Nathaniel Hawthorne 
The Scarlet Letter 
Illustrated Edition

It is the mid-seventeenth century in Boston. Hester Prynne, dignified and silent, is led through prison doors to her public shaming by members of the Puritan town. Holding her illegitimate child to her breast and bearing a bright scarlet letter “A” embroidered on her bodice, Hester must now struggle to create a new life for herself and her child within this censorious community. When her missing spouse reappears and takes up residence in town under an assumed identity, the stage is set for an explosive confrontation between the truly moral and the merely religious.

About the author

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. Most of his work was set in New England, and often focuses on history and morality. Hawthorne’s writing balances psychological complexity with a dark, romantic morality in opposition to strict Puritan values.