The Scarlet Letter [Hardcover]

Designed to appeal to the book lover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautifully bound pocket-sized gift editions of much loved classic titles. Bound in real cloth, printed on high quality paper, and featuring ribbon markers and gilt edges, Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.

The Scarlet Letteris the story of three New England settlers at odds with the Puritan society in which they live. Roger Chillingworth, an ageing scholar, arrives in New England after two years' separation from his wife Hester to find her on trial for adultery. She refuses to reveal her lover's identity and is condemned to wear a scarlet letter 'A' sewn on to her clothes. Roger resolves to discover the man's identity, and over the next seven years the participants in the love triangle suffer the consequences of betrayal, cowardice and humiliation, before moving towards redemption at the novel's climax.

With an afterword by Jonty Claypole.

Nathaniel Hawthorne was born is Salem, Massachusetts in 1804. His father died when he was four years old. His first novel,Fanshawe, was published anonymously at his own expense in 1828. He later disowned the novel and burned the remaining copies. For the next twenty years he made his living as a writer of tales and children's stories. He assured his reputation with the publication ofThe Scarlet Letterin 1850 andThe House of the Seven Gablesthe following year. In 1853 he was appointed consul in Liverpool, England, where he lived for four years. He died in 1864.A pocket hardback edition of Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic novel