Born in Salem, Massachusetts, and educated at Bowdon
College, Nathaniel lived for 12 years the life of a recluse,
devoted to writing fiction
novels.
Unfortunately, his first novel Fanshawe
(1828), was a failure.
In 1842 he
married Sophia Amelia Peabody and settled in Concord,
Massachusetts, a place dear to Thoreau.
He had
to wait for Twice-Told Tales, in 1837, to access recognition
and be published.
Three years later, The
Scarlet Letter was a major success, and his best-known
work.
