"Circe's Palace" is a short story that draws inspiration from Greek mythology and the myth of Circe, a powerful sorceress from Homer's "Odyssey." In the story, Hawthorne reimagines the myth in his unique style. The narrative follows a group of sailors who, like Odysseus' men, encounter the enchantress Circe on an isolated island. She invites them into her palace and offers them a mysterious and alluring drink, much like the wine she gave to Odysseus' crew, which turned them into animals. As the sailors partake in the drink, they gradually undergo a transformation, experiencing altered states of being. The story explores themes of enchantment, illusion, and the power of desire. It delves into the idea of losing one's sense of self and reality when subjected to temptation and seduction. Hawthorne's "Circe's Palace" is emblematic of his fascination with myth, allegory, and the darker aspects of the human psyche. It serves as a literary reimagining of the classical myth, adding Hawthorne's own depth and symbolism to the narrative. The story is a prime example of Hawthorne's style and his interest in exploring the complexities of human nature, often through allegorical and symbolic storytelling. In "Circe's Palace," readers are invited to ponder the consequences of succumbing to seductive and enchanting illusions, with Hawthorne's characteristic blend of romantic and dark romantic themes.

Included here are the prefaces Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote for the three collections of tales published during his lifetime, along with selections from his 'American Notebooks' and relevant letters.

The short fiction of a writer who helped to shape the course of American literature. With a determined commitment to the history of his native land, Nathaniel Hawthorne revealed, more incisively than any writer of his generation, the nature of a distinctly American consciousness. The pieces collected here deal with essentially American matters: the Puritan past, the Indians, the Revolution. But Hawthorne was highly - often wickedly - unorthodox in his account of life in early America, and his precisely constructed plots quickly engage the reader's imagination. Written in the 1820s, 30s, and 40s, these works are informed by themes that reappear in Hawthorne's longer works: The Scarlet Letter, The House of the Seven Gables and The Blithedale Romance. And, as Michael J. Colacurcio points out in his excellent introduction, they are themes that are now deeply embedded in the American literary tradition.

An Armenian folktale about two robbers courting the same girl.

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.