Product Description
IT is not often that youth allows itself to feel undividedly happy: the sensation is too nluch the result of selection and eliInination to be within reach of the awakening clutch on life. But Kate Orme, for once, had yielded herself to happiness, letting it penneate every faculty _as a spring rain soaks into a germinating nleado"v. - - There ,vas nothing to account for this sudden sense of beatitude; but 'was it not this precisely ,vhich made it so irresistible, so overwheln1ing? There had been, within the last two months-since her engagement to Denis Peyton-no distinct addition to the sum of her happiness, and no possibility~ she "vould have affirmed, of adding perceptibly to a total already incalculable. In, vardlyand outwardly the conditions of her [ S ]

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Customer Reviews (4)

An Unusual Story
"Sanctuary" is a novella by Edith Wharton, published in 1903.From what I have read, the plot did not cause any surprises at the time, but today the story seems rather unusual.It is a story which deals with ethics, morality, and family honor.While there is nothing particularly unusual in that, some of the choices made by the main character, Kate, seem rather drastic today, and one has a difficult time imagining that any woman today would make similar choices.The story is divided into two parts.

In the first part, we get to know Kate Orme, a woman who is engaged to Denis Payton.She is a woman who has been sheltered from the realities of the world, and comes to learn of an unpleasant situation involving Arthur, Denis' half-brother after he has passed on.Through learning about the situation and how Arthur's family handles it, Kate is upset with Denis and pushes him to do the moral thing.Arthur mother comes to talk with her, and Kate learns that it isn't just Denis who is willing to protect the family name regardless of the act.Lastly, she learns from her own father that scandal's have been covered up in her own family.After a bit of soul-searching, Kate comes to the conclusion that the most moral thing for her to do is to marry Denis so that she can try to remove the character taint which his yet to be conceived son have.This decision appears to be very unusual and it is doubtful that anyone today would reason in such a way.Kate also seems to ignore that she herself must be tainted since her own father and family also has displayed moral weakness.

Part two picks up several years later.We learn that Denis passed on when their son, Dick was young, and that he squandered most of their money.We also learn that Kate has put her own interests aside to get Dick the best education she can.Dick is starting his career and an ethical dilemma arises which has Kate worried.She is suspicious of the motives of those around Dick, and becomes worried that he is making the wrong choice.Everything seems to be pushing him towards the wrong path, and the similarities between his reaction and that of his father Denis when he was trying to hide the truth from her are readily apparent.

It will likely be difficult for many modern-day readers to understand the motivation of Kate in this story, but that is due to changes in our society, and not a flaw in the book itself.Nevertheless, I don't think this book is quite as good as Edith Wharton's previously published works and so I round this one down to three stars.It is still worth reading, especially for those who enjoy her other works, but it isn't quite as accessible.

Sacrifice and secrets
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.

Are Flaws in Morality Passed From Father to Son By Nature?
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.

So smooth that the reader is instantly ensnared
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, hadheld Dick and herself in a charmed circle of tenderness, she saw that her love forher boy had come to be merely a kind of extended egotism. Love had narrowedinstead 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.

... ... Read more

Product Description
Edith Wharton (1862 - 1937) was a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist. Bunner Sisters is a novel about the life of two women, who owned a shop called Bunner Sisters in New York, "in the days when New York's traffic moved at the pace of the drooping horse-car". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Good Wharton, but something is missing....
I am a big Edith Wharton fan.Her winter/summer "love gone wrong" companion classics "Ethan Frome" and "Summer" are two of the most emotionally engaging, well-written bursts of passion, romance, and frustration ever written."Bunner Sisters", another depressing tale of people struggling to find love in life, continues the trend of short, well written novellas, but due to an over-active plot, ultimately fails to achieve the literary heights of the two former works.
The Bunner sisters are independent spinsters who run a small store and seem content to waste away in solitude, with only each other.When the older sister decides to spend her savings on a clock for her sister's birthday, she becomes infatuated with the clock maker, and thanks to a series of events, soon finds him a regular visitor in her house.Unfortunately, he seems to have eyes for the younger sister- or at least that what she and everyone else believes- until the day he abruptly asks the older sister to marry him.
At this point, the novel was actually quite engaging and the conflicted passions of both sisters held intrigue and emotion. Unfortunately, this is the first of many more plot twists, some of which work, others of which send the tone of the book into a whole different genre.
Wharton is an excellent writer and that is evident here.She took a brilliantly simple idea, however- two sisters vying for a bachelor's love- and convoluted it to an unnecessary degree.
This book is enjoyable, but not quite the masterpieces of Wharton's other books.

Not your typical serialized magazine romance
Edith Wharton, one of my favorite writers, always amazes me with the deftness of her narrative gifts (suspense, characterization, storyline, plot, point-of-view) in achieving a subtle, powerful message.

I've always suspected that Wharton's choice of subject matter was driven by her repulsion to the overly sentimental fiction produced for the female magazine readers of her day -- serialized romances illustrating blunt moral cliches with improbably happy endings, all completely remote from the realities of life.

In this story, 2 mediocre seamstresses who literally crank out a living selling pinked flounces, buttons, sewing notions, and millinery trims find their mundane but stable routines disturbed by charming, mysterious clockmaker Herman Ramy, who awakens their romantic yearnings. In the typical romance of Wharton's day, the elder sister Ann Eliza would sacrifice her dreams for the bliss of the younger Evelina, and everyone would live happily ever after.

But Wharton skewers the cliche and delivers a razor-sharp observation of the realities of the urban working-class, complete with a scathing indictment on how society treats women over 30 years of age. This story's power lies in showing how destructive sentimental notions of womanhood are to individuals who don't realize their own strengths.

(I read the free online version of this story via the Gutenberg Project.)

Wharton writes like no other I have read!
It was the play version of Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome that pushed me to read more of her wonderful books.What has intrigued me is her writing style.She will go for pages without much happening, but you learn an awful lot in those few pages.

Edith Wharton's Bunner Sisters takes place in New York, 1916 where hard times have fallen upon two sisters who run a shabby little dressmaker's shop adjacent to their dwelling.The elder sister, Ann Eliza, and her younger sister Evelina have encountered a sickly, but educated clockmaker who sells her a clock.At first, knowledge of his personality and previous lifestyle are unknown to the sisters, but they slowly befriend the lonely man and his visits to the home are frequent thoughout the next few months.He becomes a part of their lives and his existence is with some mystery.His interest to one of the sisters moves the story in another direction and into another phase of their lives.

The writing style of Wharton is unlike others, as she uses words that not only describe a scene in an era or condition, but with descriptive phrases that depict feelings, moods, attitudes, and mystery.She has given the reader just enough information about the man to carry the story forward without revealing too much, to know something is coming up.The air of mysterious is always around as we learn about the old man, his relationship with the sisters and the confidence they have in him.You will learn the symbolic references to time, age and transition, as the clock tic tocks and winds.

This is a wonderful read on the socio-economic hard times during the era, the smaller run dressmaking industry, and mostly, the relationships between three people and the care between two sisters.Bunner Sisters is a novelette.Like any other Wharton short novel, this one is filled with mysterious interest! .....Rizzo

Unexpected and emotional
Good short novel about two spinster sisters who run a sewing shop together. The plot emphasizes how a seemingly insignificant act. like buying a birthday present, can have enormous consequences in the future.
It first startsout as a pleasant account of simple lives. However, the path the story takes becomes unexpected and emotional. Worth reading. ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Drama / General; Drama / American; Fiction / Classics; Fiction / Humorous; Fiction / Literary; Fiction / Family Life; ... Read more

Customer Reviews (39)

Good
Difficult one to assess. One of the 'literary' works, and I came into this one with an assumption of complexity and excellence in writing that was only partially born out. It's overall an effective work, however, and renders the core characterizationg effectively. Thinking back to the novel after reading it, the point that emerges clearly is how the protagonist grapples with and manipulates American class structures from personal ambition and general access to resources. It not a hugely distinguishable personality that stands memorably beyond the story, and in a way the lack of true complexity weakens the force of the book. There are certainly advantages to tying the main psychology so closely to the unfolding of events. It's elements like this that linked with engaging prose and control over time that make for a good energy to reading the work.

The strongest critique in the novel and the point where it's most compelling is it's representation of marriage in the early twentieth century class structure. The fetishes of bourgeois marriage are well presented, particularly the ritualized protestations of love and respectability that bound fundamentally mercenary structures. In exposing general social hypocrisy and framing dramatic situations that specifically embody such facets the novel succeeds, and it must have been a sensation when published in 1913. It hasn't aged entirely well, however, and in some ways suffers from the specificity of its scenario. Certainly basic issues with marriage, capitalism and aristocracy remain relevant, but the book lacks a certain force, a necessary drama that would lift this work into truly great literature.

I feel at this point that I've been somewhat too harsh, after all this book is effective both in the core mechanics of constructing the narrative as well as rendering a biting social message without resorting to cliche or preaching. It delivers a strong central character and a plot that's unique as well as relevant. Still, measured on the grounds of sheer engrossment with the process of reading or endurance for the force of the social critique I see Wharton's novel as second-tier to the best.

