The Scarlet Letter American Classics Edition: A Romance

By Nathaniel Hawthorne

One of the Library of Congress's "Books That Shaped America"

One of The Guardian's 100 Best Novels in English

"A perfect work of the American imagination."--D.H. Lawrence

In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States, HarperCollins is proud to present this library of American classics drawn from our storied catalog. A groundbreaking tale of injustice and perseverance that grapples with the founding history of this country, Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter tells the tale of one woman's dignity in the face of persecution, the threat she poses to Puritan power, and the desperate lengths people will reach to maintain the status quo.

A tale of sin, punishment and atonement, The Scarlet Letter exposes the moral rigidity of a 17th-Century Puritan New England community when faced with a "fallen" young mother and her illegitimate daughter. Forced to wear the scarlet "A" after committing adultery, Hester Prynne lives on the outskirts of society. Visited only by the Reverend Dimmesdale and watched over by Roger Chillingworth, she is both at the mercy of and defiantly against the immutable value system that shapes her fate and that of her child. Regarded as the first real heroine of American fiction, it is Hester Prynne's strength of character that Hawthorne champions, and that has inspired feminist literature for the nearly two centuries since the novel's publication.

A BEAUTIFUL PACKAGE WITH FLAPS: Featuring French flaps and a unique vivid cover design, each book in the collection is published as a deluxe trade paperback that is a part of a stunning series look. HARPER COLLINS AMERICAN CLASSICS: This series includes timeless novels, poetry, children's books, and groundbreaking nonfiction that has shaped American thought, literature, and identity across generations. AMERICA'S PUBLISHER: Since its founding in 1817, no American publisher has been so entwined in the history of American letters. Our books enrich, challenge, and defined the American spirit. AMERICA 250: The HarperCollins American Classics arrive in time for America's 250th anniversary celebrations.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 006348160X
• ISBN13: 9780063481602
• Release Date: May 2026
• Publisher: Mariner Books Classics
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

“Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” - Cyndi Lauper’s hit single.

The story may have had some merit; however, the writing style was so archaic and verbose that it took fifty words to complete a sentence. After trudging through about one hundred pages, he never came to any points or conclusions other than that some people can remember what they ate 20 years ago in detail. This guy (Nathaniel Hawthorne) could have competed with Mary Shelly for the most long-winded of the year. Some of it may not be his fault due to the writing style of the time, but we surely do not have to put up with this. This is one time that just about any movie exceeds the book. If you insist on reading, then it may be smart to find a child’s version. Someone could get rich translating the book into today’s English.