Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist, a dark romantic, and short story writer. "Twice-Told Tales" is a volume of rearranged myths in which Hawthorne uses unexpected points of view to deftly twist the themes of classic folktales. These ironic tales introduce complex, emotional topics within a familiar context. The volume contains “The Shaker Brida”, “The White Old Maid” and other tales.

Twice-Told Tales presents the life and writings of Dante Alighieri's maestro, the Florentine notary and diplomat, Brunetto Latino. The book first discusses archival documents found in Florence, the Vatican Secret Archives, Genoa, England and elsewhere, which were written by or which name Brunetto Latino. The documents concern, among other topics, the Vallombrosan Abbot Tesauro, the Sicilian Vespers' plotting, and the death by starvation of Ugolino. The book then discusses Brunetto's translations of Aristotle's Ethics and Cicero's De inventione, as texts presented to Charles of Anjou and others, as well as the influence of these texts on Dante. Appendices present the archival documents discussed in the book and list manuscripts containing Latino's writings.