Posted by Susan on October 24, 1999 at 20:48:17:

In Reply to: Family Secret posted by Daniel on September 24, 1999 at 21:26:20:

The family secret, or more precisely, Hawthorne's "secret"
first came to light when son Julian interviewed Herman Mellville for
for Julian's biography (1885). Melville indicated that he "knew"
Hawthorne's "secret" and indicated that it had to do with an
uous relationship between Nathaniel and his eldest
sister, Elizabeth. This is pure conjecture and flies in the
face of reason as history repeatedly records that Nathaniel was
aloof, did not form close attachments to people, and had
difficulty opening up to people. It is absolutely absurd
that, even if this were the case, (which I doubt) that
Nathaniel would ever confide this tremendous infraction
of propriety to anyone. For more well doented info.,
see "Salem is My Dewlling Place" by E.H. Miller. It's
an excellent biography on Hawthorne and is completely
enthralling! A fascinating read!

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