First published in 1851, The House of the Seven Gables is one of Hawthorne's defining works, a vivid depiction of American life and values replete with brilliantly etched characters. The tale of a cursed house with a ""mysterious and terrible past"" and the generations linked to it, Hawthorne's chronicle of the Maule and Pyncheon families over two centuries reveals, in Mary Oliver's words, ""lives caught in the common fire of history."" Nathaniel Hawthorne, born on 4 July 1804, in Salem, Massachusetts was an American short-story writer and novelist who experimented with a broad range of styles and genres. He is best known for his short-stories and two widely read novels: The Scarlet Letter (1850) and The House of Seven Gables (1851). This is the most popular novel that is still relevant and relatable.