Edith Wharton Books

Could not understand the writing of this author, so I had to buy this to have someone, in a sense, translate...and it was a life saver! Made an A!

A wonderful read for die-hard fans of Wharton, but certainly not a casual read for most.

In this masterful work of literary criticism, Killoran deftly opens new doors to Wharton studies. Eschewing faddish critical schools, Killoran reads between the lines to paint an original, psychologically complex work that takes us well beyond R.W.B. Lewis and Cynthia Griffin Wolfe and leads us to conclude that Wharton, rather than just a novelist of manners or a disciple of Henry James, stands apart from her peers and heralds a new, post-Freudian American literature.

Knowledgeably compiled and deftly edited by novelist and historian Louis Auchincloss, Edith Wharton: Selected Poems Offers contemporary readers an impressive selection of verse by a most remarkable woman who lived a most remarkable life. And who reflected her observations and reflections with masterpieces of poetic expression. Opportunities: Who knows his opportunities? They come/Not trumpet-tongued from Heaven, but small and dumb,/Not beckoning from the future's promised land,/But in the narrow present close at hand./They walk beside us with unsounding feet,/and like those two that trod the Eastern street/And with their Saviour bartered thought for thought,/Our eyes are holden and we know them not. 1878.

Can you pick a favorite Edith Wharton short story? Teddy Roosevelt did, and it is here.

It is also my favorite - a fabulous poke at provincial reading groups, ostentatious authors and the unsuspected wise souls in their midst.

Read "Xingu" and savor every well chosen word. Ms Wharton is a pro and this is Olympic quality writing.

Ethan Frome was given to me many years ago, and remains a favorite. Probably the most spare, relentless and incredibly human story of unrequited love in American literature. The male point of view of an unfulfilled marriage is impeccably drawn by Edith Wharton, and the reader's sympathy for Ethan Frome grows with each page. Of course the New England winter setting adds the grip of cold and darkness to the fictional town of Starkfield, and the character of Mattie Silver so bright and warm in contrast to the worn and manipulative Zenobia -- one can not read this book without strongly felt heart activity.

Ethan Frome is the story of a man living in a loveless marriage. He is downtroden and melancholy until the day he meets his wife's young and beautiful cousin, Mattie Silver. Mattie will be staying at the Frome's New England Farm, and in the passing year, Ethan becomes a new man as Mattie brings out a passionate side in him. When Mattie is forced to leave, Ethan is desperate to make a change in his life as well. The results are tragic.

Edith Wharton's descriptions of the time, the place and the people are perfect. It's easy to imagine, the snowy farmland, the dimal existance and the faces and features of the characters involved. In a story that is set more than 100 years ago, it stands the test of time. It will draw you into every emotion, and will captivate your imagination.

Rediscover this classic story of tragic love or experience the pain and the passion for the first time. It's a wonderful read...enjoy....Laurie

In a way, Edith Wharton was at her best in her novellas -- her stories are lean, taut and emotionally deep. That's what "Summer" and "Ethan Frome" have in common, as they look at love, sex, marriage and the conventions of the 1800s. Put together, these novellas are utterly fascinating.

"Ethan Frome" is the male half of a loveless marriage, with the fretful, fussy Zeena. Then Zeena's lovely cousin Mattie Silver comes to live with them, and she brings out a happier, more passionate side of Ethan. But when Mattie is sent away, Ethan must make a decision. He knows he can't stay in his horrible marriage, so will he run away with Mattie? Or will something worse happen?

"Summer" shocked the 1917 public, with its frank-for-its-time look at a young woman's sexual awakening. It takes place in the New England village of North Dormer, where the young librarian Charity lives. But when Charity falls in love with an upper-class young rake named Lucius, she finds herself pregnant and unmarried -- a destructive combination in the 1900s.

