Edith Wharton Books

Edith Wharton won the Pulitzer in 1921, for her social romantic tragedy "Age of Innocence." What to do after a triumph like that?

Well, in Wharton's case, she went the opposite direction, with a gentle romance called "The Glimpses of the Moon." It's the cliched love-or-money storyline that's existed as long as love and money, but Wharton elevates it with some social satire and lushly sensual writing.

Nick Lansing and Susy Branch are young, attractive, clever, arty, and poor -- they are confidantes of the wealthy, but can't live like them. So Susy comes up with a scheme: they'll get married, and live for a year off the honeymoon gifts and guest houses -- and if either of them gets a better offer, they'll divorce immediately with no hard feelings.

All goes smoothly for the idyllic first months. But when staying in Venice, Nick finds that they are staying at a villa because Susy is helping the house's mistress meet up with her boytoy -- and that Susy's acid-tongued pal has just inherited a fortune. But despite their pact, Susy finds it increasingly difficult to imagine a life without Nick -- especially when he seems to be involved with a clever young archaeologist's daughter.

The story of "Glimpses of the Moon" is not the selling point of this onetime bestseller -- you can pretty much guess how it will turn out, and how many days the pact between Nick and Susy will last. In fact, it's kind of astonishing that Hollywood hasn't nabbed this one rather than the tragic "Ethan Frome" or the bittersweet "Age of Innocence."

But the beauty of "Glimpses of the Moon" is how it's presented -- Wharton's prose relaxes into a sensual feast of decayed villas, bright sunlight, rich colours and luxurious details. It slacks off as Nick and Susy's relationship deteriorates, but the first half is awash in beautiful imagery ("... a great white moth like a drifting magnolia petal"). And of course, we always have the overhanging symbolism of the moon.

And it wouldn't be a Wharton book without some social commentary -- in this case, about the idle wealthy eagerly snatching onto any trendy artist, illicit lover or amusement that will fill their empty days. And of course, the lesson that love should trump greed.

Wharton's knack for characterization doesn't hurt either -- Nick is a penniless artist hoping to keep this pact-marriage together, and Susy a social wit without many scruples, until she inadvertantly drives Nick away. The supporting characters could have a book devoted to each one as well -- the acid-tongued peer, a rather snotty young girl, and a desperate wealthy matron bouncing from one "toyboy" relationship to another.

"Glimpses of the Moon" is a simple boy-and-girl story, but with a clever social twist questioning what happens AFTER happily-ever-after. Romantic, sensual and sometimes tartly amusing.

THE GLIMPSES OF THE MOON by Edith Wharton is an incredibly readable, engaging novel, that is accessible, interesting and involving. While it's not at the level of her better known novels The Age of Innocence or The House of Mirth, it's quite worthwhile. Wharton wrote GLIMPSES in 1922, two years after winning the Pulitzer Prize for Innocence. (She was the first woman to win the prize.)

The premise of the book is that two society people from New York, Susy Branch and Nick Lansing, decide to marry. They are in love, but the twist is that their marriage is ostensibly a business deal: While they are socially connected, neither one of them has enough money to live the life of their peers. Because of this, they live off their friends' generosity and whims. They scheme to marry because with all the honeymoon gifts, money, precious items, and the subsequent lending of homes their friends will make to them for their honeymoon, they will be able to live the life they want for at least a year. They also agree that if either one of them finds a way to make a better match for him- or herself, they will willingly free each other from the marriage.

Their subsequent personal and physical journeys are the subject of the rest of the book, as they try to resolve themselves to their situations and look back on what they have together and how their future will play out.

It's hard to believe this book was written in 1922. The prose reads like a current novel, and Edith Wharton is, as always, deft at skewering the moral bankruptcy of the very rich at the same time she demonstrates a fundamental understanding of their world. Those caught between, like Susy and Nick, make fascinating studies as their characters grow toward or away from the light this lifestyle casts. Wharton also keenly portrays the very human behaviors of individuals on whom she concentrates, and shows both Susy and Nick as sympathetic and frustrating simultaneously to the reader as they each seek to come to terms with their options and their feelings toward each other in light of their current values. No one is really the hero or the anti-hero here. It seems in some ways to be a realistic portrayal of maturity and some growth, while also being a tale of the power of affluence and ease to corrupt and weaken.

As I wrote, this book is "lighter" than Mirth and Innocence, but it deserves to be read. Some aspects of it seem a little too tidy, but not completely unconvincing. Wharton is a master -- one of my favorite authors -- and this book demonstrates her abilities in a clean, straightforward story of two lovers and the impact of their community on their relationship, their values and their behaviors.

The Glimpses of the Moon is undeniably not Edith Wharton's best work, but that doesn't keep it from being a very rich story. Wharton does one of her best jobs ever of getting and keeping her reader's interest in the main characters and their friends, society, and lives. If you have read Wharton before, you know that she does a flawless job of this anyway, so let me assure you that TGOTM is outstanding in this sense. I couldn't get over the fact that Susy defines potential self-discovery so perfectly. Wharton somehow keeps us from siding entirely with Nick, who is close to being morally perfect. Even when Susy is at her most primitive and ruthless, Wharton reminds us, subliminally it seems, that she is still a 'good' character. In a way, Wharton presents us with a question and a problem in her presentation of Nick and Susy. In a world where money is needed not only to thrive physically but also socially, there are two ways to deal with the fact that you have less of it than everyone else: You can be like Nick or you can be like Susy. They are at two opposite ends of the spectrum and they stand for two completely different forms of action. They love each other, too, and this makes the issue even more of a puzzle. Which character would you choose to act like? Even more importantly, which character's actions most defines your own actions in 'real life?' Wharton never suggests that either way is the right way. As readers, we can only examine the consequences of both characters' actions and notice how the book ends. It's not surprising that Wharton hides her answer in a love story.

Given the flawlessly smooth machinery of THE HOUSE OF MIRTH and THE CUSTOM OF THE COUNTRY, it's kind of weird to come across a Wharton novel as structurally sloppy as this one. More uncharacteristically yet, the first three chapters, in my opinion, are just plain shabbily written. But Wharton is never without her reasons, and once she's disposed of the characters' "backstory" as expeditiously (if inelegantly) as possible at the top of the book, she hits her stride in earnest and gives us all of the pleasures of a great Wharton tale -- chiseled prose, trenchant humor, sociological precision, briskly paced and compactly dramatized.

