In Puritan Boston, Massachusetts, a crowd gathers to witness the punishment of Hester Prynne, a young woman who has given birth to a baby of unknown parentage. She is required to wear a scarlet "A" on her dress when she is in front of the townspeople to shame her. The letter "A" stands for adulteress, although this is never said explicitly in the novel. Her sentence required her to stand on the scaffold for three hours, exposed to public humiliation, and to wear the scarlet "A" for the rest of her life. As Hester approaches the scaffold, many of the women in the crowd are angered by her beauty and quiet dignity. When demanded and cajoled to name the father of her child, Hester refuses.As Hester looks out over the crowd, she notices a small, misshapen man and recognizes him as her long-lost husband, who has been presumed lost at sea. When the husband sees Hester's shame, he asks a man in the crowd about her and is told the story of his wife's adultery. He angrily exclaims that the child's father, the partner in the adulterous act, should also be punished and vows to find the man. He chooses a new name, Roger Chillingworth, to aid him in his plan.

17世紀ニューイングランド、幼子をかき抱いて刑台に立った女の胸に付けられた「A」の文字。子供の父親の名を明かさないヘスター・プリンを、若き教区牧師と謎の医師が見守っていた。各々の罪を抱えた三つの魂が交わるとき、緋文字の秘密が明らかに。アメリカ文学屈指の名作登場。不倫の罪を背負いながらも毅然と生きる女、罪悪感に苛まれ衰弱していく牧師、復讐心に燃えて二人に執着する医師―宗教色に隠れがちだった登場人物たちの心理に、深みと真実味を吹き込んだ新訳。