SCARLET LETTER

(BookJacketStatus:Jacketed)ThestoryofHesterPrynne-foundoutinadultery,pilloriedbyherPuritancommunity,andabandoned,indifferentways,bybothherpartnerinsinandhervengeance-seekinghusband-possessesarealityheightenedbyHawthorne'spurehumansympathyandhisunmixeddevotiontohissupposedlyfallenbutfundamentallyinnocentheroine.Initsmoralforceandthebeautyofitsconciliations,"TheScarletLetter"rightlydeservesitsstatureasthefirstgreatnovelwrittenbyanAmerican,thenovelthatannouncedanAmericanliteratureequaltoanyintheworld.