Anyone interested in how novels refract history will be enriched by the Broadview edition of The Scarlet Letter. The valuable introduction and extensive archival material will give readers a great foundation for using Hawthorne s historicist methodology as a model for discussing the complexities of history and storytelling not only for Hawthorne but for contemporary readers as well. Lauren Berlant, University of Chicago. John Stephen Martin s meticulously prepared edition of The Scarlet Letter offers both students and general readers the most comprehensive introduction to Hawthorne s life and work currently available in one volume. With its historical contextualization, enormously helpful annotations, and judicious assessment of Hawthorne s greatest work, it establishes itself as the single best guide to this great American masterpiece. Joel Porte, Cornell University. This edition is the most effective teaching tool for Hawthorne s text that I know. Contained within a single volume, students have everything that is necessary for a rich understanding of one of the most important moments in American literary history. Especially donative are the substantial contextualization's provided here literary, social, and historical and in turn, these contextualization's ground the principal issues with which Hawthorne s romance engages. Supplementary to all this is the extensive bibliography, far-ranging and comprehensive. This edition is easily the most comprehensive introduction to the work that is currently available. Ian Bell, Keele University
About the Author
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and biographer. His work centres on his New England home and often features moral allegories with Puritan inspiration, with themes revolving around inherent good and evil. His fiction works are considered part of the Romantic movement and, more specifically, Dark romanticism.