Rappaccini's Daughter

Written by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Narrated by B. J. Harrison

Perfume or poison? A young Italian student takes rooms overlooking the most glorious flower garden the world has ever known. But, when he falls in love with the mysterious Eve who tends to the garden, he learns that this Paradise is anything but a Garden of Eden.

• Language: English
• Publisher: B.J. Harrison
• Release date: Jul 15, 2007
• ISBN: 9781937091491

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and biographer. His work centres on his New England home and often features moral allegories with Puritan inspiration, with themes revolving around inherent good and evil. His fiction works are considered part of the Romantic movement and, more specifically, Dark romanticism.

Reviews for Rappaccini's Daughter

[Lucia Garcia · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Crazy scientists experimenting on women, his own daughter!
A very tragic story for the female character.
Hawthorne could have explored more inside her character, but I am not surprised he didn't. Why would Giovanni need to tell the tale and not Beatrice? Giovanni was always focused in how it affected him instead of what he saw and what it meant to those involved. I suppose we are all like Giovanni most of the time.

[ca8bookwyrm · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I do enjoy this story. This particular version of it was hard to read at first; the notes mingle with summary mingle with story until it's hard to tell where the summary ends and the story begins. However, I enjoyed the re-read of the story even with the poor formatting choices.Definitely a classic, and still easy enough to read (unlike some classics that haven't aged as well).

[maowangvater · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A young student comes to the University of Padua to study. Next door to his lodging he discovers a lush garden filled with exotic plants and flowers tended by a man and his beautiful daughter. Giovanni, the student learns from an old friend of his father, a physician who lives in Padua, that the man in the garden, whom he originally took to be the gardener, is really a famous and also somewhat infamous physician Rappaccini, known for his research in plant toxicology and knowledge of poisons. Giovanni is warned to stay away from that garden but smitten by the young woman he sees tending it, he ventures into it and makes her acquaintance. He is warmly received by her, and a romance begins to blossom. It will end with a tragic result.

[soireb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

To be honest, when I started reading the story I kept dozing off, to the point that I just had to put it aside and take a nap. Afterwards I picked it continue it. Although it is a bit predictable, it turns out to be entertaining and gripping towards end.