Edith Wharton- Continually proving how beautiful words can be
Edith Wharton uses language in such beautiful ways, and to read her prose is a literary experience to crown all others. Her similes and metaphors are genius, incredible. Her acute sense of humor is there as well, for example when she speaks of Mrs. Spragg's having more to fear now than simply the horse (the horse instructor had eyes upon her daughter). Her social commentary is sharp, and classification for this writer as an anthropologist is correct. It all comes together in one pivotal scene in which "the custom of the country" is specifically mentioned, and we recognize the relationships between men and women as they stand, and how women cannot truly be blamed for their faults in a society in which they are allowed to practice no crafts of their own. Custom's protagonist has ample faults to be sure. She is selfish and lives life only looking to acquire the next best thing, but as a reader, one surely never comes to hate her. She is an interesting character study, even if her motives are always one dimensional. One almost wonders at her lack of sympathy, and can only grieve at the wake of sorrow left in her trail. This book is beautiful and exceptional! - made me think of Henry James. Also amusing pondering the differences between Americans and our European equivalents and the differences that living in this country has instilled in us.

late mailing
Even though it was within your parameters, it took a real long time for the book to arrive

If you read one Wharton novel it should be this one.
THE CUSTOM OF THE COUNTRY is a great novel, arguably Wharton's finest, although she is better known for THE AGE OF INNOCENCE and THE HOUSE OF MIRTH. The primary character Undine Spragg is certainly one of the strongest and most significant in American literature, but this novel has many interesting, poignant, and exasperating secondary characters such as Paul Marvell, Elmer Moffatt, and Raymond de Chelles. THE CUSTOM OF THE COUNTRY is a novel about the clash of cultures, the war between and among the sexes and generations, and the dichotomy between the old and new world as represented by Europe and America. It is also an insightful and incisive examination of selfishness and insensitivity in the person of Undine, a small town girl with big ambitions, whose sense of self entitlement and voracious appetite for improving her station in life will leave a string of unfortunate victims in her wake.

THE CUSTOM OF THE COUNTRY has a riveting plot, is wonderfully written, and gives us a fascinating picture of high society both in early 20th century New York and in France, where the Nouveau riche mix and mingle to various degrees of success with established families in America and the nobility in France. Given Edith Wharton's background and experiences both in the States and abroad, every page is written with an air of authority and the resounding ring of truth. If I were asked to recommend one Wharton novel above all others, it would be this one.

Age of Not-So-Innocent
Undine Spragg is considered to be one of literature's most disturbingly evil characters. No doubt, Wharton could create the most dastardly of female villains--consider Bertha in "House of Mirth." This novel, an earlier one than "Age of Innocence" but later than "House of Mirth" is absolutely a masterpiece and I was stunned to realize I had not read this great American novel. I was pretty sure before that Edith Wharton was my favorite American author, now I'm certain. This is brilliance.

The story follows the young, spoiled, Midwestern beauty Undine from her embarrassing first moments assailing sophisticated New York society to her tainted conquests of society in France and finally New York again in the last moments of the golden age just prior to World War I (which so many authors, Thomas Mann and Colette tell us was the absolute end of a fairy-tale like era.) Wharton shows us the era on the cusp of change; motor cars are commonplace and broughams and landaus "lumbering"--telephones, elevators and subways are woven completely into New York life, heralding the 20th Century's revolutionary changes to come. Undine is as beautiful, captivating and cold as the soulless water nymph she is NOT named after--here, a delightful bit of Wharton's irony--THIS Undine is named after a patent hair product created by an enterprising grandparent.

Undine is clever in focusing on what she needs and wants, though completely uneducated and resistant to literature, arts and any science that does not immediately gratify her wishes. She is the PERFECT portrait of a "borderline personality disorder" who uses and abuses people as a means to her satisfaction, and who is constantly coveting the next, better thing that someone else has. She destroys her husband (a model for the later Newland Archer) and nearly destroys a few other people in her quest for celebrity, unbridled spending and having everything her way. The episodes in the book could come right out of "Dr. Laura"--parents fearful of their own child and giving in to their every whim, neglected and abandoned children used as pawns in divorce, lying, deception, retail therapy gone wild, serial divorce and general destruction of the institution of family values.

Undine matures only in her ability to "go slow", as Mrs. Heeny puts it, or to delay her gratification by making at least a few chess moves ahead on the board of her self-absorbed game. Her ability to blame others, never herself and to lay destruction in her path is a thread that never varies in the novel's unfolding.

The interesting thing is that Wharton, far from burning the seed corn of her bank of ideas, is astonishingly economical and uses all her characters in her novels over and over again, re-costuming them on her play stage and recycling the scenery. Undine has elements of Bertha (House of Mirth) and is the "anti-Ellen-Olenska (an exact opposite.) She has some of May Archer's stolid stupidity but surprising insight when it deals with her own survival. She has Lily Bart's heedlessness and willfulness. Elmer Moffatt, her foil and match, can be recognized in Beaufort from "Age of Innocence." It's fascinating to watch the similar characters appear in a new drama on Wharton's stage, and she is not only a master at drama but also a keen sociologist and anthropologist. We peep into French nobility, New York society and the demi-monde, all drawn with her exquisite sense of customs and mores.

If you love "Age of Innocence" and "House of Mirth" you can't help but love this novel. I'm not sure if it isn't her greatest--and it is almost on a par with Eliot's earlier "Middlemarch"--of which Virginia Woolff said was "one of the few English novels written for grown-up people.""The Custom of the Country" was not only written for grown-up people, but is as fresh and modern and as filled with the same dilemmas people face today as in 1913. ... Read more

Product Description

This collection was designed for optimal navigation on Kindle and other electronic devices. It is indexed alphabetically, chronologically and by category, making it easier to access individual books, stories and poems. This collection offers lower price, the convenience of a one-time download, and it reduces the clutter in your digital library. All books included in this collection feature a hyperlinked table of contents and footnotes. The collection is complimented by an author biography.

Customer Reviews (2)

A great read!
Works of Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence, The House of Mirth, Ethan Frome, Sanctuary, The Custom of the Country, Summer & more. Published by MobileReference (mobi)

This is a wonderful read! It gives such a flavor for the times, and for the changes within the society. Edith Wharton's writing is wonderfully descriptive and her characters very real. If you like Edith Wharton like I do, this is a candy store of tales written in brilliant prose.

An essential collection
Works of Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence, The House of Mirth, Ethan Frome, Sanctuary, The Custom of the Country, Summer & more. Published by MobileReference (mobi)

Edith Wharton spun exquisitely barbed novels out of the social clashes of the late nineteenth century. This collection brings together her best books, exploring the nature of infidelity, passion, social-climbing and a woman's place in an unfriendly world. The novels are intricate looks at society and human nature, wrapped up in beautiful writing. Definitely a must read. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

The pain of passion
You could say that "The Reef" has two themes -- that you have to risk great pain to experience great passion, and the questions of infidelity, love and class and how they clash.

It also happens to be the brilliant Edith Wharton at her most contemplative, since the entire dramatic storyline takes place in a love square at a rural French chateau. While "The Reef" is a slow-moving affair, the hauntingly poetic prose that Wharton employs -- and the painful questions it raises -- are worth immersing your brain into.

Charles Darrow has been reunited with his first love Anna, now a widow living in France. He plans to propose to her, but on the train receives a telegram telling him not to come until the thirtieth of the month. Angry and hurt (he's kind of a playboy brat), he salves his hurt feelings by escorting pretty Sophy Viner (Alicia Witt), a feisty young girl hoping to get a job on the stage, around Paris for awhile. Unsurprisingly, Sophy's vibrant personality leads to a brief affair.

A few months later, Charles and Anna have made up their differences, and their romance is back on track. But when Charles arrives at Anna's mother-in-law's chateau, he learns that her daughter's new governess is none other than Sophy. To make this whole scenario even more surreal, Charles' ex-lover is now engaged to Anna's stepson -- and both Anna and the stepson are unaware of what happened. But though Sophy and Charles try to keep their shared past a secret, the truth threatens to ruin all four of them.

Yeah, it sounds a bit like a soap opera in period dress. It's only because of Wharton's skill that, instead of a cheap tawdry story, "The Reef" becomes a languid, sun-washed study of sexual double-standards, class, and repressed emotion. The entire novel is awash in a seemingly endless sea of contemplations -- many of the characters linger for pages over their pasts, their conflicted feelings, and the secrets they hide from one another.

But it's also a study of tough relationship questions -- should infidelity be forgiven, and at what stage of a possible relationship does it become infidelity? And if someone wrongs you, can you trust them again?

It's also beautifully written -- Wharton's slow, stately prose is filled with exquisite turns of phrase and beautifully evocative images. Even the most mundane places painted with words as if on a canvas ("The sun lay pleasantly on its brown walls, on the scattered books and flowers in old porcelain vases"). Much of the narrative is wrapped up in the slowly shifting inner feelings, tiny gestures and veiled comments of the characters, so that half of the most important confrontations seem to happen in a sort of code.

Charles is a rather flawed male lead -- he's weak, flirtatious and easily upset, and seems to regard Anna postponing their meeting as being more inconsiderate than his affair with someone else. The women's roles are far more compelling, though. Anna is a strong, wealthy woman who is trying to uncork her own intense feelings so she can fully appreciate life, and Sophy is her polar opposite -- a vibrant, joyous young girl who lacks the resources to enjoy life as she wishes.

A lesser author would have crashed on "The Reef," but in Edith Wharton's hands it becomes a powerful, vaguely tragic love quadrangle. Definitely worth reading, though it slows to a crawl at times.

The pain of passion
You could say that "The Reef" has two themes -- that you have to risk great pain to experience great passion, and the questions of infidelity, love and class and how they clash.

It also happens to be the brilliant Edith Wharton at her most contemplative, since the entire dramatic storyline takes place in a love square at a rural French chateau. While "The Reef" is a slow-moving affair, the hauntingly poetic prose that Wharton employs -- and the painful questions it raises -- are worth immersing your brain into.

Charles Darrow has been reunited with his first love Anna, now a widow living in France. He plans to propose to her, but on the train receives a telegram telling him not to come until the thirtieth of the month. Angry and hurt (he's kind of a playboy brat), he salves his hurt feelings by escorting pretty Sophy Viner (Alicia Witt), a feisty young girl hoping to get a job on the stage, around Paris for awhile. Unsurprisingly, Sophy's vibrant personality leads to a brief affair.

A few months later, Charles and Anna have made up their differences, and their romance is back on track. But when Charles arrives at Anna's mother-in-law's chateau, he learns that her daughter's new governess is none other than Sophy. To make this whole scenario even more surreal, Charles' ex-lover is now engaged to Anna's stepson -- and both Anna and the stepson are unaware of what happened. But though Sophy and Charles try to keep their shared past a secret, the truth threatens to ruin all four of them.

Yeah, it sounds a bit like a soap opera in period dress. It's only because of Wharton's skill that, instead of a cheap tawdry story, "The Reef" becomes a languid, sun-washed study of sexual double-standards, class, and repressed emotion. The entire novel is awash in a seemingly endless sea of contemplations -- many of the characters linger for pages over their pasts, their conflicted feelings, and the secrets they hide from one another.

But it's also a study of tough relationship questions -- should infidelity be forgiven, and at what stage of a possible relationship does it become infidelity? And if someone wrongs you, can you trust them again?

It's also beautifully written -- Wharton's slow, stately prose is filled with exquisite turns of phrase and beautifully evocative images. Even the most mundane places painted with words as if on a canvas ("The sun lay pleasantly on its brown walls, on the scattered books and flowers in old porcelain vases"). Much of the narrative is wrapped up in the slowly shifting inner feelings, tiny gestures and veiled comments of the characters, so that half of the most important confrontations seem to happen in a sort of code.

Charles is a rather flawed male lead -- he's weak, flirtatious and easily upset, and seems to regard Anna postponing their meeting as being more inconsiderate than his affair with someone else. The women's roles are far more compelling, though. Anna is a strong, wealthy woman who is trying to uncork her own intense feelings so she can fully appreciate life, and Sophy is her polar opposite -- a vibrant, joyous young girl who lacks the resources to enjoy life as she wishes.

A lesser author would have crashed on "The Reef," but in Edith Wharton's hands it becomes a powerful, vaguely tragic love quadrangle. Definitely worth reading, though it slows to a crawl at times.

The pain of passion
You could say that "The Reef" has two themes -- that you have to risk great pain to experience great passion, and the questions of infidelity, love and class and how they clash.

It also happens to be the brilliant Edith Wharton at her most contemplative, since the entire dramatic storyline takes place in a love square at a rural French chateau. While "The Reef" is a slow-moving affair, the hauntingly poetic prose that Wharton employs -- and the painful questions it raises -- are worth immersing your brain into.

Charles Darrow has been reunited with his first love Anna, now a widow living in France. He plans to propose to her, but on the train receives a telegram telling him not to come until the thirtieth of the month. Angry and hurt (he's kind of a playboy brat), he salves his hurt feelings by escorting pretty Sophy Viner (Alicia Witt), a feisty young girl hoping to get a job on the stage, around Paris for awhile. Unsurprisingly, Sophy's vibrant personality leads to a brief affair.

A few months later, Charles and Anna have made up their differences, and their romance is back on track. But when Charles arrives at Anna's mother-in-law's chateau, he learns that her daughter's new governess is none other than Sophy.To make this whole scenario even more surreal, Charles' ex-lover is now engaged to Anna's stepson -- and both Anna and the stepson are unaware of what happened. But though Sophy and Charles try to keep their shared past a secret, the truth threatens to ruin all four of them.

Yeah, it sounds a bit like a soap opera in period dress. It's only because of Wharton's skill that, instead of a cheap tawdry story, "The Reef" becomes a languid, sun-washed study of sexual double-standards, class, and repressed emotion. The entire novel is awash in a seemingly endless sea of contemplations -- many of the characters linger for pages over their pasts, their conflicted feelings, and the secrets they hide from one another.

But it's also a study of tough relationship questions -- should infidelity be forgiven, and at what stage of a possible relationship does it become infidelity? And if someone wrongs you, can you trust them again?

It's also beautifully written -- Wharton's slow, stately prose is filled with exquisite turns of phraseand beautifully evocative images. Even the most mundane places painted with words as if on a canvas ("The sun lay pleasantly on its brown walls, on the scattered books and flowers in old porcelain vases"). Much of the narrative is wrapped up in the slowly shifting inner feelings, tiny gestures and veiled comments of the characters, so that half of the most important confrontations seem to happen in a sort of code.

Charles is a rather flawed male lead -- he's weak, flirtatious and easily upset, and seems to regard Anna postponing their meeting as being more inconsiderate than his affair with someone else. The women's roles are far more compelling, though. Anna is a strong, wealthy woman who is trying to uncork her own intense feelings so she can fully appreciate life, and Sophy is her polar opposite -- a vibrant, joyous young girl who lacks the resources to enjoy life as she wishes.

A lesser author would have crashed on "The Reef," but in Edith Wharton's hands it becomes a powerful, vaguely tragic love quadrangle. Definitely worth reading, though it slows to a crawl at times.

Miss Manners
So, this is Edith Wharton! Miss Manners, you say----like watching a bunch of stiff English folks dance the minuet in an over-stuffed drawing room. Well, yeah, but! There's this thing she does with that drill. You, know, it's the way she uses it to penetrate the deepest recesses of her character's minds, three, in particular. There's Darrow, the handsome man-of-the-world eligible bachelor. Upon first meeting, you'll wonder if there's any there there. Wharton's drill reveals all. There's also, the widow Anna, Darrow's intended. When Anna discovers that Darrow once had a dalliance with Sophy, her daughter's governess, she becomes, as the Italians say, outside of her self. Here, Wharton's drill work is akin to watching a colonoscopy on the brain. While she never really leaves her house, never raises her voice, never moves more than a few muscles of her exquisite face, what we see going on in her brain has more twists, turns, and switchbacks than the car chase scene in the French Connection. Next to Anna and Darrow, Sophy presents with quiet dignity. Yes, she has had this affair with Darrow. Yes, she is of a lower class. But, no, she is not sorry for what she did. And, she is not about to sell her soul for the bourgeoisie existence so valued by Anna and Darrow.She's the most honest of the Wharton characters, and the one most difficult to analyze. One wrong move with the Sophy character, and you could easily get pulp fiction.Instead, Miss Manners drills out a masterpiece.

wonderful book, terrific edition
This is an exquisitely written and fascinating novel, a real bridge from the Victorian style, structure, and values, to a more modern sensibility.And the Everyman's hardcover edition is beautifully designed, just the right size, even comes with a bookmark ribbon, and is priced comfortably, especially with amazon's discount.My book club chose THE REEF for this month, and I'm so glad -- had always meant to read Edith Wharton and now want to read much more of her. ... Read more

Product Description
Works of Edith Wharton with active table of contents to navigate easily.Works include:

Afterward
The Age of Innocence
Artemis to Actaeon and Other Verses
Autres Temps...
Bunner Sisters
The Choice
Coming Home
Crucial Instances
The Custom of the Country
The Descent of Man & Other Stories
The Early Short Fiction of Edith Wharton, Volume 1
The Early Short Fiction of Edith Wharton, Volume 2
Ethan Frome
Fighting France
The Fruit of the Tree
The Glimpses of the Moon
The Greater Inclination
The Hermit and the Wild Woman
The House of Mirth
In Morocco
Kerfol
The Long Run
Madame de Treymes
The Reef
Sanctuary
Summer
Tales of Men and Ghosts
The Touchstone
The Triumph of Night
The Valley of Decision
Xingu ... Read more

Product Description

One might not expect a woman of Edith Wharton's literary stature to be a believer of ghost stories, much less be frightened by them, but as she admits in her postscript to this spine-tingling collection, "...till I was twenty-seven or -eight, I could not sleep in the room with a book containing a ghost story." Once her fear was overcome, however, she took to writing tales of the supernatural for publication in the magazines of the day. These eleven finely wrought pieces showcase her mastery of the traditional New England ghost story and her fascination with spirits, hauntings, and other supernatural phenomena. Called "flawlessly eerie" by Ms. magazine, this collection includes "Pomegranate Seed," "The Eyes," "All Souls'," "The Looking Glass," and "The Triumph of Night."Amazon.com Review
"'No, I don't believe in ghosts, but I'm afraid of them,'is much more than the cheap paradox it seems to many. To 'believe,' inthat sense, is a conscious act of the intellect, and it is in the warmdarkness of the prenatal fluid far below our conscious reason that thefaculty dwells with which we apprehend ghosts." Edith Wharton,known for her keen observations of an emotionally stifling upper-classsocial world, was so afraid of ghosts that for many years she couldn'teven sleep in a room with a book containing a ghost story. As horrorscholar Jack Sullivan writes, "It is this sharply felt sensationof supernatural dread filtered through a skeptical sensibility thatmade Wharton a master of the ghost story." This collectioncontains 11 of her elegant, chilling tales, including"Afterword," "The Triumph of Night," and"Pomegranate Seed," plus Wharton's 1937 preface and anautobiographical postscript. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Exceedingly Fine and Effective Ghost Stories
I read this anthology on the heels of reading a similar anthology of horror tales by Bram Stoker.I was surprised to find that Wharton easily surpasses Stoker as a writer of gothic tales.I had expected that the author of Dracula would be better at this genre, but no.

