Hawthorne's Secret: An Untold Tale

by Philip Young

No American writer has a more assured claim to greatness than Nathaniel Hawthorne. Yet for all that's known about him, the essential mystery of his life and personality remains.

183 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1984

About the author

Philip Young is considered to be the first serious Ernest Hemingway scholar; indeed his scholarship brought him into conflict with Hemingway himself. In his 1948 biography of Hemingway, written for his doctoral dissertation, Young argued that Hemingway’s writing was strongly affected by an injury Hemingway received in 1918, while serving in World War I. Hemingway strongly objected to this theory, quoting him as saying, “How would you like it if someone said that everything you’d done in your life was because of some trauma?” Hemingway fought to have the publication of Young’s biography stopped, but after exchanging correspondence with Young, Hemingway agreed to let the book be published.

Young was a Harvard graduate, Fulbright Scholar and a fellow of the Institute for the Arts and Humanistic Studies. He taught at New York University and Kansas State University before joining the Penn State faculty in 1959. He was named Evan Pugh Professor of English at Penn State in 1981. He remained a professor of American literature at the Pennsylvania State University until his death in 1991 at the age of 73.

Reviews

[Jeff Keehr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had Phil Young for a number of classes at Penn State in the early 1980s. He was a fine writer and a good teacher. His ideas were out there but he always built a solid case to support them. I think in this book he argued that Hawthorne had an incestuous relationship with his sister, which caused him untold guilt and pain as an adult. Like I said, Young would raise crazy ideas but then he would show you just how he came to his conclusion and by the time he was done, the idea no longer sounded crazy. RIP Phil Young.

[Trish Little · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hawthorne had sex with his sister?! While very interesting, this is a very strange book. I understand that Hawthorne's work makes one think that there must be some dark secret in his life, but why jump to incest? The links that Young makes are very tenuous. Intriguing reading but really pretty far off base!

[Godine Publisher & Black Sparrow Press · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Young has altered the way we think about a major writer and his work."
- Leo Mars, The New York Review of Books