Hester Prynne has been marked as an outcast from the society of colonial Boston for the sin of bearing a child out of wedlock. Her punishment? When she is released from jail, she must endure public shaming at the pillory with her baby. And then-worse yet-she is forced to spend the rest of her life wearing a red letter "A" on her breast, to mark her as an Adulterer. Although compelled by the puritanical town fathers to wear the scarlet letter, Hester refuses to name the baby's father. She spends the next seven lonely years working as a seamstress and enduring the humiliation of being scorned by the good people of Boston, all the while raising her daughter Pearl to be an independent, bold little girl. The darkly mysterious Roger Chillingworth arrives in town and proceeds to befriend the young preacher. He promises to cure the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale of the illness that is slowly killing him. But who are these two men, and how are they connected to Hester Prynne and little Pearl? Nathaniel Hawthorne's tale of punishment and reconciliation examines the concepts of sin, guilt, and pride. He entwines moral and spiritual issues with the drama and plot twists of a crime novel, in a story that is as compelling to modern listeners as to the original readers of 1850. Narrated by Jenny Hoops, this is a fresh and lively narration of an enduring classic tale. Title Info. Preface to the Sewcond Edition The Custom House The Custom House. Cont. 1. The Prison-Door 2. The Market-Place 3. The Recognition 4. The Interview 5. Hester at her Needle 6. Pearl 7. The Governor's Hall 8. The Elf-Child and the Minister 9. The Leech 10. The Leech and his Patient 11. The Interior of a Heart 12. The Minister's Vigil 13. Another View of Hester 14. Hester and the Physician 15. Hester and Pearl 16. A Forest Walk 17. The Pastor and his Parishioner 18. A Flood of Sunshine 19. The Child at the Brook-side 20. The Minister in a Maze 21. The New England Holiday 22. The Procession 23. The Revelation of the Scarlet Letter Conclusion Track 29
