Author(s): Nathaniel Hawthorne; Alex Katz (Illustrator)

General Fiction

As a milestone of American literature, Hawthorne's second novel stands as sturdily today as when the title mansion was first constructed. This is a finely crafted blend of Gothic horror, mystery, and good old-fashioned ghost story.An old mansion in Salem, moss-covered and gabled, broods over the destiny of a distinguished but troubled New England Family, the Pynchons. A haunting, centuries-old curse, a forceful probing of national and personal guilt, a romance between the young heroine and an attractive stranger all intertwine in this classic