Scan barcode
A review by sophronisba
The Blithedale Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne
4.0
I have a strange affection for this novel, which I read several times in high school and then didn't read again for three decades, although I'm not sure it's an especially fine work of fiction. In particular, Zenobia has stuck with me my whole life -- Priscilla, not so much -- and that one indelible character is enough for me to rate The Blithedale Romance highly.
Reading it anew, shortly after watching the NXIVM documentary The Vow, I was struck by how much the denizens of Blithedale sounded like the NXIVM members with all their talk of perfecting themselves and changing the world by their glorious example. Some things, it seems, never change.
Reading it anew, shortly after watching the NXIVM documentary The Vow, I was struck by how much the denizens of Blithedale sounded like the NXIVM members with all their talk of perfecting themselves and changing the world by their glorious example. Some things, it seems, never change.