Something that strikes me about this book: it'd make a much better movie, be much easier to adapt, than either HOUSE OF MIRTH or AGE OF INNOCENCE. It's got fewer locations, a much smaller cast of characters -- heck, it even has a happy ending, and an honestly earned one. (In fact, the conceit it starts with -- a couple in love who'd like to stay together, but alas, there's no money in it -- is pretty much the idea Preston Sturges started with in THE PALM BEACH STORY, an audience-pleaser for sure.)

Set in the aftermath of World War I, this study of 1920s society, with its elements of social comedy and satire, follows Nick Lansing and his wife Susy, through the highest levels of European society. Though they have the credentials to be accepted, they are financially limited, always unsure where their next funds will come from. Nick and Susy have married for love, with the understanding that if either of them finds a more financially stable suitor with a long-term future, that each is free to dissolve the marriage. They spend their honeymoon year living in the empty European homes of their more affluent friends.

When they stay in the palazzo of Ellie Vanderlyn in Venice, early in the novel, Susy receives a note from Ellie asking her to mail four letters, one each week, to Ellie's absent husband Nelson, so that he will not know she is away. Confronted with this thorny problem, which she has been sworn not to reveal to Nick, Ellie agrees, knowing no way around the problem, since she and Nick depend on Ellie's hospitality.

It reveals no plot surprises to say that Susy's deception eventually undermines her superficial but loving relationship with Nick. Wounded by Susy's lack of trust and her deceit, Nick needs to get away. The separate comings-of-age of Nick and Susy occupy the bulk of the novel as each, still sharing the extravagant lifestyles of their friends, considers whether to honor the agreement to let the other person go if someone "better" comes along.

Wharton presents their dilemmas clearly--their desire to experience the "good life," their belief that they deserve to do so, the lengths they are willing to go to make it possible, the conflicts they face between their latent ethical sense and the realities of their lives, the belated discovery that each has the potential to support himself/herself, and the growing awareness that life offers many rewards that are not financial.

Filled with trenchant observations about society and the frivolous behavior of those committed to remaining part of it, Wharton's novel draws attention to the conflict between real feelings and pretensions and between real goals and social expectations, presaging the novels of Fitzgerald. A sophisticated and elegantly written study of aristocratic society in the twenties in Europe, this is not Wharton's most thoughtful novel, but it one of her best observed. n Mary Whipple

I plowed through the first fifty pages or so before putting this book aside in digust. Topics are introduced, dropped, revisited, then dropped again at random, adding to both the page count and the reader's confusion. Simple facts are wrong -- Lee states that The Breakers, the Vanderbilt home in Newport, cost $200 million to build, when in fact the estimates for the cost are closer to $7 million. ( If Lee can make a whopper like that, I start to question every other statement of fact.) Her aunt Elizabeth's Hudson River home is Wyndeclife, not Wyndeliffe. And as a long-time New Yorker familiar with all the geography of Manhattan, I also started to wonder if Lee ever actually walked the sites she talks about. West 14th Street isn't now, nor was it ever, considered Gramercy Park!

This biography of Edith Wharton features lots of detail, some newly presented, but not as much organization or insight as one would hope for. I wonder if Lee not being American was one reason for this: she can be excellent in some of her analyses--of some of Wharton's novels, especially of "Ethen Frome," for example--but doesn't seem to come to an overall understanding of Wharton that satisfies me. This is like some other biographies that are touted as "major" in that the biographer is piling up the details, but perhaps getting lost in them. Lee is a talented biographer, and she questions the accepted wisdom regarding some of the phases of Wharton's life, but this is not her best work. Still, she makes a good case for Wharton's strength of character and ability to deal with her life's difficulties while continuing to produce first rate work. Wharton's greatness as a writer is what we don't entirely see in Lee's account.

I just finished Hermione Lee's biography, which took me roughly a month to finish (I usually don't spend more than a few days on a book.), and its girth occasionally hurt my back. (That's a joke...) I have not read other biographies Lee has written (though I do own "Virginia Woolf", and was impressed with Lee's insight of Woolf on the DVD of "The Hours"), so I can't compare, but I gather the Virginia Woolf biography is very good. I have read other biographies of Edith Wharton; R.W.B. Lewis', and Cynthia Griffin Woolf's excellent "A Feast of Words", and Lee's is an exhaustive reiteration of much that has come before, with some subtle additions and revisions of thought. I have a new vision of Wharton during her "Neurasthenic" period, which struck her early in marriage. She gardened, wrote and traveled extensively, whereas I had the impression she was bed-ridden and slightly invalid. The life force of Edith Wharton appears to have been astonishing and exhausting. Very few of us would pass her formidable "muster", and I understand completely why Henry James labeled her "The Angel of Devastation" (Disappointing discovery that James was virulently anti-suffrage).

The book is at times, dispassionately academic. It has moments, and at its best one has the sense that Lee is weaving, or knitting, a complete picture of who Edith Wharton might actually have been. Yes, there are some things we will never know, but I get the idea. Some chapters moved along briskly, other didn't (for me). The chapter called "Italian Backgrounds" is loaded with minute detail about those kinds of gardens and Wharton's interest in them (as you would guess from the title). I'm not a gardener, however, and found myself losing interest - there is A LOT of description of Italian Gardens. Illustrations would have helped (me). I did enjoy HL's analysis of EW's Italian novel "The Valley of Decision" (the book is completely worth it for the analysis of the Wharton's writings. I wish Penguin, or N.Y.R.B, or Vintage would publish an affordable and attractive edition of "The Valley of Decision") As another reviewer observed, the book does get bogged down with detail from time to time. While I certainly couldn't write such a book (I disagree with the assertion that it was not well researched, on the contrary, the research seems dizzying and at the very least thorough: nothing is perfect.), I'm impressed that Hermione Lee did.

Wharton comes across as delightfully bitchy with the upper classes. The Breakers is described as a "Thermopylae of Bad Taste". Mrs. Wharton, on a tour of a wealthy acquaintances' home, was informed that this was the woman's "Louis Quinze Room", to which Mrs. Wharton replied, looking about through her lorgnette, "Why, my dear?" (Her knowledge of architecture and historical interiors was encyclopedic, and would currently entitle her to a Masters Degree. She would have several, in fact... and a Doctorate or two.) In a letter she stated that an unnamed party "...decided to have books in their library." Her story "The Line of Least Resistance" borrowed too closely from an angered Emily Sloane's personal life, and Ogden Codman may have summed up Edith best saying, " Poor Pussy is of course very unpopular... she goes out of her way to be rude to people."