Some of the stories, like Kerfol, compare well with the best gothic tales of Vernon Lee, using foreign aristocratic settings and historic elements quite deftly.Wharton is equally adroit with stories that use American settings, including those that are quite outside her own native culture of old New York."The Trimph of Night", for example, is set in upstate NY and deals with what happens when a man shirks his responsibility for stopping an evil man."Bewitched" is set somewhere in New England, possibly CT like Ethan Fromme because the town of Starkfield is mentioned a few times in the story, as it is also mentioned in Ethan Fromme."Bewitched" leaves much to the imagination, and after one reading it is not yet clear to me what exactly happened in this one.I know I will have to re-read it soon."The Eyes" appears to be set in New York, and I was surprised at how full of gay subtext the story was, as if the protagonist in the tale was perhaps inspired by a homosexual man that Wharton knew, but did not quite like...Henry James perhaps, though I am sure she knew others.

This little anthology made me feel sorry that Wharton never gave us a gothic novel or two.The book shows that she certainly had an imagination for the disturbing and the macabre, although perhaps not enough interest in such subject matter as to compel the writing of a novel in that vein.Expect very fine, genteel ghost stories, but don't let my descriptors fool you.The tales are frightening and effective, and I believe them to be some of the best American gothic you can find.

This book needs to come with a disclaimer!
Edith Wharton is an acknowleged giant of the fiction novel.But this particular book of hers needs to come complete with a disclaimer.I would suggest:DON'T EXPECT TO READ THE AVERAGE GHOST STORY HERE.My one negative thing to say about this book is actually a positive.I could only read one of these stories at a time because I had to think one story over before I went on to the next .My tendency is to sit down with a book and read it cover to cover with minor stops along the way for everyday life to intervene.I have been reading this book for over a week now because each story makes me stop after I have read it to have a nice long thinking session regarding what I have just read.I loved that.

My favorite story of the eleven story collection is titled, "Afterward".The title means that a person did not know if they had met the ghost at Lyng in Dorsetshire until long, long afterward.A superb rendering of a mystery which began so quietly that Mary Boyne didn't even know she was involved in it until it was too late.

Another favorite is "Kerfol" which takes place in Brittany and involves a pack of dogs and how they got where they were.Or were they there at all?

And then there is "Bewitched" a masterpiece which made me shiver while reading about the frozen New England winter even though it was 90 degrees outside my house.Wharton's descriptions of the physical appearances of all those involved in this wonderfully frightening tale is straight from the Grant Wood painting American Gothic, except with all the wintery background painted in by Edith Wharton.

Very highly recommended.These are not the modern man's ghost stories even though they were published in 1973.Some have no resolution, youhave to decide for yourself how you think the situation ended.Some may not seem like ghost stories at all until you think about them afterward.Some are like those odd occurrances which make you wonder if you really got all your information straight and if you might, just might, be imagining things.A bonus for me were the black and whitedrawings which accompanied each story.The writing is wonderful but I had expected that from Edith Wharton.What I had not expected was to be so totally engrossed.

A Great Collection of Scary Stories, and a Great Cover
Don't Miss "Afterward," a Great Ghost Story, June 15, 2007

Note: I made some Mormon reader angry over my negative reviews of books written by Mormons out to prove the Book of Mormon, and that person has been slamming my reviews as almost soon as they are posted. Oh, well.

Your "helpful" votes are appreciated. Thanks, and note that a short review is not necessarily a bad review if it leads you to some great stories.

I read "Afterward," a 40-page story, many years ago, and I wrote "Good!" by it in the table of contents.

Another great story of the supernatural is the "Willows," by Algernon Blackwood (not in this collection, of course). Both of these stories are highly recommended, but I won't ruin the stories by saying much about them. They are "short stories," after all.

Check out my other longer reviews. Your comments--positive or negative--are appreciated. Read the "Willows" wherever you can find it. Thanks.

A timeless treasure of tales
The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton. Highly recommended.

I was unaware that Edith Wharton, known for such insightful novels as The Age of Innocence, The House of Mirth, and Ethan Frome (as well as the popular movies these novels inspired), had indulged in writing ghost stories other than "Afterward" until I found this collection. In Ghost Stories, Wharton reveals her mastery of the psychology of horror-where ghosts terrify through their oblique influence on the human mind and emotion-and where these human foibles create their own horrors.

Wharton's ghosts take many forms-from the loyal retainer in "The Lady's Maid's Bell" to the loyal retainers of a different sort in "Kerfol"; from the guilt behind "The Eyes" to the guilt recognised "Afterward"; from the mysterious "Mr. Jones" to the ghostly and ghastly "Miss Mary Pask." Some of these visitations are not seen, or, in the case of "Kerfol," even heard. They fulfill various functions: To protect the secrets of the past, to bring the secrets of the past to light, to warn the present about the future, and to remind the living of the dead.

Like the best ghost story writers, Wharton begins each tale with a scenario that seems ordinary enough. Early on, she drops subtle clues that build from a feeling that something is somewhat amiss up to a sense of fractured reality that shatters one's assumptions. Wharton masterfully creates ironic twists ("Miss Mary Pask"), innocent victims (the wife in "Afterward"), and nontraditional ghosts ("The Eyes," "Kerfol"). In many cases, the reader is one step ahead of the narrator or protagonist (Hitchcock's definition of suspense), creating a delicious sense of inevitable, unavoidable doom.

If you are looking for the gore and thrills of today's tale of horror, you will not find them in Wharton's work. If, on the other hand, you appreciate the subtle, growing sense of terror that M. R. James insinuates into The Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, you'll discover the same feeling of the fine line between this world and another that can manifest itself at any time and in any way when the need arises. These are stories to be read, savored, and read again-alone, of course.

Diane L. Schirf, 28 December 2003.

Not your average ghost stories
When I saw this collection in the book store, I was intrigued because, although I'm not a fan of Edith Wharton's, I do admire her skills as a writer. The stories themselves are good, well plotted, have good characterizations, are compelling, etc.; however, they aren't typical ghost stories. Some of them don't even involve ghosts, and still others offer little explination to the nature of the ghost, i.e. why they are still around. While they are creepy at times, they didn't really scare me. Some might argue that I, as a 24 year-old young woman, exposed to countless graphic horror films, such as the Scream series, might simply be desensitized to the subtleness of Wharton's stories (as some of the other reviewers have described them), but I'd have to disagree because I scare very easily - the Harry Potter books gave me a fright, so you can just imagine. So if you are looking for a good scare, I'd look elsewhere. But if you're looking for good stories and/or you're an Edith Wharton fan, then I recommend this book. ... Read more

Product Description
The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton's most famous novel, is a love story, written immediately after the end of the First World War.Its brilliant anatomization of the snobbery and hypocrisy of the wealthy elite of New York society in the 1870s made it an instant classic, and it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1921. Newland Archer, Wharton's protagonist, charming, tactful, enlightened, is a thorough product of this society; he accepts its standards and abides by its rules but he also recognizes its limitations. His engagement to the impeccable May Welland assures him of a safe and conventional future, until the arrival of May's cousin Ellen Olenska. Independent, free-thinking, scandalously separated from her husband, Ellen forces Archer to question the values and assumptions of his narrow world. As their love for each other grows, Archer has to decide where his ultimate loyalty lies.
Stephen Orgel's introduction and notes set the novel in the context of the period and discusses Wharton's skilfull weaving of characters and plot, her anthropological exactitude, and the novel's autobiographical overtones.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Edith Wharton
I could not relate to this book at all.Just too "innocent" for me.

Whose innocence?
Comedy or tragedy? Trust Edith Wharton to write a single book that is both! A feast of sensual writing or a play of subtle psychological nuances? Again, trust Wharton to craft a novel that is simultaneously both.

Age of Innocence is a masterpiece of writing, by an author whose deceptively simple descriptive writing style speaks on many levels at once.

The plot is straightforward: Newland Archer is a young man living in New York "Society" of the 1870s. He is happily engaged to marry May, a beautiful young woman chosen for him by his family. Shortly after their engagement is announced, he meets May's more exotic and openly seductive older cousin Ellen. He becomes completely captivated by Ellen, and spends the rest of his life believing it would have been better had he married Ellen instead.

The story unfolds through Newland's eyes. In Newland's eyes, he is unconventional, Ellen is sophisticated, and May is shallow, conventional, and boring.Yet - and here is Wharton's genius -- while narrating the world through Newland's eyes, Wharton manages to convey that Newland is the shallow, conventional one. Newland believes that wives are dull and fettered; unavailable women are mysterious and exciting. His own awkward behaviors become confirmation for his stereotypical beliefs. To the reader, who is treated to deeper glimpses of May's character, Newland's emotional immaturity is comical; but for Newland himself, it is tragic.

Wharton shows us two sides of social convention within a small upper-class community: on the one hand, it can painfully narrow a person's vision, as it does for Newland; on the other hand, it can create deep bonds of family connection, as it does for May. Wharton leaves it up to the reader to decide which is the truer picture.

A Rich World
An engrossing world depicted so masterly I can still see the paintings on the walls, the flowers on the piano and feel the thick carpet under my feet as I enter the Wellands' drawing room. Or, I can feel the bohemian untidiness and comfort of Countess Olenska's sitting quarters. More than that, one can hear hearts beating wildly and breath sucked in in an emotional startle. Edith Wharton is a master artist and the Age of Innocence is deep and thought provoking for what it evokes about the ravages of time, the restraints of duty and the incomprehensible logic of the human heart. It is also a perfect window into the class and culture of New York's elite at the turn of the century.

one of the greatest books ever written
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

This is an interesting and a compelling read. The novel is very well written.

Love, Loneliness and the Strictures of Society.
Imagine living in a world where life is governed by intricate rituals; a world "balanced so precariously that its harmony [can] be shattered by a whisper" (Wharton); a world ruled by self-declared experts on form, propriety and family history - read: scandal -; where everything is labeled and yet, people are not; where in order not to disturb society's smooth surface nothing is ever expressed or even thought of directly, and where communication occurs almost exclusively by way of symbols, which are unknown to the outsider and, like any secret code, by their very encryption guarantee his or her permanent exclusion.

Such, in faithful imitation of Victorian England, was the society of late 19th century upper class New York. Into this society returns, after having grown up and lived all her adult life in Europe, American-born Countess Ellen Olenska, after leaving a cruel and uncaring husband. She already causes scandal by the mere manner of her return; but not knowing the secret rituals of the society she has entered, she quickly brings herself further into disrepute by receiving an unmarried man, by being seen in the company of a man only tolerated by virtue of his financial success and his marriage to the daughter of one of this society's most respected families, by arriving late to a dinner in which she has expressly been included to rectify a prior general snub, by leaving a drawing room conversation to instead join a gentleman sitting by himself - and worst of all, by openly contemplating divorce, which will most certainly open up a whole Pandora's box of "oddities" and "unpleasantness:" the strongest terms ever used to express moral disapproval in this particular social context. Soon Ellen, who hasn't seen such façades even in her husband's household, finds herself isolated and, wondering whether noone is ever interested in the truth, complains bitterly that "[t]he real loneliness here is living among all these kind people who only ask you to pretend."

Ellen finds a kindred soul in attorney Newland Archer, her cousin May Welland's fiancé, who secretly toys with a more liberal stance, while outwardly endorsing the value system of the society he lives in. Newland and Ellen fall in love - although not before he has advised her, on his employer's and May and Ellen's family's mandate, not to pursue her plans of divorce. As a result, Ellen becomes unreachable to him, and he flees into accelerating his wedding plans with May, who before he met Ellen in his eyes stood for everything that was good and noble about their society, whereas now he begins to see her as a shell whose interior he is reluctant to explore for fear of finding merely a kind of serene emptiness there; a woman whose seemingly dull, passive innocence grinds down every bit of roughness he wants to maintain about himself and who, as he realizes even before marrying her, will likely bury him alive under his own future. Then his passion for Ellen is rekindled by a meeting a year and a half after his wedding, and an emotional conflict they could hardly bear when he was not yet married escalates even further. And only when it is too late for all three of them he finds out that his wife had far more insight (and almost ruthless cleverness) than he had ever credited her with.

Winner of the 1921 Pulitzer Prize and the first work of fiction written by a woman to be awarded that distinction, "The Age of Innocence" is one of Edith Wharton's most enduringly popular novels; the crown jewel among her subtly satirical descriptions of New York upper class society. By far not as overtly condemning and cynical as the earlier "House of Mirth" (for which Wharton reportedly even saw this later work as a sort of apology), "The Age of Innocence" is a masterpiece of characterization and social study alike: an intricate canvas painted by a master storyteller who knew the society which she described inside out, and who, even though she had moved to France (where she would continue living for the rest of her life) almost a decade earlier, was able to delineate late 19th century New York society's every nuance in pitch-perfect detail, while at the same time - seemingly without any effort at all - also blending together all these minute details into an impeccably composed ensemble that will stay with the reader long after he has turned the last page.

Also recommended:
Wharton: Four Novels (Library of America College Editions)
Edith Wharton:Vol 1. Collected Stories:1891-1910 (Library of America)
Edith Wharton: Vol.2 Collected Stories 1911-1937 (Library of America)
Henry James : Novels 1881-1886: Washington Square, The Portrait of a Lady, The Bostonians (Library of America)
Henry James: Novels 1901-1902: The Sacred Fount / The Wings of the Dove (Library of America)
Ethan Frome
The House of Mirth
Washington Square
The Portrait of a Lady
The Wings of the Dove ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: New York (N.Y.); Fiction / Classics; Fiction / Historical; Fiction / Literary; Fiction / Short Stories; Literary Criticism / American / General; Travel / United States / Northeast / Middle Atlantic; ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Her Third Collection
"The Descent of Man and Other Stories" is the third collection of short fiction from Edith Wharton and was published on April 30th of 1904.Oddly enough there are two versions of the collection which were published the same year.The Macmillan edition included 10 stories while the Scribner's edition only had 9 stories as it did not include "The Letter".The stories were also in a different order in the two editions.For purposes of this review, I am listing the stories in the order they were in the Macmillan edition.

"The Descent of Man" - Published originally in "Scribner's Magazine" in March of 1904.Professor Linyard is a man of science who writes a book where he pretends to take the side of religion, expecting it to be understood as a satire of popular scientific books.When it is taken as serious, he goes along with it in order to provide better for his family, thus selling his principles time and time again.

"The Other Two" - Published originally in "Collier's Weekly" on February 13th of 1904.Mr. Waythorn has married Alice Haskett, who was married twice before and has a child, Lily, by her first marriage.When his business brings her second husband into their lives, and her first husband continues to be part of his daughter Lily's life, he initially becomes upset at the situation.However, he eventually realizes the position she is in and comes to accept the situation.

"Expiation" - Published originally in "Hearst's International-Cosmopolitan" in December of 1903.Mrs. Fetherel is a new author who manages to get her book published.She is also the niece of the Bishop of Ossining, whose own literary efforts have not sold well, thus preventing him from paying for needed fixing of the chantry window.When her book "Fast and Loose" is considered "harmless" by the critics, she gets her uncle to denounce it, thus improving the sales, and the chantry window is able to be constructed, thanks to a generous donation, by a woman who chooses to remain anonymous.

"The Lady's Maid's Bell" - Published originally in "Scribner's Magazine" in November of 1902.A ghost story, where Miss Hartley becomes the lady's maid to Mrs. Brympton, a woman who is a near-invalid.A previous maid, had died, and Miss Hartley sees and hear things which have driven those who have taken the job between out of the house within six months of accepting the position.

"The Mission of Jane" - Published originally in "Harper's Monthly" in December of 1902.Lethbury consents to adopting a child when his wife Alice insists.Their marriage was not going well, and Lethbury feels that Jane will keep his wife happy.Initially he is kept out of Jane's life, but as she grows up he is forced to participate more and be a part of both Jane and Alice's life.

"The Reckoning" - Published originally in "Harper's Magazine" in August of 1902.Clement Westall and his wife Julia have agreed on a different kind of marriage.Julia had been married before, and was allowed to walk away when she decided to.Thus, she wanted for both her and Clement to have the same ability.She is surprised when Clement exercises that option, forcing her to reflect back on what she had done to her first husband, John Arment.

"The Letter" - First published in "Harper's Magazine" in April of 1904.When Colonel Alington dies, the narrator reflects back on the one story he told that said the most about who he was, and the bravery of one woman and the sacrifice she was willing to make for Italy.This is my favourite story in this collection, one in which Edith Wharton very artfully mixes history, character, and story.

"The Dilettante" - Published originally in "Harper's Monthly" in December of 1903.After seeing Miss Ruth Gaynor off at the train station, Thursdale pays a call on Mrs. Vervain to discuss his previous visit which he and Miss Gaynor had paid to Mrs. Vervain.Mrs. Vervain tells him a story about how Miss Gaynor doesn't like the friendship between Thursdale and Mrs. Vervain.

"The Quicksand" - Published originally in "Harper's Magazine" in June of 1902.Mrs. Quentin is upset when her son Alan is rejected by Hope Fenno because of his owning a newspaper which is ruthless in its reporting.He asks her to go see Miss Fenno, but when she does so, she recognizes a bit of herself and remembers the sacrifice she had to make when she married as well as the kind of person her son is.

"A Venetian Night's Entertainment" - First published in "Scribner's Magazine" in December of 1903.An amusing story about Tony Bracknell and his first time in Venice as a sailor on a merchant ship.

This is a very nice collection of stories, with a good amount of diversity in the subject matter and styles.Edith Wharton once again shows that she can write short fiction very well, and that she can use all aspects to create an engaging story which keeps the reader's interest.Not quite as good as the collection "Crucial Instances" in my opinion, but worthwhile nonetheless.
... Read more

Product Description
At twenty-nine, Lily Bart dazzles at New York balls and soirees, but she knows that her days as a fascinating beauty are numbered, as she has not yet found a husband. But when she is accused of an affair with a wealthy married man, Lily is set to lose her life of luxury, her stability, and any hopes for the future. Books that save lives come in one colour Choose ("Penguin Classics") Red, "Save Lives Penguin Classics" has partnered with (Product) Red to bring you our selection of some of the best books ever written. We will be contributing 50 per cent of the profits from the sale of ("Penguin Classics") Red editions to the Global Fund to help eliminate AIDS in Africa. Now great books can help save lives.Amazon.com Review
"The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth," warns Ecclesiastes 7:4, and so does the novel by Edith Wharton that takes its title from this call to heed. New York at the turn of the century was a time of opulence and frivolity for those who could afford it. But for those who couldn't and yet wanted desperately to keep up with the whirlwind, like Wharton's charming Lily Bart, it was something else altogether: a gilded cage rather than the Gilded Age.

One of Wharton's earliest descriptions of her heroine, in the library ofher bachelor friend and sometime suitor Lawrence Selden, indicates that sheappears "as though she were a captured dryad subdued to the conventions of the drawing room." Indeed, herein lies Lily's problem. She has, we'retold, "been brought up to be ornamental," and yet her spirit is larger thanwhat this ancillary role requires. By today's standards she would benothing more than a mild rebel, but in the era into which Wharton drops her unmercifully, this tiny spark of character, combined with numerous assaults by vicious society women and bad luck, ultimately renders Lily persona non grata. Her own ambivalence about her position serves to open the door to disaster: several times she is on the verge of "good" marriage and squanders it at the last moment, unwilling to play by the rules of a society that produces, as she calls them, "poor, miserable, marriageable girls.

