When two men are gravely injured during the Battle of Pequawket in 1725, one makes a choice that will haunt him for the remainder of his days. Although Reuben and Roger take shelter against a tombstone-shaped rock together, Reuben survives only by leaving his friend to die. Years later, Reuben takes his grown son hunting and is forced to confront his guilt about not keeping his promise to a dying man. “Roger Malvin’s Burial” was adapted into a short radio program in 1949, and was also republished in the collection Mosses from an Old Manse in 1846. It remains one of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s most moving but least-known short stories. HarperPerennial Classics brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperPerennial Classics collection to build your digital library.

Twenty-four of the best short stories by one of the early masters of the form, in the definitive collection edited by acclaimed scholar Newton Arvin. Nathaniel Hawthorne was one of the greatest American writers of the nineteenth century, and some of his most powerful work was in the form of fable-like tales that make rich use of allegory and symbolism. The dark beauty and moral force of his imagination are evident in such enduring masterpieces as "Young Goodman Brown," in which a young man who believes he has witnessed a satanic initiation can never see his pious neighbors the same way again; “Rappaccini's Daughter," about a lovely young girl who has been raised in isolation among dangerous poisons; and "The Birthmark," in which a scientist obsessed with perfection destroys the flaw that makes his otherwise flawless wife both beautiful and human.

Learn about the life of the famous American author.