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 work by one of America's greatest novelists.