Elsie Venner

In this classic of the supernatural, a physician puzzles over seventeen-year-old Elsie's neurosis and fiery temper-only diagnosing her when he learns that the girl's mother, while pregnant, was bitten by a poisonous snake. Exploring themes of original sin and redemption in the footsteps of Hawthorne, this 1861 novel coined the term 'Boston Brahmin.'