Scarlet is the colour of sin, and the letter 'A' stands for 'Adultery'. In the 1600s, in Boston, Massachusetts, love was allowed only between a husband and a wife. A child born outside marriage was a child of sin. Hester Prynne must wear the scarlet letter on her dress for the rest of her life. How can she ever escape from this public shame? What will happen to her child, growing up in the shadow of the scarlet letter? The future holds no joy for Hester Prynne. And what will happen to her sinful lover - the father of her child? An Oxford Bookworms Library reader for learners of English, adapted from the Nathaniel Hawthorne original by John Escott.
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"I read this book in high school and could not put it down. I learned so much about the colonial/puritan period from reading it. I am looking forward to rereading as an older adult and finding out how much my perspective has changed. " — Becca (5 out of 5 stars)
"I read this book in high school and could not put it down. I learned so much about the colonial/puritan period from reading it. I am looking forward to rereading as an older adult and finding out how much my perspective has changed. "
" thats a good book! "
" You know, surprisingly I liked this book when I read it in high school. For all the rap I heard about it, I thought I wouldn't like it. But I felt that the characters were real. And wasn't there a twist-up in the end? I don't remember . ..it's been so long! =) "
" I enjoyed this substantially more when I read it again after I was required to read it in high school. Hawthorne makes liberal use of the comma - just ignore them and it flows much better. ;) "
" It's pretty good so far, I just think it's a lot of description. It seems like Hawthorne is trying too hard, almost. Not a popular opinion, I know. A little disappointed because I love the concept! "
" I've always enjoyed this book because I find something new to focus on every time I read it. This time around was the contemplation of Chillingworth's moral decline. "
" Read for school. Painful as all hell. "
" As most people, I had to read this for a high school English class. This book is a classic and I actually enjoyed reading it and found the messages is conveyed interesting. "
" Read for Abrams junior year AP English...really enjoyed it. "
" I appreciate this book more as an adult reader than I did in high school. It is intriguing for many reasons. The hypocrisy of piety rings through the pages. That scarlet "A" is such a unique symbol. Always a good read! "
" I hated this book. So much. :| I hate Hawthorne in general. "
" It was written very long ago and to understand the writing took a little while. But good book "
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) is considered to be one of the greatest American authors of the nineteenth century. He was born in Salem, Massachusetts, and made his ambition to be a writer while still a teenager. He graduated from Bowdoin College in Maine, where the poet Longfellow was also a student, and spent several years traveling in New England and writing short stories before his best known novel, The Scarlet Letter, was published in 1850. His writing was not at first financially rewarding, and he worked as measurer and surveyor in the Boston and Salem Custom Houses. In 1853 he was sent to Liverpool as American consul and then lived in Italy before returning to the United States in 1860.
Oliver Wyman is an actor and award-winning audiobook narrator. He has won five Audie Awards from the Audio Publisher’s Association, fourteen Earphone Awards, and two Listen Up Awards from Publisher’s Weekly. He was named a 2008 Best Voice in Nonfiction & Culture by AudioFile magazine. He has appeared on stage as well as in film and television, and he is a veteran voice actor who can be heard in numerous cartoons and video games. He is one of the founders of New York City’s Collective Unconscious theater, and his performances include the award-winning “reality play” Charlie Victor Romeo and A. R. McElhinney’s cult classic film A Chronicle of Corpses.
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