Nathaniel Hawthorne: A BBC Radio Collection

Full-cast adaptations of four works by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts. A descendant of judge John Hathorne, who oversaw the 1692 Salem Witch Trials, he wrote several works inspired by Puritan New England, with themes of guilt, sin and retribution. This collection contains his classic novel, The Scarlet Letter, as well as Wakefield, Rappaccini''s Daughter and The Blithedale Romance.

The Scarlet Letter – Hester Prynne, a scarlet letter on her breast and her baby in her arms, stands on the scaffold as the crowd around her cries out for her execution. Her sin of adultery is marked by the "A" she wears, but who should stand by her side? Deborah Findlay stars in this tale of passion and repression, set in Puritan Boston in the 1640s.

Wakefield – A middle-aged man, steeped in routine, decides one day to leave home temporarily. and observe the effect on his wife from a flat opposite. But the longer he stays away, the harder it is to return… David Haig stars in this tale of indecision and isolation.

Rappaccini’s Daughter – Student Giovanni rents a room overlooking an exotic garden belonging to botanist and poisons expert Dr Rappaccini. But when he glimpses the doctor’s daughter in the garden, Giovanni becomes dangerously obsessed. Part mystery, part love story and part haunting allegory, this dark romance stars Joseph Cohen Cole and Emerald O’Hanrahan.

The Blithedale Romance – A society based on brotherhood, not competition – such are the ideals of the commune Miles Coverdale joins. But as he befriends fellow inhabitants Hollingsworth, Zenobia and Priscilla, his dreams of a rural idyll are soured by rivalry and unrequited love. Jonathan Newth stars in this adaptation of Hawthorne’s 1852 novel, loosely based on his time at the utopian community of Brook Farm.

First published 1835 (‘Wakefield’), 1844 (‘Rappaccini’s Daughter’), 1850 (The Scarlet Letter), 1852 (The Blithedale Romance)

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