The House of Seven Gables is an novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne dealing with themes of retribution and forgiveness through suggestions of the supernatural and a Gothic aesthetic style. The story follows the history of an old New England house with a dark history, connected to the witch trials. A depressed Clifford returns home from thirty years in prison and is forced to flee after a judge who threatened him mysteriously dies. Upon returning home again, grudges are forgiven and the characters move to the countryside, redeeming themselves of their past.