The Marble Faun by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Meeting at the usual place, The Shakespeare Hotel, 200 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills, at 7.00pm on Thursday October 2, we will be discussing Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Marble Faun (1860).

Set in 19th-century Rome, The Marble Faun is a classic of American and Gothic literature. It is a darkly romantic novel that blends art, history, and moral inquiry. The story revolves around four main characters: Hilda, a pure American artist; Miriam, a mysterious woman with a haunting past; Kenyon, a sculptor; and Donatello, a seemingly innocent Italian count whose resemblance to a classical faun statue gives the novel its name.

When Donatello commits a murder under murky circumstances, the characters are plunged into a psychological and spiritual crisis.

The novel explores themes of sin, guilt, redemption, and the loss of innocence—asking whether moral awareness requires the experience of evil. Rich with symbolic depth and descriptions of Rome’s ancient ruins, Hawthorne uses the setting as a backdrop to probe timeless moral questions.

The novel is a about the same length as A Tale of Two Cities. It is approximately 370 pages long, depending on the edition. Available from Guthenberg in two 'volumes' from https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=the+marble+faun A professional recording (edited) is 7 hours long and can be found at https://www.audible.com.au

Amazon has paperback copies for $21.

Numerous summaries and reviews can be found on youtube.