Which 1850 novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne was banned in some schools for its depiction of adultery?

The 1850 novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne banned in some schools for its depiction of adultery is The Scarlet Letter. It centers on Hester Prynne, a woman in Puritan Boston who is publicly punished after giving birth to a child outside marriage.

Hester must wear a scarlet “A,” originally signifying adultery, while refusing to identify the child’s father. The novel explores sin, guilt, shame, hypocrisy, law, and redemption rather than presenting adultery as a simple moral lesson. Its setting is the Massachusetts Bay Colony during the 17th century.

Hawthorne published the book in 1850 with the subtitle A Romance. It is often confused with his other major novel, The House of the Seven Gables, but that work is not the adultery-centered story. The Scarlet Letter has faced school challenges because of its sexual themes and mature treatment of morality.