The Scarlet Letter

by Nathaniel Hawthorne

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"The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a historical novel published in 1850. Set in Puritan Massachusetts during the 1640s, it follows Hester Prynne, who bears a child out of wedlock and must wear a scarlet "A" as punishment for adultery. While she refuses to name the father, her long-lost husband arrives in town seeking revenge.

Summary from Project Gutenberg.

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Topics: Adultery -- Fiction · Boston (Mass.) -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction · Clergy -- Fiction · Historical fiction · Illegitimate children -- Fiction · Married women -- Fiction