Reburial for wife of Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne will soon be reunited with his wife -- more than 130 years after they were buried an ocean apart.

The remains of Sophia Peabody Hawthorne and their daughter, Una, will be brought from England and reinterred June 26 in the Hawthorne family plot at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Mass., where “The Scarlet Letter” author was buried in 1864, the Boston Globe reported Thursday.

Though Hawthorne was known for his Puritan-influenced moralism and melancholy tales, his relationship with Sophia was tender and passionate. They were rarely apart. But after he died in Plymouth, N.H., in 1864, she and their three children, Rose, Una and Julian, moved to England. Sophia died there in 1871 and Una died in 1877. Both were buried at Kensal Green Cemetery in London.

The transfer, approved by the Hawthornes’ great-grandchildren, is being paid for by a Catholic order that was founded by Rose Hawthorne and private donations.