An adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel about Hester Prynne, who is punished for adultery in 1642 Boston by having to forever wear the scarlet letter on her dress as a mark of shame, and, as she says, 'my leper's bell, that all may know of my approach.' Prynne holds two secrets: The name of her child's father, and the presence in Boston of her husband, who was presumed lost at sea.