Nathaniel Hawthorne

In the puritanical Boston of the 17th Century, a woman gives birth after committing adultery. That woman, Hester Prynne, choses to create a new life for herself in the face of adversity rather than succumb to what is expected of her. She will not name the father. Her decision opens up the tension between religious life and the true grace of God, and between personal guilt, religious sin and legal guilt.

The novel is prefaced by a "real" account

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"The Great Stone Face (The Old Man of the Mountains) juts out from the White Mountains of New Hampshire and looms over a small village. An old prophecy states that 'someone will be born hereabouts who will look just like the Great Stone Face, and he will be the noblest person of his time.' Like many others, young Ernest watches the faces of returning famous men for signs of the gentle wisdom seen in the face. The rich merchant, however, is grasping,...

As the years pass and his small village grows, Ethan watches for the fulfillment of the prophecy that someone born looking like the Great Stone Face up on the mountain will be the greatest, noblest person of his time.

Three short stories by the early New England writer: The great stone face, Feathertop: a moralized legend, and The minister's black veil.

"Nathaniel Hawthorne, one of America's greatest writers, wrote four short stories about New Hampshire's White Mountains that are an important part of the literary history of that region. Hawthorne, a student of New England history, incorporated into his writings a mythical America that portrayed a certain history, spirit, and romance of this young country -- a spirit and romance that the reader will find in TALES OF THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. Chronicled...