<Tr> <Th> Publisher </Th> <Td> Ticknor, Reed & Fields </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Publication date </Th> <Td> 1850 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Dewey Decimal </Th> <Td> 813.3 </Td> </Tr> <P> The Scarlet Letter: A Romance, an 1850 novel, is a work of historical fiction written by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne . The book is considered to be his "masterwork". Set in 17th - century Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony, during the years 1642 to 1649, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an affair and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity . Throughout the book, Hawthorne explores themes of legalism, sin, and guilt . </P>

What is the meaning of the book the scarlet letter