The Scarlet Letter

Summary

Hester Prynne has been marked as an outcast from the society of colonial Boston for the sin of bearing a child out of wedlock. Her punishment? When she is released from jail, she must endure public shaming at the pillory with her baby. And then—worse yet—she is forced to spend the rest of her life wearing a red letter “A” on her breast, to mark her as an Adulterer. Although compelled by the puritanical town fathers to wear the scarlet letter, Hester refuses to name the baby’s father. She spends the next seven lonely years working as a seamstress and enduring the humiliation of being scorned by the good people of Boston, all the while raising her daughter Pearl to be an independent, bold little girl.

The darkly mysterious Roger Chillingworth arrives in town and proceeds to befriend the young preacher. He promises to cure the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale of the illness that is slowly killing him. But who are these two men, and how are they connected to Hester Prynne and little Pearl?

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s tale of punishment and reconciliation examines the concepts of sin, guilt, and pride. He entwines moral and spiritual issues with the drama and plot twists of a crime novel, in a story that is as compelling to modern listeners as to the original readers of 1850.

Narrated by Jenny Hoops, this is a fresh and lively narration of an enduring classic tale.