The Invisible Hour

Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts, on July 4, 1804. His most famous works of fiction include the short story “Young Goodman Brown” and the novels The Scarlet Letter, The Blithedale Romance, and The House of the Seven Gables. The Invisible Hour features Hawthorne as a major character and takes inspiration from his beliefs and writing style. Hawthorne is known for his use of symbolism and the integration of the spiritual in the guise of ghosts, mesmerism, and biblical allegory. Similarly, Hoffman uses the story of Eve and the symbolism of apples to highlight the challenges of women in her novel.

Of all Hawthorne’s novels, The Scarlet Letter is the most significant influence on The Invisible Hour. Hester Prynne, like Mia and Ivy, is marked with a letter demonstrating her supposed moral failing. Hester’s love and instincts as a mother isolate her and her daughter, Pearl, but also grant them a bubble in which Pearl can become an independent person less encumbered by societal expectations. Hoffman’s novel also draws on The House of the Seven Gables, which focuses on a secret, hidden deed connected to the misdeeds of the family who owns the house.