THE SCARLET LETTER by nathaniel Hawthorne, Nathaniel Hawthorne's THE SCARLET LETTER

The story takes place in Puritan Boston. A young woman named Hester is released from prison with her child after a serving a sentence for adultery. Hester’s much older husband, supposedly lost at sea, is still alive, but does not reveal himself. Hester will not name the child’s father. The husband, determined to find out who the father is pursues her as she tries to make a life for herself and her child.