Scarlet letter: Set in an early New England colony, this novel explores the terrible impact a single, passionate act has on the lives of three members of the community: the defiant Hester Prynne, the fiery, tortured Reverend Dimmesdale, and the obsessed, vengeful Chillingworth ; House of the seven gables: Built over an unquiet grave, the House of the Seven Gables carries a dying man's curse that blights the lives of its residents for over two centuries. Now Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon, an iron-hearted hypocrite and intellectual heir to the mansion's unscrupulous founder, is attempting to railroad a pair of his elderly relatives out of the house. Only two young people stand in his way — a visiting country cousin and an enigmatic boarder skilled in mesmerism.