Young Goodman Brown: Short Story

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Apr 2014 · Sold by Harper Collins

About this ebook

While travelling into the forest on an errand, Young Goodman Brown and his wife happen upon a Sabbath for witches where they are offered as new converts, prompting Brown to question his faith and trust in his spouse. Set in Puritan Salem, Massachusetts, “Young Goodman Brown” reflects author Nathaniel Hawthorne’s perspective on this dark period of American history.

Hawthorne was widely known for his common use of seventeenth-century Salem as a setting for his stories, which allegorically criticize Puritan values as contradictory. Although Hawthorne himself felt the story was not memorable, esteemed authors like Herman Melville, Henry James, Edgar Allan Poe, and even Stephen King have praised it as one of his best works.

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About the author

Born in 1804, Nathaniel Hawthorne is known for his historical tales and novels about American colonial society. After publishing The Scarlet Letter in 1850, its status as an instant bestseller allowed him to earn a living as a novelist. Full of dark romanticism, psychological complexity, symbolism, and cautionary tales, his work is still popular today. He has earned a place in history as one of the most distinguished American writers of the nineteenth century.