Rappaccini's Daughter

Taking up his place at the University of Padua, the youthful Giovanni Guasconti is enchanted to discover a nearby garden of the most exquisite beauty. In it abides a young woman, perhaps the most beautiful Giovanni has ever seen. Yet as he looks out from an upstairs window, he soon learns that, far from stemming from the gentle hand of Mother Nature, the garden - and the matchless Beatrice - are in fact the result of a monstrous abomination of creativity.

Part fairy tale, part Gothic horror story, Hawthorne's 'Rappaccini's Daughter' is an inspired tale of creation and control, and an ingenious biblical parody. Its fantastical element is brilliantly echoed in the two other short stories contained in this volume: 'Young Goodman Brown' sees one of Salem's townsmen introduced to a dark ceremony of diabolic intent, whilst 'A Select Party' tells of a magical party, set in a castle in the sky, and attended by a host of glittering guests.

Read together, these three short stories exemplify Hawthorne's key thematic concerns, and display all his art as a storyteller.
--front flap