"Cliff Notes - House of Seven Gables" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cliff Notes)

Maules suspected of inheriting the wizard's powers. The
Pyncheon's real struggle, though, is against the sins of their
forebears--sins that hang over them like the portrait of their
ancestor, the Colonel. The Pyncheons are hobbled by a pride
that isolates them from the world. They are undone by a greed
that leads to the mysterious sacrifice of a beautiful young
woman, Alice Pyncheon, and the framing of young Clifford
Pyncheon for murder.

The house of the seven gables, which stands on the site once
owned by the Maules, is inhabited by an aging spinster, Hepzibah
Pyncheon. Weatherbeaten and crumbling, the house has lost all
its former grandeur and presents a dismal appearance.

Seventeen-year-old Phoebe Pyncheon, who comes from the
country to live in the house of the seven gables, is like a ray
of sunshine flooding a dark corner. The pretty young woman
shares the house with her two elderly cousins and a boarder, the
young artist Holgrave. Her cousin Hepzibah has recently been
forced to abandon her delusions of aristocracy and open a shop
to keep from starving; Hepzibah's brother, Clifford, has just
been released from prison after serving thirty years for the
alleged murder of his uncle--a crime he didn't commit. Holgrave
is an attractive young man who, unknown to the others, is a
descendant of the wizard Matthew Maule.

A frequent visitor is another cousin, Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon.
Jaffrey inherited everything when Clifford went to prison for
their uncle's murder. His greed knows no bounds. He will not
rest until he is allowed to speak with his broken cousin,
Clifford, who, he believes, alone knows the secret of hidden
Pyncheon wealth. Clifford has long since forgotten the secret,
but the painting of the Colonel which still hangs upon the wall
will play a role in the unraveling of the mystery.

When Jaffrey dies suddenly at the gabled house, of an
apparent stroke, just as his uncle and the Colonel before him
did, Hepzibah and Clifford flee. Clifford thinks that he may
again be accused of murder. Hepzibah doesn't know what to
think. Alone in the house with Jaffrey's body, Phoebe and
Holgrave are drawn together by this morbid secret. At this
unlikely moment the young people discover that they share more
than the knowledge of Jaffrey's death--they have fallen deeply
in love.

Jaffrey's death is found to be the result of natural causes.
This discovery helps clear Clifford of their uncle's alleged
"murder," for which he had been framed by Jaffrey himself.
Phoebe agrees to marry Holgrave, who discloses his identity as a
descendant of Matthew Maule. And the secret of the portrait is