Nathaniel Hawthorne was one of the greatest American writers of the nineteenth century. Hawthorne's writing is unique as it often featured moral struggles among the Puritans in and around New England. Hawthorne's books became some of the most famous works of dark romanticism and his novel The Scarlet Letter is considered a classic in American literature. The Scarlet Letter, published in 1850, tells the story of Hester Prynne, a woman who is shamed after conceiving a daughter through an affair. The book is set in Puritan Boston during the middle of the 17th-century.