Hawthorne in Concord

by Philip McFarland

On his wedding day in 1842, Nathaniel Hawthorne escorted his new wife, Sophia, to their first home, the Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts. There, enriched by friendships with Thoreau and Emerson, he enjoyed an idyllic time. But three years later, unable to make enough money from his writing, he returned ingloriously, with his wife and infant daughter, to live in his mother's home in Salem.
In 1853 Hawthorne moved back to Concord, now the renowned author of The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables. Eager to resume writing fiction at the scene of his earlier happiness, he assembled a biography of his college friend Franklin Pierce, who was running for president. When Pierce won the election, Hawthorne is appointed the lucrative post of consul in Liverpool.
Coming home from Europe in 1860, Hawthorne settled down in Concord once more. He tried to take up writing one last time, but deteriorating health finds him withdrawing into private life. In Hawthorne in Concord, acclaimed historian Philip McFarland paints a revealing portrait of this well-loved American author during three distinct periods of his life, spent in the bucolic village of Concord, Massachusetts.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History

352 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2004

About the author

Philip McFarland was born in Birmingham, Alabama, where he attended public schools before entering Phillips Exeter Academy. After graduating from Exeter, he majored in history at Oberlin College, served for 3 1/2 years in the U.S. Navy, then took a degree in English at Cambridge University. He now lives in Lexington, Massachusetts and is the father of two grown sons.

Reviews

[Sjancourtz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Speaking as someone who got through The Scarlet Letter only because of Cliff Notes, I hadn't given Nathaniel Hawthorne a thought since high school until I actually moved to Concord, Massachusetts, and got a job working as a guide in one of the houses where he lived. I read the book as a homework assignment--and loved it! Nathaniel was amazingly good looking, but very shy and a bit of a snob. ("Pride and Prejudice", anyone?) He didn't fall in love until he was in his 30s, and then fell hard and totally for Sophia Peabody, one of three very extraordinary sisters. He became part of the Concord literary circle that included Ralph Waldo Emerson (another Cliff Notes memory), Bronson and Louisa May Alcott, Thoreau, the feminist Margaret Fuller, etc. (Most of them are buried together in Concord's Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Fuller drowned at sea.)

If you like biographies AT ALL, you'll really enjoy this book, learn a lot about life back then, and gain an insight into how all these great American writers thought of the great issues of the day: slavery, taxes, ecology, and humanity's relation to Nature and God. Easy to read, and interesting to think about later on.

[Rick Hautala · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely great book ... absorbing and informative and just damned good. Makes me wish I had lived in Concord at the same time ... (although I suspect I would have had more in common with Bronson Alcott ...

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A richly presented look at a man, a time and a place. Hawthorne's contributions to American literature are well-known. Most of us, though, are less familiar with his life and his family and his connections with the great and near-great of an important era in American culture and politics. He was, as portrayed here, a troubled man in many respects --anti-social, haunted, insecure, stubborn. One gains admiration for his devoted wife, Sophia Peabody, who suffered through her own issues to form a great partnership with her husband. McFarland's style creates an issue now and then, but that does not detract from his near-poetic telling of Hawthorne's story and those of the members of Hawthorne's wide circle of acquaintances.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concord, Massachusetts, is well known not just for its place in American history but also for how it attracted well known writers and thinkers. Among people such as Thoreau, Emerson, Alcott, and others Nathanial Hawthorne settled there. His home, Wayside, is still standing and can be visited, which I did a few years ago. There is a "tower" in the house, where Hawthorne did his writing while standing at a high desk. His contributions to American literature are legendary. His life in this town is the subject of this book.

[June Baer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the book interesting in the fact that I used to be a tour guide for the town of Lexington and would give tours that included the town of Concord. The book gives a great view of the town of Concord during the 1800 when the literary revolution was happening. Unfortunately I did find the writing to be trite and somewhat fawning in tone. I got use to the the writing style by the end of the book. It gave a good overview of the town and life in the 1840s to the 1860s, but always seems to allude to a depth of understanding of the life but never seems to get to that "depth".

[Alicia Dowell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book. However the author bouncing around between the 1840s, 1850s, and 1860s, made it a little more difficult. I would suggest have a pen and paper with you while you read this. I learned a lot about his life, friends and how the world events helped make him the author he was.

[Clayton Brannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing life. Excellent biography a truly great American writer.

[Alton Fletcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

McFarland masterfully weaves together a narrative that enthralls. This fine book is so rich in little known details of daily interaction and personal correspondence among the various literary figures of Concord in the middle of the nineteenth century, Hawthorne being at the center. This time in our history and the people who lived in it shaped our present in ways that are lost to us, until McFarland shows us the pattern that was there all the time, if we had but looked to see it. Excellent read.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Can not believe how many people we know of in us history and us literature were associated with Hawthorne. If I can, in future I will write a more informed review. Can not encourage enough readers to devour this book. I am bummed I have finished it. Enjoy it!

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful summary of the Hawthorne family, and of the other concord authors.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Because I'm a geek!

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent study of a complex member of the Concord genius cluster. Great job on this bio, very readable.