The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Dec 2013 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

The Scarlet Letter is Nathaniel Hawthorne's crowning achievement, a masterpiece that has stood the time. Hester a young woman whose husband has been lost at sea becomes pregnant by another man. Though the Puritan community in which she lives demands to know the name of the father she steadfastly refuses to name him. Hawthorne explores hypocrisy, quiet dignity, and redemption in this land mark novel. A must read.

About the author

Nathaniel Hawthorne was one of the most influential and famous writers of the romantic era in America. He was born in Salem, Massachusetts, on July 4th, 1809. Influenced heavily by the notions of dark romanticism, his stories rely on themes of guilt, sin, and the qualities that define human nature—the large part of his focus being on the psychological aspect of his characters. Hawthorne’s friend, an American publisher named James Thomas Fields, convinced him that “The Scarlet Letter”—which was originally planned to be a novelette—should be a full-length novel. Ticknor & Fields soon afterwards published the work. It instantly became a bestseller, regarded as a quintessential member of the literary canon. However, Hawthorne’s physical and mental health rapidly declined as he aged, some sources even indicating a psychological regression. Months before he passed, Hawthorne refused to seek treatment and died in his sleep from stomach complications on May 19th, 1864.