Mosses from an Old Manse, and Other Stories

Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer.

“The Old Manse” is an example of the kind of short pieces that Hawthorne published in collections of short stories, although they were not stories but sketches or essays. 

“The Old Manse” was first published as an introduction to a collection of Hawthorne’s short pieces titled Mosses from an Old Manse (1846), which contained such excellent short stories as “The Birthmark” and “Rappaccini’s Daughter.” Although “The Old Manse” is not a short story at all, it does evoke a mood of rustic peace and domestic bliss. It also contains interesting thumbnail descriptions of his famous neighbors Emerson and Thoreau. In this introduction, Hawthorne describes his contented life with his wife and children in a big house…

One of the best books of all time, Nathaniel Hawthorne's Mosses from an Old Manse. If you haven't read this classic already, then you're missing out - read Mosses from an Old Manse by Nathaniel Hawthorne today.