Nathaniel Hawthorne's masterwork reaches to historical and moral roots for the material of great tragedy. Set in an early New England colony, the novel shows the terrible impact a single, passionate act has on the lives of three members of the community: the defiant Hester Prynne; the fiery, tortured Reverend Dimmesdale; and the obsessed, vengeful Chillingworth.

With this work, Hawthorne became the first American novelist to forge from Puritan heritage a universal classic, a masterful exploration of humanity's unending struggle with sin, guilt and pride.