The House of the Seven Gables

First published in 1851, this novel is set in a decaying gabled house in a New England town, built by Colonel Pyncheon on land taken from Matthew Maule, who was hanged for witchcraft and is said to have cursed the family. In the present, Hepzibah Pyncheon opens a cent-shop, her brother Clifford returns broken from long imprisonment, and their cousin Phoebe brings ordinary daylight into the rooms. Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon presses a claim to a missing deed and to the house itself. The book is a romance of inherited guilt and a family property, not a popular ghost story.

Colour illustrations. Pictorial cover wraps round front, spine and rear. Illustrations. Black slipcase.