This
week, Wild Women
Authors is pleased to feature For
The Love of Hawthorne. by
author Diana Rubino. Set in 19th
century Salem, Massachusetts, the novel tells the story of Nathaniel
Hawthorne’s clairvoyant bride who rescued her beloved husband from
a curse which spanned generations.
About
For The Love of Hawthorne:
Salem,
Massachusetts witnessed horrific and shameful events in 1692 that
haunted the town for three centuries. Accused as witches, nineteen
innocent people were hanged and one was pressed to death. Judge John
Hathorne and Reverend Nicholas Noyes handed down the sentences. One
victim, Sarah Good, cursed Noyes from the hanging tree: “If you
take away my life, God will give you blood to drink!” She then set
her eyes on Judge Hathorne. “I curse you and your acknowledged
heirs for all time on this wicked earth!” Hathorne was not only
Sarah Good’s merciless judge; he also fathered her son Peter and
refused to acknowledge him.
In
1717, Nicholas Noyes choked on his own blood and died. Every
generation after the judge continued to lose Hathorne land and money,
prompting the rumor of a family curse. By the time his great great
grandson Nathaniel was born, they faced poverty.
Ashamed
of his ancestor, Nathaniel added the ‘w’ to his last name. His
novels and stories explore his beliefs and fears of sin and evil, and
he based many of his characters on overbearing Puritan rulers such as
Judge Hathorne.
Meet
Diana Rubino:
My passion for history
and travel has taken me to every locale of my books and short
stories, set in Medieval and Renaissance England, Paris, Egypt, the
Mediterranean, colonial Virginia, New England, Washington D.C. and
New York.
My urban fantasy romance,
FAKIN’ IT, won a Top Pick award from Romantic Times. I’m a member
of Romance Writers of America, the Richard III Society and the Aaron
Burr Association. My husband Chris and I own CostPro, an engineering
firm based in Boston. In my spare time, I bicycle, golf, play my
piano, devour books of any genre, and spend as much time as possible
living the dream on my beloved Cape Cod.
I
live near Salem and have been to all the Hawthorne landmarks there,
and in Concord. The House of the Seven Gables has been my favorite
house in the world since I'm a kid. I've always felt a strong
spiritual connection to Salem, and always wanted to write one of my
books set there, including the witch trials.
I
read several of his books and stories, to get a better background on
him. Nathaniel wrote from the heart, about his true beliefs, and his
loathing of how the witch victims were treated. He did consider it
disgraceful, and it certainly was. He added the 'w' to his last name
to distance himself from the judge. That tormented him and his family
all his life. It must have been cathartic to him to have his writing
as his outlet.
Diana
brought an excerpt from For The Love of Hawthorne in which Sophia and
Nathaniel visit his cousin, Susan Ingersoll, who lived in The House
of the Seven Gables:
I went over to a curio cabinet and swept my eyes over
the items on the shelves—a china doll wearing a calico dress, a
stack of gold cups and saucers, a red and blue glass checkerboard
propped up to display its surface…and a wooden hammer on the top
shelf. Upon closer inspection, I saw it was a gavel that judges use
in trials. Out of curiosity I picked it up and a shock ran through me
as if electrified. Dear God, was it that
gavel?
I dropped it to the rug. It landed with a thump. I bent
to retrieve it. Somehow I knew it wouldn’t shock me this time—that
was only an initial warning. “Something about it made me want to
touch it, to pick it up and hold it.”
Nathaniel approached me. He stared at the gavel in my
hand, horror darkening his eyes. His lips parted but no words
emerged. I knew what he was thinking—the curse. He turned to his
cousin, pointing at the gavel, his arm trembling.
Susan hurried over to us, took it from me and placed it
back on the shelf. “Yes, it’s Judge Hathorne’s. What happened,
Sophie? Are you all right?”
