House Of Seven Gables

The book House of Seven Gables begins with the history of the old, decaying house. The house was constructed during the Puritan era in New England by the prominent Colonel Pyncheon. He acquired the property through dubious means: the property on which the house was built was originally owned by Matthew Maule, a relatively obscure man who was often called a wizard. Soon after Matthew Maule refused to sell the property to Colonel Pyncheon, he was charged with witchcraft and burned; Colonel Pyncheon led the charge against him, and thus acquired the property. Years later, Colonel Pyncheon himself died suspiciously. People say Maule put a spell on the Pyncheon family.

Having traced the family history, the story begins in its contemporary period in which Hepzibah Pyncheon, an elderly woman and the current resident of the House of the Seven Gables, opens a tiny penny store in the house. She has been forced to do so because of a decline in the family fortune that reduced her to poverty. Hepzibah has few customers in this little store. One of her customers was the young writer Mr. Holgrave, who was a boarder in the House of the Seven Gables and Hepzibah's only friend. Her cousin Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon is the current embodiment of Colonel Pyncheon's spirit among the Pyncheons. She blames Jaffrey for the imprisonment of Clifford her brother, who was convicted of murder and whose return from prison after many years is forthcoming.

One night, Phoebe Pyncheon, a seventeen year old relative, arrives from the country, wishing to stay at the House of the Seven Gables. Phoebe immediately brightens the dreary and old house, and even helps Hepzibah establish her store. Holgrave tells Phoebe the history of the Pyncheon family, in particular the controversy surrounding the supposedly murderous Clifford. Clifford soon returns to the House of the Seven Gables after decades in prison. Now an old man, he is frail and weakly. A natural lover of beauty, he responds most strongly to the young and pretty Phoebe. Clifford, Phoebe and Hepzibah essentially enclose themselves within the House of the Seven Gables. Their only visitors are Holgrave, who constantly observes the family, and Judge Pyncheon.

Holgrave soon reveals the history of the Pyncheon family to