Most familiar with EW know how involved she was with the building and all details of each new Wharton residence, and there were many. One of the virtues of Lee's book is that we get a complete view of events; the timelines, the day-to-day occurrences in the process (es), also the transgressions (notably with Ogden Codman and the building of the Mount.) It is clear that Edith (or "Puss") wore the pants in the family. Teddy comes across as an affable, but slightly bumbling, "Club" man of the "Old Chap" sportsman type. He was not intellectually inclined, and hopelessly mismatched with the polar opposite Edith Jones.

The latter half of the book is dedicated to Wharton's life in France; her affair with Morton Fullerton, homes in the Rue De Varenne (and social place in The Faubourg.), and of course her valiant, tireless war work, all covered in great detail. Interesting that Proust may have been a translator of "The House of Mirth", and though she and Proust were many times over connected socially, they never met. The pairing is a no-brainer, and bearing in mind Wharton's conscious or unconscious predilection for homosexual companions (Henry James, Andre Gide to name a few - even her passionate mid-life love affair was with the prodigiously bi-sexual Fullerton), it's possible that Proust and Wharton would have been great friends, though Lee points out that Proust was primarily interested in Countesses. When read together "The House of Mirth", "The Custom of the Country" (read it if you haven't - it's one of EW's most satisfying, ruthless, and well-written novels.), and "The Age of Innocence" (more sublime with every reading), could be compared to Wharton's miniature version of Proust. Have your French dictionary ready though, as there is much quotation of letters written in French with minimal translation - another category (like architecture, and gardening) in which Lee assumes her reader has a working knowledge.

I had hoped there might be more information about Wharton's frosty mother Lucretia, and Edith's relationship with her. Lee points out that little written material relating to her parents has survived. However, Lee suggests that Wharton's own haughty nature may have been an inherited trait of Mama, and that "Lu" is front and center in many, many instances of Wharton's writing. Wharton was candid in her version of her mother. I wonder if it ever occured to her that she may have been more similar to Lucretia than different. (Perhaps Lily's mother in "The House of Mirth", who expresses distaste at people who "live like pigs" is a sketch of Lucretia Jones) It's been commonly thought that Lucretia had Edith's young poetry published in a volume titled "Verses" in Newport, but it was more likely her more intellectually sympathetic fathers's doing. Which makes more sense, as one pictures the exasperation Mother must have felt with the bafflingly intelligent Edith - forcing Mama to entertain her friends while the child is seized with the urge to "Make-Up" (write stories)

All in all, "Edith Wharton" is an exhaustively researched biography of considerable merit. There were sections that moved ahead with full steam, and some that sort of drag (for me) and need to be plowed through in order to finish, but I certainly don't resent the information. For the most part it has beautifully "woven" quality about it. It does seem that it would benefit with more editing; the amount of smaller (I hesitate to say lesser) detail is mind numbing. Her great friendship with Henry James is beautifully documented. Included is the account of the elaborate hoax she and James New York publisher orchestrated in order to give James a generous advance on a future book (meant to bolster his flagging self-esteem), which was really just a very generous monetary gift from Edith. The analysis of stories and novels is excellent, and well worth the price of admission. I read in an interview of Hermione Lee that she felt she would not be thought "smart enough" if she were actually able to meet Edith Wharton. Perhaps the length and breadth stems from that thought, that she is writing to prove herself worthy of her subject. I think Ms. Lee may rest easy with her next subject: she is a perfectly capable biographer.

Also recommended: Cynthia Griffin Wolff's "A Feast of Words", a tightly written compellingly analyzed study of Mrs. Wharton

Edith Newbold "Pussy" Jones was born into a wealthy and socially prominent New York family in 1862. Her father was cold and distant. He was involved in real estate transactions. Her mother Lucretia was not a good mentor for her precocious bookworm daughter. Edith had two older brothers. Her childhood was lonesome punctuated by long trips to the cities of Europe (her father died in Cannes). Edith received no formal schooling but fed her retentive mind by study in her father's library. Wharton was a passionate reader and author from a very early age. She received no encouragement from her parents being married off to the much older Edward "Teddy" Wharton in 1885. Teddy was bipolar loving horses, drinkiing and playing cards with his buddies. Their marriage was a disaster ending in divorce after 25 years of life together. The couple were childless.
Edith had a passionate affair at 45 with Morton Fullerton a newspaperman in Paris who had countless affairs. The couple never married but remained friendly until Edith's death in 1937.
Edith was a Francophile who did a good deal of relief work during the first world war winning several honors from the French government. In politics she was conservative. Wharton was antisemitic, snobbish and looked down upon persons of color. She was a control freak who demanded excellence in her writing and life. Edith traveled widely for over 50 years staying in the best hotels; eating in great restaurants and exploring art museums, libraries and concerts. What a life of privilege!!!
Wharton never married following the divorce from Teddy. Mrs. Wharton did have several lifelong male friends most notably Walter Barry the President of the Paris version of the US Chamber of Commerce. She was also friendly with novelist Aldous Huxley, art historian Bernard Bernson and several lady friends. The great novelist Henry James was her most famous literary pal. She is often compared to James in her writing style. Hermione Lee says as far as we know all of these friendships were platonic. Wharton's friendships were with the wealthy and artistic elite. The novelist was a consummate snob who was, nevertheless, viewed as being kind and loyal by her friends.
Edith Wharton wrote many novels among the most famous being "The Custom of the Country"; "Ethan Frome"; "The Age of Innocence"; "Glimpses of the Moon" and "Summer". Wharton was a prolific short story author selling her tales to magazines. Her focus was on the wealthy. She dealt with marriage. incest, New York society and the the sexual mores of the well to do. She was disdained by the younger authors of the 1920s for being old fashioned. She wrote in an elegant style noted for its daring subject matter.
Hermione Lee is the author of Virginia Woolf as well as this biography on Wharton. The book is 800 pages long dealing in incredible detail with such topics as:
a. Wharton's love life and divorce from Teddy.
b. Wharton's many gardens and her books on gardening.
c. Close descriptions of all the fabulous homes Edith owned which are shown in several pictures included in the book.
d A description of the most important travels Wharton made in her life.
e. Short but well informed synopses and critical comments on her novels and short stories. We also get a glimpse of her poetry.
f. Discussions of the lives of her closest friends.
g. A loving review of Edith Wharton's World War I volunteer service to France.
After finishing this book I admire Wharton for her dedication to the craft of novel authorship. Wharton was a woman of high standards and loyalty to her friends. She could be frosty but was kind. Her love for animals, friends in need and loving care for aging servants is commendable. Her snobbish disdain for those of different races or religions is not appreciated (She converted to Roman Catholicism in her last few years.). Wharton was a born storyteller who can still hold the interest of the modern reader.
Hermione Lee is an excellent biographer who knows literature. Her biography of Edith Wharton is a wonderful book for those willing to devote the hours needed to read the lengthy text.

I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in E.W.'s fiction. I have read the previous reviews, which together give a very good idea of the scope of the book. In short, reading this will help the student of literature become better acquainted with the context of Wharton's work. Hermione Lee does a masterful job of weaving her analysis of Wharton's fiction into the biographical montage. I say montage because this book is not a chronological synopsis of E.W.'s life; rather, one has to wade through the chapters and sometimes backtrack to figure out where in time, exactly, Lee is pulling the reader. I relied on other sources to help with chronology in this case.

The novel Summer, by Edith Wharton is an inspiring love story that is a must read. Edith Wharton very vividly depicts the life of a girl, Charity Royall, developing into a passionate and sexual woman. Wharton uses seasons to express Charity's moods and changes. She takes her readers on a journey of a woman's struggle through diversity and social barriers. These hardships are what make her character a symbol of strength for women.
Charity was a child of societies lowest class who lived amongst "mountain dwellers". She was brought down from the mountain by lawyer Royall, one of the richest men in the small town of North Dormer, who takes pity on her. Charity always knew she was different and is made very aware of the fact that she should be grateful for what she has, but she still wants more. North Dormer is a small town and coming from a small town myself, I can relate to wanting more and finding excitment outside of it's crushing surroundings.
Charity takes a job at the local library, to save enough money to move away on her own, when she meets an educated, handsome, young man from the city named Lucius Harney. Their flirtatious meetings with each other turn into a fiery, passionate love affair. Harney gives her something that she never experienced before, something new and fresh. He shows her love which she always thought of "...as something confused and furtive, and he made it as bright and open as the summer air" (128). Charity's beauty is unlike the girls of Harney's social class. Charity has a natural beauty and mystery about her because she is from the mountain and the other girls are materialistic and fake. Harney is lured in by this and Charity, for the first time, enjoys being different.
The society in North Dormer does not approve of their behavior. Charity and Harney are from different social classes and being together is unacceptable. Charity faces ridicule from the town and also from her caretaker, lawyer Royall. She rebels against what everyone thinks about her relationship and goes on with her love affair with Harney.
(...)
Wharton made a bold move to create such a controversial novel of its time. Just as Charity went against what was considered socially acceptable, so did Wharton. Summer is as passionate and alive as it's title suggest. It is a wonderful love story that shows a girl who blossoms with the seasons into a strong, sexual and diverse woman.

The novel Summer, by Edith Wharton is an inspiring love story that is a must read. Edith Wharton very vividly depicts the life of a girl, Charity Royall, developing into a passionate and sexual woman. Wharton uses seasons to express Charity's moods and changes. She takes her readers on a journey of a woman's struggle through diversity and social barriers. These hardships are what make her character a symbol of strength for women.
Charity was a child of societies lowest class who lived amongst "mountain dwellers". She was brought down from the mountain by lawyer Royall, one of the richest men in the small town of North Dormer, who takes pity on her. Charity always knew she was different and is made very aware of the fact that she should be grateful for what she has, but she still wants more. North Dormer is a small town and coming from a small town myself, I can relate to wanting more and finding excitment outside of it's crushing surroundings.
Charity takes a job at the local library, to save enough money to move away on her own, when she meets an educated, handsome, young man from the city named Lucius Harney. Their flirtatious meetings with each other turn into a fiery, passionate love affair. Harney gives her something that she never experienced before, something new and fresh. He shows her love which she always thought of "...as something confused and furtive, and he made it as bright and open as the summer air" (128). Charity's beauty is unlike the girls of Harney's social class. Charity has a natural beauty and mystery about her because she is from the mountain and the other girls are materialistic and fake. Harney is lured in by this and Charity, for the first time, enjoys being different.
The society in North Dormer does not approve of their behavior. Charity and Harney are from different social classes and being together is unacceptable. Charity faces ridicule from the town and also from her caretaker, lawyer Royall. She rebels against what everyone thinks about her relationship and goes on with her love affair with Harney.
Charity's continued affair with Harney lands her in a situation that she can not get out of. Society tears Harney and her apart and she is forced to make a very courageous choice. She finds strength in herself to sacrifice her happiness and dreams, of a life outside of her small town, for her lover's happiness.
Wharton made a bold move to create such a controversial novel of its time. Just as Charity went against what was considered socially acceptable, so did Wharton. Summer is as passionate and alive as it's title suggest. It is a wonderful love story that shows a girl who blossoms with the seasons into a strong, sexual and diverse woman.

I thought that this book was a good story about the sexual awakening of a woman. Charity Royall has a sexual curiosity that is experimented with in this novel. I thought that Charity was a brat throughout the novel. Mr. Royall was always there to take care of her no matter what, and she knew it. This gave her an egotistic character. Even though this got annoying at times, it shaped who the character Charity Royall really is. On the back of the novel it is described as "praised for its realism...". I thought that this was a realistic book. It was easy to feel sympathetic for the characters, and the plot isn't so far off that it is unbelievable. I thought this was a fun book to read because it read easily. It had a smooth flow that took you right through to the end. This is a good book for both men and women to read. Women can relate to it, and men can have an inside view of one woman's thoughts.

