The Scarlet Letter

If you last read THE SCARLET LETTER in high school, this production of the classic novel of adultery, repentance, hypocrisy, and the boundaries of Puritan law will remind you why your English teacher assigned it. Hawthorne's ageless story focuses on Hester Prynne, a young wife accused of adultery and forced to wear the scarlet letter "A" on her bosom. Much of this morality tale investigates the interior tensions of characters as complex as any in literature. The novel is given an artful reading by Annie Wauters. Wauters creates a Hester Prynne of enormous heroism. Hester's strength, when surrounded by false piety and righteousness, is humbling. Wauters's smooth, calming voice gives the simpering Dimmesdale and the vengeful Roger Chillingworth more humanity than they deserve. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine


Narrator Donada Peters gives a sense of immediacy to this classic 1850s novel featuring Hester Prynne, an unmarried young mother who must wear an embroidered scarlet "A," denoting her commission of adultery. Peters's portrayals of the matrons who wait outside the jail for Hester's appearance set the tone for 1642 Boston--a place of cruel judgments, whispery gossip, and occasional gentleness. Through strong character portrayals, Peters depicts the torment of preacher Arthur Dimmesdale, who has not admitted to fathering Hester's child, and the agony of Roger Chillingworth, Hester's husband, who presents himself as a healer but, in truth, is vengeful and cruel. Throughout the story, Peters steadily illuminates Hester's essential goodness. S.W. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine