Peter Rugg (1882)

A Novel by William Austin

Peter Rugg is a popular novel by William Austin. First published in 1824 as a series of stories about a stubborn man who decides to defy the forces against him in a quest to return to his home in Boston in 1770 only to encounter the wrath of God whose warnings he ignored previously. Supposedly based on an actual person, Austin weaves a spellbinding tale that has lead many to believe the story was factual. William Austin died in June 1841 after writing several more versions of his supernatural story of which was later published in one volume in 1882 through the efforts of his son James Walker Austin.