The novel Summer, by Edith Wharton is an inspiring love story that is a must read. Edith Wharton very vividly depicts the life of a girl, Charity Royall, developing into a passionate and sexual woman. Wharton uses seasons to express Charity's moods and changes. She takes her readers on a journey of a woman's struggle through diversity and social barriers. These hardships are what make her character a symbol of strength for women.
Charity was a child of societies lowest class who lived amongst "mountain dwellers". She was brought down from the mountain by lawyer Royall, one of the richest men in the small town of North Dormer, who takes pity on her. Charity always knew she was different and is made very aware of the fact that she should be grateful for what she has, but she still wants more. North Dormer is a small town and coming from a small town myself, I can relate to wanting more and finding excitment outside of it's crushing surroundings.
Charity takes a job at the local library, to save enough money to move away on her own, when she meets an educated, handsome, young man from the city named Lucius Harney. Their flirtatious meetings with each other turn into a fiery, passionate love affair. Harney gives her something that she never experienced before, something new and fresh. He shows her love which she always thought of "...as something confused and furtive, and he made it as bright and open as the summer air" (128). Charity's beauty is unlike the girls of Harney's social class. Charity has a natural beauty and mystery about her because she is from the mountain and the other girls are materialistic and fake. Harney is lured in by this and Charity, for the first time, enjoys being different.
The society in North Dormer does not approve of their behavior. Charity and Harney are from different social classes and being together is unacceptable. Charity faces ridicule from the town and also from her caretaker, lawyer Royall. She rebels against what everyone thinks about her relationship and goes on with her love affair with Harney.
Charity's continued affair with Harney lands her in a situation that she can not get out of. Society tears Harney and her apart and she is forced to make a very courageous choice. She finds strength in herself to sacrifice her happiness and dreams, of a life outside of her small town, for her lover's happiness.
Wharton made a bold move to create such a controversial novel of its time. Just as Charity went against what was considered socially acceptable, so did Wharton. Summer is as passionate and alive as it's title suggest. It is a wonderful love story that shows a girl who blossoms with the seasons into a strong, sexual and diverse woman.

The novel Summer, by Edith Wharton is an inspiring love story that is a must read. Edith Wharton very vividly depicts the life of a girl, Charity Royall, developing into a passionate and sexual woman. Wharton uses seasons to express Charity's moods and changes. She takes her readers on a journey of a woman's struggle through diversity and social barriers. These hardships are what make her character a symbol of strength for women.
Charity was a child of societies lowest class who lived amongst "mountain dwellers". She was brought down from the mountain by lawyer Royall, one of the richest men in the small town of North Dormer, who takes pity on her. Charity always knew she was different and is made very aware of the fact that she should be grateful for what she has, but she still wants more. North Dormer is a small town and coming from a small town myself, I can relate to wanting more and finding excitment outside of it's crushing surroundings.
Charity takes a job at the local library, to save enough money to move away on her own, when she meets an educated, handsome, young man from the city named Lucius Harney. Their flirtatious meetings with each other turn into a fiery, passionate love affair. Harney gives her something that she never experienced before, something new and fresh. He shows her love which she always thought of "...as something confused and furtive, and he made it as bright and open as the summer air" (128). Charity's beauty is unlike the girls of Harney's social class. Charity has a natural beauty and mystery about her because she is from the mountain and the other girls are materialistic and fake. Harney is lured in by this and Charity, for the first time, enjoys being different.
The society in North Dormer does not approve of their behavior. Charity and Harney are from different social classes and being together is unacceptable. Charity faces ridicule from the town and also from her caretaker, lawyer Royall. She rebels against what everyone thinks about her relationship and goes on with her love affair with Harney.
Charity's continued affair with Harney lands her in a situation that she can not get out of. Society tears Harney and her apart and she is forced to make a very courageous choice. She finds strength in herself to sacrifice her happiness and dreams, of a life outside of her small town, for her lover's happiness.
Wharton made a bold move to create such a controversial novel of its time. Just as Charity went against what was considered socially acceptable, so did Wharton. Summer is as passionate and alive as it's title suggest. It is a wonderful love story that shows a girl who blossoms with the seasons into a strong, sexual and diverse woman.

We enjoyed this book , especially the story "The Old Maid". We are fans of Editith Wharton and this did not disappoint.

This collection of 4 novellas is not one of Edith Wharton's best or best known books; however, OLD NEW YORK is a wonderful and varied good read. The best known of these stories is probably the OLD MAID, which was made into a 1939 movie starring Bette Davis. It chronicles the complex relationsip between cousins who join together to hide the origins of an orphan. I also really enjoyed NEW YEAR'S DAY, which tells of a young adulturous woman and the ramificantions her actions have on her entire life. The story reminded me a bit of THE AGE OF INNOCENCE in its heroine's sacrificing her life for the sake of appearances. THE SPARK is also terrific, but a bit stagey. It tells of a young man's fascination with an older successful man who is seen as a bit silly by others. Unfortunately, the book jacket (included on this site also) gives away a bit too much. The other story, FALSE DAWN, I found to be too predictable, and the writing was rather stilted. FALSE DAWN is the first story in this collection; if you find yourself not enjoying this story, stick with the book...it gets better!

Overall, this collection is likely to please fans of Edith Wharton and people who enjoy American literature from the early 20th century. Wharton is an superb author of the finest caliber, and I look forward to reading more of her books.

I feel bad giving this book three stars while everyone else here raved about it, but I had a rough time getting through it. I received this book for Christmas (it was on my wish list) and thought I'd really enjoy it based on what everyone else had to say about it. But it was in fact very hard to get through, and at a few points I found myself nodding off. Not to mention it was a bit hard to follow at times. I realize each story takes place in the mid-to-late 1800's, but the language of the day is kinda difficult to understand sometimes.

I also don't think it helped that the first of the four stories in this book (False Dawn) was my least favorite. It was very predictable, and my mind kept wondering throughout the story. The other three tales weren't bad, but even the best of the four 'Old Maid' (which was made into a Betty Davis movie) was slow-going.

In the end, I just don't think this is my kinda reading. I have a few other books by this author, including 'House of Mirth', but am now a little reluctant to pick them up. I think I'll give it some time before I dig into another Edith Wharton book again. Though I wasn't overly pleased with the experience, I sure hope you have better luck with it.

Once you've read all of the "A-list" Wharton novels several times over, it's a treat to tread on new ground. This isn't the best of La Wharton, but it's still the Maitresse, and she sure knows how to string a sentence together. If you haven't read any of her major novels, go order The House of Mirth or The Age of Innocence. But if you've been around the Wharton block a couple of times, order this one for an infusion of new blood.

There is no doubt about it. Edith Warthon -- the stunning creator of amazing novels like The Age of Innocence and The House of Mirth -- had outdone herself with Old New York. The four novellas in Old New York have similar themes: infidelity, jealousy and the always intriguing class system. I love all the stories, but I particularly like "New Year's Day," which focuses on an adulterous woman. I marvel at the fact that this story had probably caused some controversy in those times. I also enjoyed "False Down" and "The Old Maid." I know that this particular book is not as popular as -- oh, I don't know -- The Age of Innocence, but the timeless quality in the stories is definitely memorable. If you haven't given this wonderful book a whirl, please do!

Is it possible to love and hate a book simultaneously? That is, after all, the resounding impression left by Edith Wharton's, THE CHILDREN, whose prose I appreciated even as the conclusion of the story left me deeply annoyed.

I have to struggle to read for pleasure anymore, so when I actually set aside a few hours for the attempt, as I did with THE CHILDREN, I rather hope it to be a good experience. And, in many respects, it was. THE CHILDREN is beautifully written, as is typically the case for Wharton (even in her sub-par endeavors, such as TWILIGHT SLEEP or GLIMPSES OF THE MOON, which I loved but didn't think was one of her best efforts). Much has been made of her talent for writing so there's no need to go on here. Suffice to say, she's brilliant. And THE CHILDREN is an excellent example of that fact, with a story that is far less renowned than THE HOUSE OF MIRTH or THE AGE OF INNOCENCE. However, the ending just killed me. I had my hopes up so ungodly high that perhaps, just perhaps, Wharton was going to give us a "happy" ending...I should have known better. I read this book on a plane flight from the American Mid West and was rapturously engrossed throughout (thank God for sleeping seatmates) but when I reached the end I just about threw the book across the plane in frustration. I know, I know, shame on me for thinking Edith Wharton would deliver a tidy conclusion (GLIMPSES OF THE MOON aside), but still, I was ever so hopeful...my mistake. At least with THE HOUSE OF MIRTH you could read "tragedy" in the subtext from the very beginning so you could be summarily braced when it arrived. But the surprising lightness to her style in THE CHILDREN left me unprepared.

Nonetheless, if you like Wharton and are familiar with her manner, then by all means, check out THE CHILDREN. It's an engaging story, truly, about a middle-aged man whose life is enriched by his capricious association with a wild, eccentric family led, in no small part, by the amazing eldest daughter, with whom he falls in love as he tries to help her to hold together her various step brothers and sisters as their parents go through yet another messy divorce.

So, by all means, give it a go...just be prepared for the Wharton Effect that comes with the conclusion.

This tale of neglected, compelling children has several themes that, given the nature of the times, added an extra layer of tension to the reading. Martin Boyne, single, lonely and not particularly talented, discovers on an ocean voyage a bunch of biological and step brothers and sisters now all under the 'protection' of a reunited couple. The Wheatleys, wealthy, self-absorbed and decadent, offer little by way of security and hope. Boyne in his early 40's, soon takes on the role of family advocate and unwittingly falls in love with the eldest girl, Judith, not yet 16.
There are deliciously unsuitable characters all trying, for all the wrong reasons to break up the struggling brood and equally as compelling nurses and nannies dedicated to their union and preservation. The cast includes a debauched Duke, a devout student of the modern psychoanalytic and freest theories for kids, a lion tamer and Hollywood actresses married to titles. The settings are European gems and the glamour oozes with emptiness.
The tale involves losses- inevitable in stories of kids and growing up and tends to drag on a bit. It is fascinating though, to wonder and wander with Wharton as she holds forth on her own beliefs about manners, modernity and the timeless dilemmas of 'bringing up babies.'
Atypical and undecided, but worthy.

I thought this book was one of Wharton's best work. Its very realistic. There is a little bit of comedey mixed in too.

This is Edith Wharton's commentary on the self-centered attitudes fostered by many of the post-WW I well-to-do, and the inability, despite good intentions, of her altruistic hero to do any good. The seven Wheater children, born of different parents, are shunted about from one parent to another, constantly living in hotels. Martin Boyne encounters them on a visit to Europe and becomes interested in their fates. He even thinks about adopting them, though Rose, his fiancee, is not thrilled by that idea. When Boyne falls head-over-heels for Judith, the oldest of the Wheater children, he breaks off his engagement. Half in love with Judith, half still wanting to "rescue" them all, he sails away, unable actually to do anything else. In a depressing ending, he comes back three years later and finds all the children have been separated and the youngest has died. He sees Judith at a dance, but hasn't the courage to speak to her.

Judith is one of Wharton's most interesting characters. Innocent, unassuming, and lacking experience, she is yet fresh and bold, and it's easy to see why Boyne falls for her. Where her satire could have been sharp, even scathing, Wharton has elected to use a more whimsical pen in portraying the Wheaters and their offspring. Her writing is crisp, though, especially the dialogue. The book was very popular when first published in 1928.

Some of Edith Wharton's better known works have been translated to the silver screen in recent years. Her lush descriptions and poignant, mannered conversations make for great screenplays. This book has those Wharton hallmarks, but it's doubtful that you'll see this story at a multiplex near you anytime soon.

The reason? I believe the Hollywood powers-that-be might find this novel hits a bit too close to home. Wharton has written many books about New York society at the turn of the century, but none so scathing as this. Her characters represent the celebrities of her age; what's fascinating is to see that things haven't changed all that much. You'll never read the latest Tom Cruise - Nicole Kidman - Russell Crowe - Meg Ryan spread in People magazine in exactly the same way again after this book.

At the same time, it has all the things that Wharton does better than anyone else - the restrained (barely) passions, the intimate moments, the inner turmoil, the beautiful settings. Nobody else finds such depths among the shallows.

If you like Edith Wharton like I do, this is a candy store of tales written in brilliant prose. The collection of stories also spans her career as a writer and the dramatic changes in society during her lifetime. I really loved this book.

Stories are outdated. I value a book if I feel I want to read it again. I will not read this again.
I enjoyed her ghost stories more, but, will not read those again.

I feel her writing was best for the age in which she lived.

This is a wonderful read consisting of four stories from four decades, told sequentially. It gives such a flavor for the times, and for the changes within the society over four decades. As always, Edith Wharton's writing is wonderfully descriptive and her characters very real. If you are new to Edith Wharton, this is a good sampler. But it will become an old friend to those who have read other books by her.

