The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne,

Hawthorne's most famous novel, The Scarlet Letter is the story of Hester Prynne, a young woman who commits adultery and is forced to live with the consequences in the Puritan community of Salem, Massachusetts. 

 The protagonist of the novel, Hester is married to Roger Chillingworth and has an affair with Arthur Dimmesdale. The affair produces a daughter, Pearl. Hester plays many roles in The Scarlet Letter: devoted mother, abandoned lover, estranged wife, religious dissenter, feminist, and outcast, to name just a few. Perhaps her most important role is that of an iconoclast, one who opposes established conventions. Hester is not just a rebel, she's a glorified rebel, and Hawthorne uses her to criticize the Puritan's strict society. He portrays Hester fondly, as a woman of strength, independence, and kindness, who stands up to the judgments and constraints of her society. Though society tries to demean and disgrace her, Hawthorne emphasizes that Hester never looked more attractive as when she first emerged from prison wearing the scarlet letter. 

Hester Prynne is first described in the chapter, The Market-Place, when a group of townspeople gathered on the lawn outside the jail witness her release. The women in the crowd have a poor opinion of Hester, calling her a malefactress, a female criminal.
The first physical description of Hester follows just after her release. Described as a young woman, her actions are 'marked with natural dignity and force of character.' Even though she is in prison and at the whim of others, her actions are described as appearing to be of her own free will.
When Hester is released, she holds her 3-month-old child in her hands. The child, a product of her sin of adultery, stirs mixed feelings in Hester. She blushes, but maintains a 'glance that would not be abashed.'
Aside from Hester's beauty, which is dignified rather than delicate and described as shining behind her so strongly as if to make a 'halo of the misfortune' she has experienced, the most notable part of Hester's physical appearance is the A on her chest. It is described as being made from 'fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread.' The A stands for her crime of adultery, and Hester is forced to wear it as part of her public humiliation.