“The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Content note: adult situations.

I’ve been married a good many years, and I can tell you the books worth rereading are the ones that tell the truth about people. “The Scarlet Letter” is one of them.

Hester Prynne lives in a strict Puritan town in seventeenth-century Boston. She has had a child outside of marriage, and the community punishes her by making her wear a scarlet “A” on her dress for all to see. She refuses to name the father. Instead, she raises her daughter, Pearl, on the edge of town, and she stitches, sews, and survives with more dignity than the people judging her.

What I love about this book is how modern it feels. It’s about public shame, hypocrisy, and what a woman is allowed to be in a world that wants to define her. Hester is stubborn, capable, and quietly brave, and the story asks who really deserves the judgment. The language is of its time and can take a few pages to settle into, but the reward is worth it.

It’s also short, which helps, and it’s a classic you’ll be glad to have read. People have been arguing about its meaning since 1850, and you may find you have an opinion of your own.

This 1988 paperback has never been read. It’s in good condition, and whoever takes it home gets to be the first to open it. You can find it at Dead Tree Dreams.