Edith Wharton isn't perhaps as well-known as Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway, or Henry James, but she was in her day an influential novelist and short story writer, producing such works as Ethan Frome, The House of Mirth, and The Age of Innocence. This collection of short stories, together for the first time, shows her progression as a writer and her regard for the city of New York, where she grew up.

Most of the stories presented here are relatively short, about 20 pages or fewer, and some are downright brief. Wharton had an interesting way of constructing characters, so that things didn't really need to happen much in order for the story to progress logically, and she had a sometimes maddening habit of letting a story just waft away, without actually seemingly finishing it. I think were she alive today, and a fan of the Sopranos, she'd have appreciated the ending a lot more than fans of the show did.

I'm not Wharton's biggest fan, but I like her better than James, for instance, and she had less of a point of view than either Hemingway or Scott Fitzgerald (at least it's less evident to me). I generally enjoyed this collection, and would recommend it to fans of Wharton, if no one else.

Periodically, it seems, Edith Wharton (1862-1937) pops up into our attention span, most recently due to the fine biography by Hermione Lee, the release of several Wharton volumes in the Library of America series, and movie versions of her novels, such as "The Age of Innocence" (with Daniel Day-Lewis) and the "House of Mirth." This compilation in the New York Review Books Classics series contains about 2/3 of her total short story output that is tied to NYC. Wharton is simply a master stylist; in fact Louis Auchincloss suggests nobody surpassed her ability to write lucid and polished prose. Very high praise indeed, given Auchincloss's own stature in American letters.

Much like Auchincloss, Wharton writes of the upper class, well-to-do New Yorkers, although her focus in the late 19th century while Auchincloss usually focuses upon the 20th century period. Remarkably, the stories, which appeared between 1891-1934, for the most part seem fresh and engaging. Much like Auchincloss, Wharton was writing about her own social class and experiences, which lends a superb sense of authenticity and authority to her stories. The reader really emerges with a sense of what characteristics this environment manifested: the mores, taboo subjects and actions (such as divorce), the role of women, the overwhelming potency of social exclusions for those who violate its folkways, and how members of this elite social grouping were expected to behave and conduct themselves privately and in social situations. For example, one should never been seen taking a hansom cab to dinner--rather, one should be seen with their own rig. Almost all of the stories enchant the reader, since they often have surprise endings, but I found the final story published in 1934, "Roman Fever," to demonstrate how gifted an author Wharton was. But there are many more.

A word should be said about the high quality of the NYRB series. Each is produced on outstanding paper, with great cover art, and clear typhography. Each has a valuable introduction; this volume is introduced with a fine essay by Roxana Robinson (who has written a biography of Georgia O'Keefe). They are a pleasure to read and hold and relatively modest in price. This results in a fine amalgamation in this volume: a beautiful paperback containing superb short stories: what a combination!

I am a grad student who bought this text to get some help with studying for a major exam. Even thought it was helpful with the "big picture", the book is lacking in the more specific details that a more seasoned scholar might need. I recommend this book for undergrads or someone who is looking to return to college, but not for more advanced scholarly research.

I used this along with Norton Anthology American Literature to pass my CLEP exam. You certainly need more then this little book for studying, but it was great to help me focus on the authors that were covered in the test.

This make a great handbook or reference book for home educators. It is written with the authors in Historical/Literary Time periods in chronological order. Each key is an introduction to the author with examples of the author's works. I highly recommend it.

Edith Wharton's writing wallows in moral struggles and societal pressures, usually about adultery and social-climbing. But she tries a different approach for the novella "Sanctuary," a story that is thought-provoking and well-written, but feels more like the outline to a full-length novel than a story in its own right.

Kate Orme is wrapped up in her idyllic engagement to Denis, when a woman claiming to be his dissolute brother's wife kills herself and her child. To Kate's shock, Denis confesses that the woman was, but to avoid having a low-class person in the family, he suppressed evidence and lied. Even worse, he feels no guilt because he considers it worth the sacrifice.

Kate breaks off the engagement, but to protect any child of Denis' from his hypocrisies, she marries him. Many years later, Denis is dead, and their young son Dick is a blossoming architect about to enter a prestigious contest. But then a friend of his dies tragically, and leaves Dick his brilliant architectural plans... to enter in the contest as his own. Now Kate must see if her careful upbringing will make Dick do the right thing, or if he will follow in his father's footsteps.

Most of Wharton's books are wrapped up in ethical dilemmas or one kind or another, but "Sanctuary" tackles a very different kind of problem. And Wharton does a good job spinning out a sense of suspense, all about a young man who could tip either way, and inspiring disgust and outrage at Denis' weak, whiny defense of his crimes.

Sadly, the second half reads like Wharton was sketching out an enlarged outline for a novel, but got bored and just published it as-is. Details are sketchy, as is the society that these people live in, and more than two decades are skipped over instantly. Little of the storyline is fleshed out except for Kate's (seemingly endless) angst, which trickles on throughout way too many of the few pages.

Kate herself isn't easy to relate to -- she marries wussy Denis for a kid that might or might not be born, and spends most of the book torturing herself over Dick's future choices. She comes across as naive at best, manic at worst. Dick himself is a far more interesting character, since he exists in the grey area that most human beings inhabit -- he's a partying, slightly slackerish guy, but essentially good at heart.

"Sanctuary" tackles the grey areas and hypocrises of many "upright" people, but the second half drizzles off into a lot of bad angst and extreme reactions. Interesting, but it feels half-written.

In Part One, Kate Orme discovers shortly before her marriage to Denis, that her fiance has covered up the fact that his dissolute brother was secretly married to a lower class woman, and had a child with her. By this deception Denis prevents the woman from inheriting her husband's estate, and is able to hold on to his own inheritance, resulting in the suicide of the woman and child. Kate is repelled by her finance's deception, but marries Denis anyway. In Part Two of the novel, many years have passed. Denis has died at a young age, leaving Kate alone to raise their son, Dick who is now an adult. When Dick is confronted with a moral dilemma in his professional life, Kate waits to see whether the father's 'moral' flaw has been passed to her son, or if her nurture of her son has been strong enough to cure it. The novel is beautifully written and exquisitely nuanced, yet the difficulty for the modern reader is how to react to the story in our own modern age of moral equivalency. A modern reader may view Kate's extreme reaction to the moral dilemma provided to her son to be overblown.