Lily's rather violent tumble down the social ladder provides a thumbnail sketch of the general injustices of the upper classes (which, incidentally, Wharton never quite manages to condemn entirely, clearly believing that such life is cruel but without alternative). From her start as a beautiful woman at the height of her powers to her sad finale as a recently fired milliner's assistant addicted to sleeping drugs, Lily Bart is heroic, not least for her final admission of her own role in her downfall. "Once--twice--you gave me the chance to escape from my life and I refused it: refused it because I was a coward," she tells Selden as the book draws to a close. All manner of hideous socialite beasts--some of whose treatment by Wharton,such as the token social-climbing Jew, Simon Rosedale, date the bookunfortunately--wanderthrough the novel while Lily plummets. As her tale winds down to nothing more than the remnants of social grace and cold hard cash, it'shard not to agree with Lily's own assessment of herself: "I have triedhard--but life is difficult, and I am a very useless person. I can hardlybe said to have an independent existence. I was just a screw or a cog in the great machine I called life, and when I dropped out of it I found I was of no use anywhere else." Nevertheless,it's even harder not to believe that she deserved better, which is whyThe House of Mirth remains so timely and so vital in spite of its crushing end and its unflattering portrait of what life offers up. --Melanie Rehak ... Read more

Customer Reviews (131)

Great description of victorian society!
One of Wharton's greatest gifts is making her characters seem so alive, and of getting the reader involved with their thoughts and feelings.She is great at describing the psychological processes of her heroine, Lilly Bart, who is compelling as a woman trying to find her way in a society that she both covets and finds superficial.Reading the novel, I could feel what Lilly was feeling, and her thought process made perfect sense from my perspective, I was so involved in her story that I could not put the book down.The narrative is flawless from beginning to end, Wharton having the gift of being romantic without being sentimental (a very hard task for woman writers) and she delivers a wonderful story.The ending made me cry, and I appreciate its realism and it caught me by surprise, Wharton is definitely one to cater to romantic whims or the idealistic desires of her readers.

A literary masterpiece
I just sort of stumbled upon this book recently: the price was right -- $3.00 from Dover! I was not expecting much, although I like Wharton. The subject matter seemed unpromising: the hedonistic rich and their hangers-on. But the quality of the writing kept me going, and the character of Lily Bart was intriguing. By the time I was finished, I was moved enough to do something I rarely do: start over at the beginning. This time the book opened up for me with increasing pleasure and, indeed, awe. How a mere mortal is able to write with such authority about so many facets of life, fabricate a hugely complex social tapestry while all the while keeping the story moving, and create a flawed but achingly noble and sympathetic character out of mere words on a page - is beyond me. So I just indulged. Here is the case study par excellence of inexorable fate determined by upbringing, character, and circumstances. Lily Bart is perhaps the most exquisitely drawn character in all of literature, and her memory will stay with me forever.

(By the way, Wharton's more well-known book, The Age of Innocence, cannot hold a candle to this one, in my opinion.)

There is, however, one fly in the ointment ... and one that is found frequently in great literature, alas. The book is blatantly anti-Semitic. One of the main characters is Simon Rosedale, who is slimy like so many others in Lily's circle but who has the distinction of being described several times as representative of his "race." For example:

"He had his race's accuracy in the appraisal of values, and to be seen walking down the platform at the crowded afternoon hour in the company of Miss Lily Bart would have been money in his pocket, as he might himself have phrased it." (bk 1, ch. 2)

"Rosedale, with that mixture of artistic sensibility and business astuteness which characterizes his race ..." (bk 1, ch. 2)

"He knew he should have to go slowly, and the instincts of his race fitted him to suffer rebuffs and put up with delays." (bk 1, ch 11)

The book in fact adopts an exceedingly conflicted view of this fellow. For Wharton attributes some very touching qualities to this man, such that he turns out to be one of the few sympathetic figures in the book. On the other hand, there is the definite suggestion that Rosedale represents the utter depths to which Lily may have to descend in order to maintain the style of life she seems to require. That would be fine (plot-wise) if Rosedale were portrayed simply as an individual or even as a type. But ... as typical of his race? Hmm. Rosedale emits some quality that causes almost visceral disgust in Lily (and her set), even when she can recognize his kindly features; yet that quality is simply to be understood rather than defined, probably because it is little more than the subjective projection of society's prejudice.

Very Moving
I cannot comment on this particular edition, but felt compelled to review the novel anyway, in the hope that others will read it.

I didn't think I would feel sympathy for Lily, but I don't think I've ever wanted to help a character in any novel as much as I wanted to save Lily. I didn't exactly fall in love with her; frankly she is not my cup of tea. But I desperately wanted to see her happy.

For days I was affected by the end. I was very, very moved.

That said, I do not accept Edith Wharton's sense of determinism; nor do I accept the basic plot, with its scarcity of men. Lily is the most beautiful woman in New York and there are only two or three obnoxious men she can choose from? I found that hard to swallow. I also found it difficult to accept that (even for an unaccomplished woman) it was either a life of frivolity with the rich set, or a life of impoverished loneliness. Even in 1905 there were more alternatives. Lily, for example, could have learned her lesson that the rich were leading shallow lives, and still have found happiness on a lower social scale with a hard working doctor, or a military officer, etc. She also could have left New York and struck out West.

I love the writing of Edith Wharton. And I've read most of her works. But I don't buy the determinism; and I think it was a little strained in this novel.

But Lily is unforgettable.

Protagonist, Blame Thyself
High American society, New York, turn of the 19th century: Lily Bart, an associate of the well-heeled who often attends their social functions, has no fortune of her own. What to do? Marry into money. This should be easy enough for Lily as she's found to be beautiful by many of the men who orbit about her, but she seems to have no interest in them. She longs for the trappings of aristocratic life but is unwilling to accept the sacrifices attendant to marrying simply for position. Letting one too many opportunities slip by, and being embroiled in a couple of social faux pases along the way, she eventually finds that she's been dumped by polite society, facing penury in a boarding house.

House of Mirth is of course beautifully written, though the plot moves quite slowly with few truly dramatic punctuations. Lily is a largely unsympathetic character whose motives are not easy to understand and whose actions are often frustrating. Indeed, many of the misfortunes that befall her seem to be of her own making.

Great Book!
I received the book on time and it was exactly what I ordered!It is a good novel to read and I highly recommend it! ... Read more

Product Description

The four short novels in this collection by the author of The Age of Innocence are set in the New York of the 1840s, '50s, '60s, and '70s, each one revealing the tribal codes and customs that ruled society, portrayed with the keen style that is uniquely Edith Wharton's. Originally published in 1924 and long out of print, these tales are vintage Wharton, dealing boldly with such themes as infidelity, illegitimacy, jealousy, the class system, and the condition of women in society. Included in this remarkable quartet are False Dawn, which concerns the stormy relationship between a domineering father and his son; The Old Maid, the best known of the four, in which a young woman's secret illegitimate child is adopted by her best friend -- with devastating results; The Spark, about a young man's moral rehabilitation, which is "sparked" by a chance encounter with Walt Whitman; and New Year's Day, an O. Henryesque tale of a married woman suspected of adultery. Old New York is Wharton at her finest. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Book addict
I love the quality of the item. Thank you. I will purchase from you again.

An uneven collection
Wharton rarely disappoints. This is another anthology of novellas dedicated to the themes familiar to all Wharton readers - stifling constraints of Gilded Age New York society, utter dependence of women, etc.

The collection contains 4 stories, each set in a different decade of the 19th century. "False Dawn" deals with the consequences of being different, even in a trite matter of preference in art. "The Old Maid" is an interesting account of an aftermath of an illicit affair where two women are drawn into a very complex relationship raising an illegitimate child. "The Spark" explores (I think) an influence of a chance meeting on a man's character. "New Year's Day" is a story of a woman engaged in adultery whose reasons for being unfaithful are not quite what you expect them to be.

Unlike another anthology I recently read ("Roman Fever and Other Stories") this book is very uneven. "The Old Maid" and "New Year's Day" are the best, "False Dawn" a little underwhelming, but still good, and "Spark" is a definite disappointment (too unresolved and muddled). But nevertheless, Wharton, as always, delivers.

Master Story Teller
Old New York is a series of short stories set in the late 1800's in New York.The characters are society families and most are very wealthy.The Vanderbilts and Astors were members of this group and the book details their lives, homes, formal balls, etc.Mrs. Wharton and her family were members of this elite group.The stories are fascinating since they depict a long ago glamorous life.

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

Attention Wharton-alholics
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. ... Read more

Product Description
"Summer" by Edith Wharton was published in 1917. The novel details sexual discovery ofthe protagonist, Charity. The novel experienced a surge in popularity after the author'sdeath, in the 1960s. Wharton's important work is now available in this new edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (36)

A hot passionate sweaty summer
What Edith Wharton did for winter in her cold, depressed, repressed love story "Ethan Frome", she does for summer in this hot, sweaty, passionate love story of the same name.
Charity Royall is a girl from the Mountain, an isolated group of people living in poverty on the edges of society, who is rescued and raised by Mr. Royall, a lawyer living in a near-by town.Her life is pretty good for a while- she's bored and restless as any small town teenager would be, but she's dealing with it- until her drunken caretaker corners her in her room one night and proposes marriage.This act, coupled with Charity's new found infatuation with a visiting out-of-towner, pushes Charity to take chances and sow her wild oats.Needless to say, this causes a number of problems, including escalating tension with Mr. Royall, and the shameful secret she hides concerning her birth history and her estranged kin.
Set in summer, with every page dripping the sweat and sultriness of the season, this book powerfully captures the heated passions of both Charity and those around her, from the obsessed older man who has turned from father to wanna-be husband, to the smooth out-of-towner who may or may not be using Charity for the good time she is offering.The characters seem to live inside a covered pot of boiling water, the steam slowly building until the lid threatens to blow.Wharton expertly captures the passions, obsessions, and frustrations of these characters, and creates memorable characters that transcend the borderline cliche backgrounds that Wharton has given them.
While ultimately "Summer" is not the boiled down masterpiece that "Ethan Frome" is- mainly thanks to a drawn out ending that seems to ramble slightly- it is still a must read, and serves as an excellent counterpart to the aforementioned classic.

