The Scarlet Daughter

Summary

A riveting debut that continues the story of Pearl Prynne, the illegitimate daughter at the center of The Scarlet Letter, The Scarlet Daughter is about a heroine who defies her station to become a portraitist for nobility and an avenger of wronged women.

Born under the stain of her mother Hester’s scarlet letter, Pearl spends her childhood as an outcast in Salem. When fortuitous widowhood allows Hester and Pearl to flee, their ocean voyage becomes an education for precocious Pearl, who tolerates the captain’s roving hands in exchange for time with his stargazer.

In England, Pearl encounters another lost soul, a fatherless boy named Isaac Newton, obsessed with the sun and patterns of light. As they grow into adulthood, Pearl and Isaac spend hours together, testing scientific theories and learning to draw and paint. But Pearl does not have the opportunities afforded to a man. With a household of orphans dependent on her, Pearl must take the commissions that are offered, even if they mean painting the dead …