An account of the famous American author’s visit to a New England retreat. “Anyone who loves the Berkshires will love this book.” —Debby Applegate, Pulitzer Prize-winning author What drew Nathaniel Hawthorne to a remote village deep in the Berkshire Hills of Western Massachusetts in 1850? Slip into the fascinating social scene he encountered in the drawing rooms and on the croquet lawns of Lenox’s country retreats. Here, under the benevolent spell of the Sedgwick family, the separate worlds of high-minded Bostonians and high-powered New Yorkers were stitched together by conversation, recreation and even marriage. Nurturing the lively exchange of ideas on everything from art to abolition, Lenox’s cottages played host to a community that enlightened a nation. Luminaries such as Caroline Sturgis Tappan and Oliver Wendell Holmes resume their vibrant lives through the rare photographs and engaging sketches of everyday life in Hawthorne’s Lenox: The Tanglewood Circle, which also includes a delightful retrospective visit from Henry James and Edith Wharton.

What drew Nathaniel Hawthorne to a remote village deep in the Berkshire Hills of Western Massachusetts in 1850? Slip into the fascinating social scene he encountered in the drawing rooms and on the croquet lawns of Lenox's country retreats. Here, under the benevolent spell of the Sedgwick family, the separate worlds of high-minded Bostonians and high-powered New Yorkers were stitched together by conversation, recreation and even marriage. Nurturing the lively exchange of ideas on everything from art to abolition, Lenox's cottages played host to a community that enlightened a nation. Luminaries such as Caroline Sturgis Tappan and Oliver Wendell Holmes resume their vibrant lives through the rare photographs and engaging sketches of everyday life in Hawthorne's Lenox: The Tanglewood Circle, which also includes a delightful retrospective visit from Henry James and Edith Wharton.

An Armenian folktale about two robbers courting the same girl.

In 1900, Edith Wharton burst into the settled summer colony of Lenox. An aspiring novelist in her thirties, she was already a ferocious aesthete and intellect. She and her husband, Teddy, planned a defiantly classical villa, and she became a bestselling author with The House of Mirth in 1905. As a hostess, designer, gardener and writer, Wharton set high standards that delighted many, including Ambassador Joseph Choate and sculptor Daniel Chester French. But her perceptive and sometimes indiscreet pen also alienated potent figures like Emily Vanderbilt Sloane and Georgiana Welles Sargent. Author Cornelia Brooke Gilder gives an insider's glimpse of the community's reaction to this disruptive star during her tumultuous Lenox decade.

As is often the case with spouses of celebrities, Sophia Peabody Hawthorne was overshadowed by her husband. While Nathaniel Hawthorne is renowned for numerous publications, including The Scarlet Letter, that staple in high school English curricula, Sophia’s remarkable life and career did not receive the recognition they deserve. She was, however, a source for many of Nathaniel’s stories and responsible for much that he accomplished. Sophia was an artist, one of the first in America to earn income from her painting and decorative arts; she was also a writer and traveler to foreign countries at a time when women typically confined their activities to the home. Patricia Dunlavy Valenti began to tell this story in Sophia Peabody Hawthorne: A Life, Volume 1, 1809-1847 (2004). This biography concludes now in a second volume, which details the less examined and more surprising second half of Sophia’s life. Valenti’s thorough research culminates in a compelling, revealing account of Sophia’s travels to Britain and Europe and her intense personal relationships outside her marriage with men and women, among them notable figures in American history and literature. As an impoverished widow, Sophia dealt resourcefully with the consequences of her husband’s financial carelessness; as a mother, her liberal practices resulted in unintended, sometimes unfortunate consequences. Throughout every vicissitude, her relentless optimism prevailed. With the publication of Sophia Peabody Hawthorne: A Life, Volume 2, 1848-1871, Sophia emerges forever from the shadow cast by her husband. Historians and general readers alike will be drawn to this riveting account of an interesting, important woman and what her life reveals about American history and culture at a moment of national conflict, emerging class divisions, and evolving gender roles.