Edith Wharton's "hot Ethan Frome"
As in Ethan Frome, the protagonist--in this case, a young woman--is naive, uneducated, unsophisticated and can easily be taken advantage of. A visiting architectural researcher is attracted to her, and they embark on a sweet romance.He neglects to tell her that he is already engaged to another woman in town and when the implications of this catch up with him, he becomes dubious about what action he should take and goes away "for awhile."She, having learned the truth, urges him to keep his word and marry his fiancee although she finds she is pregnant.The book is lovely in its earlier parts but ends sadly, and for some it may be a downer.I thought it was very poignant.

Beautiful and shocking
I'm on the side of those reviewers who think this is one of Wharton's best. That it's a short novel does not diminish its skillfulness or impact. In fact, its concision is its great strength, and I think Wharton, who was a diligent editor of her own works, recognized that.

Other reviewers have revealed most of the story, which is unfortunate because its plot twists are best appreciated by first-time readers unaware of where the story goes and how it is resolved. (The first time I read it, I actually gasped aloud at several points.) I'd rather say something about its language and tone.

Nobody but nobody writes sentences with the clarity and precision of Edith Wharton. There are passages in "Summer" to die for. Her descriptions of the New England countryside ripening into summer alongside her evocations of young Charity's blossoming sexuality are beautifully written. Maybe this juxtaposition is a little obvious or even corny but it totally worked for me. Wharton's prose has always had an almost sensuous rhythm to it and it's never been put to better use than in this story of sexual awakening and first love.

The radical shift of tone in "Summer" is also remarkable. There is a slight sense of foreboding from the beginning but for the most part you feel drawn in to the sweet romance of this lonely and impressionable girl. Then, BOOM, reality sets in, and a heart-tugging idyll turns into a horror story. The scenes toward the end, especially the trip up and down the mountain, are nothing short of gothic horror. I disagree with reviewers who suggest that Charity makes her own choice in the end. She may concede to old Royall but she is utterly defeated and clearly has no choice in the matter. Wharton had a pretty jaded view of the options women faced, and "Summer" is consistent with the bleak vision she first articulated in "The House of Mirth."

"Summer" is beautiful, shocking, and very, very sad.

There are several editions of "Summer." Purchase the Penguin edition with the Intro by Elizabeth Ammons. It's only a few bucks more and will give you added perspective on the book and Wharton.

Desperation, Then Despair
Tame by today's standards, "Summer," Edith Wharton's most sexually explicit novel, probably shocked more than a few readers when it was first published almost 100 years ago.That it is also one of only two novels Wharton placed in a rural setting makes "Summer" even more unique among her novels.

Charity Royall is bored with her little North Dormer community and only works as the town librarian so she can save enough money to escape the life she endures there.She cares little for books and is perfectly willing to allow them to self-destruct on the shelves while she daydreams about a more exciting existence.But, as it turns out, her fate will be forever linked to the little library.

Lucius Harney, a young architect, has come to North Dormer to visit his aunt and to study and sketch some of the old homes in the area.When he wanders into the library one day in search of a book about the old houses, Charity is smitten with him and unknowingly sets the course that will alter the rest of her life.It is the start of a relationship that, even though it begins innocently, is best kept from the prying eyes of the town gossips.Charity knows that her guardian, Lawyer Royall, the man who did a better job of raising her before his wife died than after, would never approve the match - and that there are those in town who would relish the opportunity to tell him about it.

Secrecy, though, requires privacy, and privacy often leads to a degree of intimacy that results in tragic consequences for the unwed.Only after Harney returns to his life in New York, does Charity realize that she is pregnant - and on her own.As Wharton makes clear, a woman of this period facing Charity's dilemma had few options: illegal abortion, being sent away to have the baby in secrecy, running away in shame, or perhaps the unlikely luck of finding a sympathetic man willing to marry her.

Charity moves from desperation to despair when she realizes how limited her choices have become and that the life she was already unhappy with has been forever changed, and that change being for the worse.As she moves from one poor decision to the next, at times risking her very life, one is reminded of how greatly American mores and values have changed in the last five decades.

"Summer," even though it was governed by the stricter limits of its time on language and theme, is a memorable portrayal of what it was like for a woman to be "in trouble" during the first half of the 20th century.That it still can have a strong impact on the reader today leaves one wondering why it was not more of a sensation when first published.Edith Wharton fans should not overlook this fine novel.

Great descriptions but horrible read!
I was on a book kick, and while looking for something appealing to read, I saw "summer" by Edith Wharton looking like something interesting to read. Well it was not! I did't like "Ethan Frome" but I thought of giving Wharton another chance but now I know I won't be reading her work anymore. The descriptions of new england are fascinating, lovely and wonderful. The descriptions of ribbons, fourth of july events, fireworks, and wonderful dresses is just awesome. The story, about Charity Royall who works in a library, lives with an old man whose her guardian and wants to marry her, falling in love with lucius harney, man about town, was horrible! sure, it glides you through, romanticizing you but the end leaves you with a thud!

do not read this book! ... Read more

Product Description
The Early Short Fiction of Edith Wharton - Part 1 is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Edith Wharton is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Edith Wharton then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Product Description
The Early Short Fiction of Edith Wharton - Part 2 is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Edith Wharton is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Edith Wharton then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Product Description
Having begun my book with the statement that Morocco still lacks a guide-bookI should have wished to take a first step toward remedying that deficiency. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

It's been along while since
It's been along while since I read this book but after the negative review, I must read again.
I remember her descriptions of Morocco and the people being quite fascinating but I don't remember them being racist......maybe, this world of Moroc was so far from the culture she was accustomed. Maybe this book encouraged people to visit and find out for themselves. I loved Morocco and it's people, but I also enjoyed the book back then.
Moroc was the most exciting place I had been as of 2000.
Maybe, we've come a long way, Baby! Let's only hope!

Edith Wharton's Orientalism
Fans of Edith Wharton who are hoping to see her usual insightful wit will be disappointed with this book.Likewise will those hoping to learn something about the real Morocco.Instead, what this book provides is afascinatingly nauseating example of racist, orientalist cliches: theeroticization, the emphasis on mystery, decreptitude, etc.One classic bit is the description of the souks full of "savages""consumptive Jews" and "lusty slave girls." But myfavorite is when a windstorm in the Djmaa el Fnaa suddenly appears,"stripping to the waist the slave girls scudding home to thesouks."There are some peculiar twists to her vision of Morocco, butI won't go further.Buy this book if you are interested in suchthings.But first read Said's Orientalism, if this stuff is new to you. If you are planning to travel to Morocco, buy the Rough Guide and CultureShock: Morocco. ... Read more

Product Description
A New York Review Books Original

Edith Wharton wrote about New York as only a native can. Her Manhattan is a city of well-appointed drawing rooms, hansoms and broughams, all-night cotillions, and resplendent Fifth Avenue flats. Bishops’ nieces mingle with bachelor industrialists; respectable wives turn into excellent mistresses. All are governed by a code of behavior as rigid as it is precarious. What fascinates Wharton are the points of weakness in the structure of Old New York: the artists and writers at its fringes, the free-love advocates testing its limits, widows and divorcées struggling to hold their own.

The New York Stories of Edith Wharton gathers twenty stories of the city, written over the course of Wharton’s career. From her first published story, “Mrs. Manstey’s View,” to one of her last and most celebrated, “Roman Fever,” this new collection charts the growth of an American master and enriches our understanding of the central themes of her work, among them the meaning of marriage, the struggle for artistic integrity, the bonds between parent and child, and the plight of the aged.

Illuminated by Roxana Robinson’s Introduction, these stories showcase Wharton’s astonishing insight into the turbulent inner lives of the men and women caught up in a rapidly changing society. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Great Read
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.

New York Stories of Edith Wharton
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.

Classic Edith Wharton
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 iswonderfully 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.

Some fine vintage Wharton
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!

All of her New York stories collected together
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.
... Read more

Product Description
Edith Wharton’s Italian Villas and Their Gardens, a seminal work on garden design, is a testament to the passionate connoisseurship of one of America’s greatest writers. A comprehensive look at the history and character of Italian garden architecture and ornamentation, the book explores more than seventy-five villas, capturing what Wharton calls their "garden-magic" and illuminating the intimate relationship between the house, its formal gardens, and the surrounding countryside.This beautiful hardcover facsimile is carefully reproduced from the first edition published in 1904 and features all of the original plates, including twenty-six illustrations by Maxfield Parrish, as well as décollage edges. It is published in association with The Mount Press. A portion of the proceeds of the sale of the book support the restoration of The Mount, the Massachusetts estate designed and built by Wharton based on the principles articulated in this book and in The Decoration of Houses. Elegantly written and informed by Wharton’s sensitivity and wit, Italian Villas and Their Gardens is a work that belongs on the shelf of every lover of gardens and good taste. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Amazing Re-print
My sister read about this book in a recent magazine and we are totally delighted to see that it was available as a reprint from the original plates. Maxfield Parrish, the painter, did the illustrations and they are wonderful in their dreamlike qualities. And the prose by Ms Wharton are flowing and typical of the turn of the last century.

