First published 2021
Phoebe Pyncheon steps into the deteriorating seven-gabled house where her elderly cousin Hepzibah struggles to survive by operating a small shop on the ground floor. An ancient curse hangs over the property, binding each generation to pay for sins committed by their ancestors. Hepzibah's brother Clifford has just returned home after decades behind bars, his mind fragile but his heart still gentle. The mansion holds the weight of generations who suffered under the family's dark legacy. Phoebe brings new life to the shadowed rooms as she tends to Clifford and supports Hepzibah's modest business. The family's bitter past refuses to release its grip on their present lives. She must shield her loved ones while facing the perilous legacy that chains the Pyncheons to their deteriorating home. Hidden truths fight against discovery, yet Phoebe's innate kindness suggests that love might finally break the cycle of inherited shame.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 19th-century, gothic
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional
Tropes: dark-legacy, found-family, inherited-curse
Setting: House of the Seven Gables
Period: 19th-century
225 pages · Paperback · W. W. Norton & Company