Project Gutenberg 2005-11-01 Public domain in the USA. 207 Hawthorne, Nathaniel 1804 1864 The White Old Maid (From "Twice Told Tales") Wikipedia page about this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twice-Told_Tales Produced by David Widger and Al Haines. "The White Old Maid (From 'Twice Told Tales')" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a short story written during the early 19th century. The piece intricately explores themes of love, loss, and the passage of time, portraying the tragic fate of two young women who are intertwined by their feelings for the same man, ultimately culminating in one becoming known as the "Old Maid in the Winding-Sheet". This story delves into the complexities of human emotions, particularly grief and longing, against a backdrop of Gothic elements. In the narrative, the story begins with a haunting scene where two maidens mourn over the corpse of a young man, leading to a pact that binds them to meet again in the presence of death. As years pass, one maiden, Edith, is consumed by her sorrow, becoming the "Old Maid" who follows funerals and embodies the spirit of mourning in the town. As the story progresses, the townspeople are left mystified by her spectral presence, reflecting on their own beliefs about life and death. The climax reveals a gathering at the long-deserted mansion where both the "Old Maid" and a stately lady, representing the other maiden, meet in a tragic conclusion, exploring the themes of unfulfilled love and the shadows of the past that haunt the living. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 75.1 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en Short stories New England -- Social life and customs -- Fiction Historical fiction, American PS Text Children's Literature Browsing: Culture/Civilization/Society Browsing: Literature Browsing: Fiction 51990 2025-06-04T08:57:00.425323 text/html 48637 2021-01-28T09:04:39 text/html; charset=utf-8 18094 2021-01-28T09:04:39 text/html; charset=utf-8 application/zip 104447 2025-06-04T08:57:06.345302 application/epub+zip 103218 2025-06-04T08:57:03.900312 application/epub+zip 83394 2025-06-04T08:57:02.657329 application/epub+zip 226095 2025-06-04T08:57:08.023292 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 219502 2025-06-04T08:57:05.506311 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 190831 2022-09-05T03:31:45.007581 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 43265 2025-06-04T08:57:00.160322 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 43257 2021-01-02T00:10:56 text/plain; charset=utf-8 16853 2021-01-02T00:10:56 text/plain; charset=utf-8 application/zip 42981 2021-01-02T00:10:56 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 16793 2021-01-02T00:10:56 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 21285 2025-06-04T08:57:08.162296 application/rdf+xml 15987 2025-06-04T08:57:03.201298 image/jpeg 3633 2025-06-04T08:57:02.931322 image/jpeg 103518 2025-06-04T08:57:00.432344 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia