudden disappearance. Phoebe is relieved when Hepzibah and Clifford return, having recovered their wits. ( )

Thought I'd like this one, as I have liked Hawthorne in the past, but it was a pretty big snooze. Maybe I just wasn't in the right mind-set for it. ( )

i really used to like these old books but they have fallen out of favor with me of late. this ended up being easier to read than it seemed like it was going to be at the beginning. the first chapter was kind of tough (and formal and uninteresting) but then it settled down into smoother language and - while not a particularly interesting story - was easier to read. it never really held my interest, though, and was too wordy for my liking.

this was very much "meh" for me and although i'm interested to reread the scarlet letter just because i feel like i should, i won't be seeking out any of the rest of his novels. i would be open to his short stories, though, because i am interested in what he might be saying and doing, but not in long form apparently.

i thought i could get to like or at least relate to both phoebe and hepzibah (although her name tripped me up until almost the very end) but just never got into it enough to really care about either of them, and certainly not the other characters. i expected this to be spookier but maybe i just wasn't paying close enough attention. and i didn't like how the main characters just suddenly came into wealth and happiness to wrap it up at the end. like he thought he was supposed to make it all come out ok for them before closing it. so very american, i guess. ( )

791.4

Please note that I gave this book half a star and rounded it to 1 star on Goodreads.

Bah. Bah a thousand times. I have no idea why I started reading this. I think for the Halloween Book Bingo and I ended up switching it out. This thing was painful to read. I don't even know what to tell you besides if you must read this, just pace yourself since trying to force read this thing was not fun at all. At least the last 10-15 pages were just about Project Gutenberg though. I am going to complain though that my library does not have this as an e-book to download, I had to read it via Overdrive which means I had to either read this via computer or my cell. I am so used to downloading my books to my Kindle for IPAD this was another reason why it took me so long to finish.

The long and short of it about this book is following a family and their ancestral home in New England taking place in the late 1800s. At first with describing the home and how the family (Pyncheon) came to own the land that the home was built on. At first I was intrigued since it sounded like something supernatural was taking place. But then the book jumps to the current resident of the home ( Hepzibah, say that 10 times fast) and I lost interest. There are additional characters here and there, but nothing really works. The best part of the book is when Hawthorne describes the grounds and house that sits there.

Other than the house, the whole book moves at a plodding pace.

We have the characters of Phoebe Pyncheon who moves in with her cousin Hepzibah and of course has all of the men falling for her.

I don't know what to say really besides the fact the flow was terrible throughout. Nothing happens and there's a lot of well maybe this is haunted (the colonel's chair) but nothing is really sad for certain.

I wish that the setting had come more alive for me while reading this book. I just couldn't picture things well at all and had to look up pictures of the house to get things more fixed in my mind while reading.

The ending was a big shrug from me. I am so glad I can finally stop seeing this thing on my currently reading list. ( )