<Tr> <Th> Dewey Decimal </Th> <Td> 813.3 </Td> </Tr> <P> The House of the Seven Gables is a Gothic novel written beginning in mid-1850 by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne and published in April 1851 by Ticknor and Fields of Boston . The novel follows a New England family and their ancestral home . In the book, Hawthorne explores themes of guilt, retribution, and atonement and colors the tale with suggestions of the supernatural and witchcraft . The setting for the book was inspired by a gabled house in Salem belonging to Hawthorne's cousin Susanna Ingersoll and by ancestors of Hawthorne who had played a part in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 . The book was well received upon publication and later had a strong influence on the work of H.P. Lovecraft . The House of the Seven Gables has been adapted several times to film and television . </P> <P> The novel is set in the mid-19th century, but flashbacks to the history of the house, which was built in the late 17th century, are set in other periods . The house of the title is a gloomy New England mansion, haunted since its construction by fraudulent dealings, accusations of witchcraft, and sudden death . The current resident, the dignified but desperately poor Hepzibah Pyncheon, opens a shop in a side room to support her brother Clifford, who has completed a thirty - year sentence for murder . She refuses all assistance from her wealthy but unpleasant cousin, Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon . A distant relative, the lively and pretty young Phoebe, arrives and quickly becomes invaluable, charming customers and rousing Clifford from depression . A delicate romance grows between Phoebe and the mysterious attic lodger Holgrave, who is writing a history of the Pyncheon family . </P> <P> The house was built on ground wrongfully seized from its rightful owner, Matthew Maule, by Colonel Pyncheon, the founder of the Massachusetts branch of the family . Maule was accused of practicing witchcraft and was executed . According to legend, at his death Maule laid a curse upon the Pyncheon family . During the housewarming festivities, Colonel Pyncheon was found dead in his armchair; whether he actually died from the curse or from a congenital disease is unclear . His portrait remains in the house as a symbol of its dark past and the weight of the curse upon the spirit of its inhabitants . </P>

Who narrated the story of the house of the seven gables