I approached reading this book with some degree of trepidation. My partner had been issued The Scarlet Letter as a set book at school, to be read and compared alongside The Colour Purple. The objective? An analysis of the societal treatment of women in the United States of America one hundred years apart. My partner hated every moment of the project, declaring that it was impossible to fathom what Nathaniel was whittling on about in his book.

Never one to refuse the challenge of a more exacting read, I launched - correction, I gingerly stepped - into the introduction of this Penguin Classics edition, bypassing the copious amount of introductory text that came before the story. Hawthorne was certainly not one for short, sharp, snappy prose. I am not sure whether the word 'circumlocution' existed in his day but, were it so, he ignored its existence and meaning with great aplomb! I have never previously encountered a book with such intricately and, at times, turgidly long paragraphs! I found the reading process easier, over time, if I galloped through such sections; this enabled me to remember still the beginning of the paragraph by the time I'd reached the end!

I must confess that, once I'd progressed far enough into the book, I began to enjoy it! A shocking revelation to my partner, who just gave me 'the rays' when I told her! An excellent plot, in fact, sufficiently full of intrigue and fascinating detail about the behaviour and attitudes of the age, in spite of the slow unfolding of the narrative. I got to accept and immerse myself into the life of the primary characters. This being so, the author did his work well. I am not confident that I shall ever reread the book, but I would certainly recommend it to others with this suggestion - be patient!