THE SCARLET LETTER

With a sympathetic, straightforward approach, narrator Adam Sims allows listeners to discover for themselves the many layers of keen observation, humor, history, and social commentary that Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 classic has to offer. The story is familiar. Single, dignified Hester Prynne is punished for having become pregnant by having an "A," for adultery, sewn on her dress in 1640s Puritan New England. Finding the sly wit in Hawthorne's words, Sims excels at capturing the voices and emotions of the loutish governor, the dithering minister, and the precocious child. All that holds us back is the wordy nineteenth-century prose, and here is the beauty of audiobooks: You can sit back, listen, and allow Sims to do the heavy reading, bringing you all the hidden treasures of this American original. B.P. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2019]