Central Kansas Library System

A teenage boy accompanies his father, who has recently escaped from prison, on a trip that turns out to be a time of, often painful, discovery for them both.

Colonel Pyncheon does well in denouncing Old Matthew: he founds a New England dynasty and builds a remarkable mansion; but on its opening day he is found dead, slaked in his own blood. By 1840, that dynasty is almost spent; amid the dust and decay of the Seven Gables, Clifford and Hepzibah believed in their own continued nobility as much as they believe in the mysterious curse still tracking the Pyncheons.

The Halloween house, occupied by a variety of creatures, including werewolves, witches, bats, and skeletons, turns out to be an unfortunate choice as a hideout for a couple of escaped convicts.

During the year he is held prisoner by an escaped convict on an uninhabited island in Lake Superior, a young boy watches his captor change from desperate criminal to a gentler man absorbed in the abundant wildlife of the island.