The Scarlet Letter is a romantic novel set in 17th-century Puritan Boston, Massachusetts telling the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an adulterous affair and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist writing centers on New England, many featuring moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration and centering on the inherent evil and sin of humanity.