Edith Wharton was born in 1986 to an upper class family in New York City. She could trace her ancestry back three centuries, and was expected to live an aristocratic life. She was educated at home, and married Teddy Wharton in 1885, settling into her role as society marm. Her marriage ended with the discovery of Teddy's affair in 1913, and Edith set herself free to publish many books, of which the most well known is probably The Age Of Innocence. Edith Wharton was a contemporary of Teddy Roosevelt, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Henry James. The quality of her writing is just beginning to be appreciated.

Kate Orme is a young woman engaged to Denis Peyton. They are both aristocrats, and as such are expected to remain in rigid roles, with the man shielding the woman from all upsets. When Denis confesses to a despicable act to protect his family's name involving the death of a young, pregnant woman who was secretly married to his brother, Kate is shattered by the exposure of this act. She decides to marry Denis anyway to protect his future children, and sets out to become the perfect mother. She has a son, who she raises by herself after Denis' death, but this son seems to have inherited the faulty character gene of his father. When a situation arises to test the meddle of her son, Kate has her doubts as to her ability as a mother:

"As she sat there in the radius of lamp-light which, for so many evenings, had held Dick and herself in a charmed circle of tenderness, she saw that her love for her boy had come to be merely a kind of extended egotism. Love had narrowed instead of widening her, had rebuilt between herself and life the very walls which, years and years before, she had laid low with bleeding fingers. It was horrible... How she had come to sacrifice everything to the one passion of ambition for her boy..."

Wharton is, obviously, a first rate writer who has gone without accolades for far too long because of her gender. It is fitting that her works be rediscovered by a wider audience. Her insight into gender differences and difficulties is far ahead of her time...a time when women were relegated to narrow roles of motherhood because they were thought to be of inferior intellect. Aside from that, Wharton's writing is so smooth that the reader is instantly ensnared. A great read.

...

The first Edith Wharton book I read was House of Mirth, and I was hooked. I read Age of Innocence and continued with this book, The Best Short Stories of Edith Wharton. However, these short stories are not of the same caliber as House of Mirth. They don't engage the reader, and after I finished a story, I couldn't help thinking, "Was that it?"

Read House of Mirth instead; it's a very dark and cynical book.

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.

Edith Wharton won the Pulitzer in 1921, for her social romantic tragedy "Age of Innocence." What to do after a triumph like that?

Well, in Wharton's case, she went the opposite direction, with a gentle romance called "The Glimpses of the Moon." It's the cliched love-or-money storyline that's existed as long as love and money, but Wharton elevates it with some social satire and lushly sensual writing.

Nick Lansing and Susy Branch are young, attractive, clever, arty, and poor -- they are confidantes of the wealthy, but can't live like them. So Susy comes up with a scheme: they'll get married, and live for a year off the honeymoon gifts and guest houses -- and if either of them gets a better offer, they'll divorce immediately with no hard feelings.

All goes smoothly for the idyllic first months. But when staying in Venice, Nick finds that they are staying at a villa because Susy is helping the house's mistress meet up with her boytoy -- and that Susy's acid-tongued pal has just inherited a fortune. But despite their pact, Susy finds it increasingly difficult to imagine a life without Nick -- especially when he seems to be involved with a clever young archaeologist's daughter.

The story of "Glimpses of the Moon" is not the selling point of this onetime bestseller -- you can pretty much guess how it will turn out, and how many days the pact between Nick and Susy will last. In fact, it's kind of astonishing that Hollywood hasn't nabbed this one rather than the tragic "Ethan Frome" or the bittersweet "Age of Innocence."

But the beauty of "Glimpses of the Moon" is how it's presented -- Wharton's prose relaxes into a sensual feast of decayed villas, bright sunlight, rich colours and luxurious details. It slacks off as Nick and Susy's relationship deteriorates, but the first half is awash in beautiful imagery ("... a great white moth like a drifting magnolia petal"). And of course, we always have the overhanging symbolism of the moon.

And it wouldn't be a Wharton book without some social commentary -- in this case, about the idle wealthy eagerly snatching onto any trendy artist, illicit lover or amusement that will fill their empty days. And of course, the lesson that love should trump greed.

Wharton's knack for characterization doesn't hurt either -- Nick is a penniless artist hoping to keep this pact-marriage together, and Susy a social wit without many scruples, until she inadvertantly drives Nick away. The supporting characters could have a book devoted to each one as well -- the acid-tongued peer, a rather snotty young girl, and a desperate wealthy matron bouncing from one "toyboy" relationship to another.

"Glimpses of the Moon" is a simple boy-and-girl story, but with a clever social twist questioning what happens AFTER happily-ever-after. Romantic, sensual and sometimes tartly amusing.

Set in the aftermath of World War I, this study of 1920s society, with its elements of social comedy and satire, follows Nick Lansing and his wife Susy, through the highest levels of European society. Though they have the credentials to be accepted, they are financially limited, always unsure where their next funds will come from. Nick and Susy have married for love, with the understanding that if either of them finds a more financially stable suitor with a long-term future, that each is free to dissolve the marriage. They spend their honeymoon year living in the empty European homes of their more affluent friends.

When they stay in the palazzo of Ellie Vanderlyn in Venice, early in the novel, Susy receives a note from Ellie asking her to mail four letters, one each week, to Ellie's absent husband Nelson, so that he will not know she is away. Confronted with this thorny problem, which she has been sworn not to reveal to Nick, Ellie agrees, knowing no way around the problem, since she and Nick depend on Ellie's hospitality.

It reveals no plot surprises to say that Susy's deception eventually undermines her superficial but loving relationship with Nick. Wounded by Susy's lack of trust and her deceit, Nick needs to get away. The separate comings-of-age of Nick and Susy occupy the bulk of the novel as each, still sharing the extravagant lifestyles of their friends, considers whether to honor the agreement to let the other person go if someone "better" comes along.

Wharton presents their dilemmas clearly--their desire to experience the "good life," their belief that they deserve to do so, the lengths they are willing to go to make it possible, the conflicts they face between their latent ethical sense and the realities of their lives, the belated discovery that each has the potential to support himself/herself, and the growing awareness that life offers many rewards that are not financial.

Filled with trenchant observations about society and the frivolous behavior of those committed to remaining part of it, Wharton's novel draws attention to the conflict between real feelings and pretensions and between real goals and social expectations, presaging the novels of Fitzgerald. A sophisticated and elegantly written study of aristocratic society in the twenties in Europe, this is not Wharton's most thoughtful novel, but it one of her best observed. Mary Whipple