I looked down at my open hands, palms up. They burned as
if I’d touched a hot poker. “That gavel—it carries something
evil. Has anything happened to you with this, Susie?”
Nathaniel backed away and before Susan could answer me,
he grasped her arm. “I begged you to get rid of that accursed
thing! You know it shouldn’t be here!”
She looked from him to me, heaving a deep sigh. “I’m
not inclined to dispose of it, Natty. It’s a family heirloom,
notwithstanding its past.”
He gripped the chair, his face drained of color. “It’s
downright evil. You know what he used that thing for.”
She held her hands up in surrender. “Very well, I’ll
conceal it.” She took it off the shelf and slid it behind the
checkerboard.
“That should not be in this house!” He stood his
ground, his eyes fixed on the checkerboard as if it would melt in
such close proximity to that horrid object.
“It’s fine there, Natty. It’s concealed from sight
now.” She looked at me and gestured for me to sit again. I sat and
gulped my sherry.
“Nathaniel’s always overcome with distress at the
witch trials.” Susan explained what I already knew.
“And so should you be,” he cut in.
“If I must speak for Judge Hathorne, I heard stories
of him from my grandfather.” Susan looked from Nathaniel to me.
“The whole hysteria that caught up the judge was started by
unscrupulous men to further their own riches. But spectral evidence
was still admissible. No sane person could believe that blithery.”
To
purchase For The Love of Hawthore, go to:
To
connect with Diana Rubino, go to:
Blog:
www.dianarubinoauthor.blogspot.com
In addition to the above
excerpt, we had time to talk with Sophia, Nathaniel's devoted wife:
Where are you from?
Born in Salem, Massachusetts
Tell us a bit about For
The Love of Hawthorne. It
is the story of my quest to save my
beloved husband Nathaniel from a perceived curse that plagued his
family for two centuries. Their ancestor was Judge Hathorne, who
condemned 20 innocent people to death during the Salem Witch Trial
hysteria. I used my talent as a medium to contact my ancestor, Sarah
Good, one of the victims, who cursed the judge from the gallows, to
convince Nathaniel that she forgave the judge, and hence, ended the
curse…but I never believed Sarah cursed anyone.
What did you think the
first time you saw Nathaniel? My
sister Lizzie came up to my room when I had a splitting headache and
told me that Nathaniel was downstairs and wanted to meet me. I did
not want to meet him. “You never saw anything so splendid,” she
said. “He is handsomer than Lord Byron.” To which I said, “I
think it rather ridiculous to get up. If he has come once, he will
come again.”
But
I couldn’t stop myself from tiptoeing out and peeking over the
banister. Staring as if entranced, I put my hand over my dancing
heart. Oh, handsomer than Lord Byron, all right!
Works for us. What was
your second thought?
That was when we met. I thought he was shy
and uneasy in social settings.
Did you feel it was
love at first sight? Not quite love yet, but
an overpowering infatuation that nearly knocked me over.
What do you like most
about Nathaniel? He’s unpretentious and a
genuine human being. Even after achieving all his success, he was
accessible to his fans and never snubbed anyone.
How would you describe
him? Imaginative, sensitive, standoffish,
reclusive
Interesting. How would
he describe you? Artistic, spiritual,
gregarious, outgoing
What made you choose
art reproduction for a career? I’ve always
loved to draw and I’m very good at it but wish I were better. I
keep working at it.
What is your biggest
fear? I’ll have a psychic vision of
something terrible.
How do you relax?
Painting is my relaxation, gazing at a
beautiful landscape and capturing it on canvas.
Who is your favorite
fictional character? Lucie Manette from A
Tale of Two Cities.
What is the best piece
of advice you ever received? Dr. Channing,
who’d applied lovely, gentle, delicate, knowing, graceful, active
leeches to me in early attempts to cure my headaches, admired my art
and suggested I work from my own mind, that is, paint originals.
This has been terrific,
Sophie. We thank you for taking the time to chat with us.