Edith Wharton gave unvarnished looks at social conventions throughout her career -- she doesn't judge, she just tells it how it was, whether she's talking about the Roaring 20s or the uptight Victorian era. Divorce was almost unthinkable, affairs scandalous if revealed, and women had the cards stacked against them in matters of love, marriage and sex.

Both novellas also display Wharton's talent for writing characters who were totally unlike her, especially working-class heroes. Charity is an uneducated, naive, rough-mannered young woman, while Ethan is... well, male. Neither is much like Wharton, but she gets inside their heads and makes them entirely believable.

Wharton's formal writing style is offset by the starkness of her stories -- if she took a hard look at Victorian social conventions, she didn't flinch from showing what happened to those that transgressed. (I'll give you a hint -- neither novella has a smooching-lovers-ride-off-into-the-sunset finale) It's realistic, but a bit depressing.

"Summer" and "Ethan Frome" are both tales of love doomed by social conventions, and also two of Wharton's best stories. Sad and beautiful, gripping and classic.

If you have not read Edith Wharton's 1911 classic novel "Ethan Frome", a wonderful dramatization 1936 was written by Owen Davis and his son Donald. This play is included in the Best American Plays 1918-1958 Supplementary volume, edited by John Gassner According to Gassner, Edith Wharton loved the theatrical version of her book, adding that "here at last is a new lease of life for Ethan" She felt that few had the luck to see the characters transported to stage without loss or alteration of any sort.

To read this play, one is required to stage directions that are comprised with a great deal of action. It is not filled with lengthy monologues; it is simply a play with consistent action and display of emotions by the characters. The play moves fast.

Set in Northern New England, the play begins in the present, the prologue, and we are to understand what occurred 20 years ago. The ending, the epilogue, takes us back to the present. Other than the three main characters, few have short roles.

Ethan From, 28, is a poor farmer married to Zeena, 32, always sickly and considered a hypochondriac. She speaks poorly of Ethan, is demanding and shows him a lack of respect as when she tells him "if you had a mind to" Zeenia is frustrated that Ethan has her in such poverty. Now Zeenia is demanding to Ethan that her cousin Mattie, 20, come to help. Ethan is adamant against paying for a hired girl and Mattie comes anyway because she needs a place to stay and will not be accepting payment.

Although it seems predictable that Ethan and Mattie will be in love, we don't really get that message blatantly. So subtle is the relationship that one just assumes.

We also don't get much that Zeenia is on to something happening, but she is and soon dmmands that a new hired girl is to arrive and Mattie must go. This time, Ethan is adamant that Mattie stay. What happens next is interesting, and with a unique twist.

This play is wonderful!.....MzRizz.

Edith Wharton moved to France in 1907, settling there permanently by 1911. This is the collection of her correspondence with Leon Belugou, a man of letters who was instrumental in introducing her to French literary society, eventually becoming one of her closest confidants and helping to arrange her divorce in 1913. Belugou began his career as a teacher and later, through wealthy and aristocratic contacts that arose from his private tutoring, developed extensive business interests in the Far East. He also published a fair amount of literary criticism and maintained friendships with several literary figures of the day, including Proust.

These letters are largely from Wharton to Belugou. The notes and introduction by Claudine Lesage, who discovered the correspondence, are illuminating. Belugou was one of the few people who knew of Wharton's affair with the journalist Morton Fullerton, and his name occurs frequently. Although Belugou lived until 1934, the bulk of the correspondence takes place between 1910 and 1914. Many of the letters are tantalizingly brief, referring to conversations past and future appointments.

Wharton's distinctive voice leaps off the page. Her French is fluent with a few charming Americanism thown in. Occasionally she pokes fun at herself over some grammatical uncertainty. The letters are largely about current affairs and mutual friends. She does not talk much about her creative process, but there is a fair amount about the difficulty of finding a suitable French translator for her works, a problem with which Belugou assists her.

I recommend this book to anyone wanting to know more about Edith Wharton or to anyone who has an interest in France's Belle Epoque. The picture of day-to day life it gives of that era is most interesting.