Try free for 30 days

Try for $0.00
1 credit a month to use on any title, yours to keep (you’ll use your first credit on this title).
Stream or download thousands of included titles.
Access to exclusive deals and discounts.
$16.45 a month after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.
The Minister's Black Veil cover art

The Minister's Black Veil

By: Nathaniel Hawthorne
Narrated by: Walter Zimmerman
Try for $0.00

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $4.83

Buy Now for $4.83

Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.

Editorial reviews

In Puritan New England, Reverend Hooper ascends his pulpit as usual, but this time he’s wearing a black veil covering nearly his whole face. His parishioners are given no explanation for their pastor’s change of appearance, and the implications of the costume ripple mightily through the town. We are in Nathaniel Hawthorne territory, where sin, guilt, and the power of social suggestion converge for tremendous philosophic and dramatic effect.

"The Minister’s Black Veil", performed in a fittingly reverential tone by Walter Zimmerman, is among Hawthorne’s most venerable short stories, possibly for its allegorical nature and possibly because it lends itself to multiple interpretations. What this brief moral audiobook does affirm is the presence of "those sad mysteries which we hide from our nearest and dearest".

Publisher's Summary

The Minister's Black Veil was first published in the 1836 edition of The Token and Atlantic Souvenir. It later appeared in Twice-Told Tales, a collection of short stories by Hawthorne published in 1837. Hawthorne's inspiration for this story may have been a true event. A clergyman named Joseph Moody of York, Maine, nicknamed "Handkerchief Moody", accidentally killed a friend when he was a young man and wore a black veil from the man's funeral until his own death. The story concerns the minister of a small town who suddenly and inexplicably begins wearing a black veil that hangs from his forehead and covers his eyes and nose. As one charater in the story says, "He has changed himself into something awful, only by hiding his face." Hawthorne thus creates a dramtic story based around two of his common themes - the effects of secrecy and guilt.
©1836 The Token and Atlantic Souvenir (P)1984 Jimcin Recordings
Classics Mystery
Show More Show Less

What listeners say about The Minister's Black Veil

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.com.au reviews

Amazon Reviews
No Reviews are Available
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.