I would recommend this book as a coffe table book, a piece of art and a conversation piece all in one. ... Read more

Product Description

A rare work of nonfiction from Edith Wharton, The Writing of Fiction contains brilliant advice on writing from the first woman ever to win a Pulitzer Prize -- for her first novel The Age of Innocence.

In The Writing of Fiction, Wharton provides general comments on the roots of modern fiction, the various approaches to writing a piece of fiction, and the development of form and style. She also devotes entire chapters to the telling of a short story, the construction of a novel, and the importance of character and situation in the novel.

Not only a valuable treatise on the art of writing, The Writing of Fiction also allows readers to experience the inimitable but seldom heard voice of one of America's most important and beloved writers, and includes a final chapter on the pros and cons of Marcel Proust. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

a classic writing guide
This classic guide to the art of writing is as thought-provoking now as it must have been upon publication in 1924. In erudite prose, Edith Wharton describes the general aspects of fiction, going far beyond the surface to touch deep veins often unseen by casual readers. Using examples from the classics, she analyzes the methods of telling a short story and constructing a novel. She contrasts novels of character, such as Emma, with novels of situation, such as The Scarlet Letter, and discusses novels that weld the two types. The last chapter of the book analyzes the works of the great French author, Marcel Proust.

By studying this book and the works it refers to, one may perhaps develop the ability, demonstrated by Proust, "to reveal, by a single allusion, a word, an image, those depths of soul beyond the soul's own guessing." ... Read more

Product Description
Novelist Edith Wharton and architect Ogden Codman collaborated to create this book on the decorative arts, first published in 1897. It aims to provide a complete plan for the architectural decoration of a "proper" residence in the classical tradition. This edition contains new colour photographs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The Decorations of Houses
I was quite disappointed with the quality of this book.I was under the understanding that this book was still in publication.Thus I was expecting a newly printed book, same as the original, not the "photocopy" scan that arrived. Not at all pleased with it.The illustrations are horrible and some of the text is unreadable, very disappointing.

design reflection and illumination
Amidst today's seemingly endless supply of domestic guides and treatises on interior decoration, Edith Wharton might be surprised that her The Decoration of Houses (co-authored with architect Ogden Codman, Jr.) would still be as relevant and necessary as it is a century after its first publication. Long before "simplicity" and "classic" became catchwords for branding, Wharton took a public stand against the bland, trite excesses of Victorian décor in America. Favoring the considered, informed and complex processes of design rooted in architectural principles, her graceful humility was matched only by her assertive plea against the contemporary dominance of thoughtless, conspicuous consumption visible in New York society. As she determinately decreed: "According to the creed of the modern manufacturer, you have only to combine certain `good' to obtain a certain style."

Often associated with the frivolity connected to historical descriptions of femininity, this volume might be a surprise for those who prefer to view Wharton as a New York literary powerhouse. While her 40 books in 40 years (many of which were devoted to travels through European residences and gardens) are a testament to the force of her pen, it's the themes of beauty, pleasure, societal indulgence, cultural education and cosmopolitanism in America's modernity that make her analysis, and eventual ruling on the importance of design and space, a necessary extension of her literary thought. As she aptly begins her historical and aesthetic analysis, "Rooms may be decorated in two ways: by a superficial application of ornament totally dependent of structure, or by means of those architectural features which are part of the organism of every house, inside as well as out." And it's through these sixteen chapters that reflect on everything from the front door to the dining room to bric-a-brac that she offers readers a glimpse at the historic function of furnishings, as well as her claims about taste, beauty and the impact of residential design.

The Italian, French and British capacity for decorating in accord with the Grecian edict of "wise moderation," so admired by Wharton, is illustrated by black and white plates. The illustrations also reveal that the author's penchant for "classic" beauty wasn't about recreating kitschy historic facades or stoic sparseness. Rather, a considered pleasure seems to be her goal as she concludes, "There is no absolute perfection, there is no communicable ideal; but much that is empiric, much that is confused and extravagant, will give way before the application of principles based on common sense and regulated by the laws of harmony and proportion." True to her appreciation for sincerity in the application of decorative principles, readers can see the realization of her rules if they visit the Mount, a 113-acre Lenox estate designed by Wharton in 1902.

Recreated by Rizzoli using photographs of the original 1897 pressing, the only change made by the publishers in this edition is the use of the original interior dust jacket as the model for the printed design that now covers the book. But I don't think Wharton would mind, as she truly believed that design was about the external reflection and illumination of what's on the inside.

Decoration of Houses as a gift, and as an owner
The "Decoration of Houses" allows a comparison of styles from antique to modern, with variations for each time period. I own it, but gave it to my daughter too, since she does set design in New York. The only one tht is better, is one that is out of print. My father used as a decorator in Boston. ... Read more

Product Description
From Hermione Lee, the internationally acclaimed, award-winning biographer of Virginia Woolf and Willa Cather, comes a superb reexamination of one of the most famous American women of letters.

Delving into heretofore untapped sources, Lee does away with the image of the snobbish bluestocking and gives us a new Edith Wharton-tough, startlingly modern, as brilliant and complex as her fiction. Born into a wealthy family, Wharton left America as an adult and eventually chose to create a life in France. Her renowned novels and stories have become classics of American literature, but as Lee shows, Wharton's own life, filled with success and scandal, was as intriguing as those of her heroines. Bridging two centuries and two very different sensibilities, Wharton here comes to life in the skillful hands of one of the great literary biographers of our time.Amazon.com Review
The definitive biography of one of America’s greatest writers, from the author of the acclaimed masterpiece Virginia Woolf.

Delving into heretofore untapped sources, Hermione Lee does away with the image of the snobbish bluestocking and gives us a new Edith Wharton--tough, startlingly modern, as brilliant and complex as her fiction.

Born in 1862, Wharton escaped the suffocating fate of the well-born female, traveled adventurously in Europe and eventually settled in France. After tentative beginnings, she developed a forceful literary professionalism and thrived in a luminous society that included Bernard Berenson, Aldous Huxley and most famously Henry James, who here emerges more as peer than as master. Wharton's life was fed by nonliterary enthusiasms as well: her fabled houses and gardens, her heroic relief efforts during the Great War, the culture of the Old World, which she never tired of absorbing. Yet intimacy eluded her: unhappily married and childless, her one brush with passion came and went in midlife, an affair vividly, intimately recounted here.

With profound empathy and insight, Lee brilliantly interweaves Wharton's life with the evolution of her writing, the full scope of which shows her far to be more daring than her stereotype as lapidarian chronicler of the Gilded Age. In its revelation of both the woman and the writer, Edith Wharton is a landmark biography.

Hermione Lee's Reading Guide to Edith Wharton

Hermione Lee, about whose Virginia Woolf the Amazon.com reviewer wrote, "Biographies don't get much better than this," has turned for her next major subject to Edith Wharton. Wharton's classics, including The House of Mirth, The Age of Innocence, and Ethan Frome, are known to many readers, but Lee has prepared exclusively for us a Reading Guide to Edith Wharton that goes beyond those familiar titles to unearth lesser-known gems among her remarkable stories and novels, from the story "After Holbein," "a masterpiece of ghoulish, chilling satire," to The Custom of the Country, her "most ruthless, powerful, and savage novel."

... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Edith Wharton: Victorian Rebel!
While Edith Wharton's titles have become part of the American literary cannon, few of her readers know all that much about the author who created such revered works of fiction.Hermione Lee attempts to breathe life into who Edith Wharton was, and how her life influenced her art.Lee explores previously unresearched archival materials to flesh out a more vivid portrayal of the artist, as she did with Virginia Woolf.In the process Lee explores parts of Wharton's life there were left unrevealed by her previous biographer, R. W. B. Lewis, which leads to a greater understanding of her life, her times, and her craft.What emerges is a complex artist, driven by impulses, ambition, and contradictions, who also had considerable moments of doubt and was on the receiving end of considerable criticism.There is a tendency in male-dominated literature to view Wharton's contributions as somehow being lesser than that of her male peers, but in the end what Lee presents is an author who challenged the male-dominated realm and succeeded, and in many cases male authors came to view her not just as a peer but as a mentor.

The Wharton that emerges is a complicated and complex woman, whose personal life served as fodder for what she wrote about.The confining societal norms of her age dictated what she could and could not do, and that was injected into her work.What emerges is not a Victorian lady producing literature confined and limited to that age, but a woman rebelling against those same confines, urging rebellion against limitations and restrictions of any age.And that is the hallmark of great literature, which is why Wharton resonates still today.Lee's well thought out biography serves Wharton well!

One of the best literary biographies I've ever read.
"Edith Wharton," Hermione Lee's huge biography is one of the best literary biographies I've ever read, in fact one of the best biographies ever.
More than seventy years after her death, Wharton and her work are still sources of great interest. Lee's book is an exhaustive and penetrating examination of both her life and long writing career. Though I and others may quibble with her analysis of the more detailed aspects of Wharton's characters and the meaning of her stories, it's more than fair to say that one can point to the perhaps unexpected openness and variety of interpretations of her writing as a credit to her great craft.
Too often today Wharton is merely considered a chronicler of "New York golden age high society," and while she made the occasional bow to this expectation, I've always found her work emotionally rich and complex.And varied. Her masterpiece "Ethan Frome" is the exact opposite of what one would expect from the "Wharton school," and is superb. As is "Summer."Much of her short fiction is excellent, as are a number of her ghost stories.
Of course fame came to Wharton with the serialization and book publication of "The House of Mirth," which is one of my favorite Wharton novels, along with "Hudson River Bracketed," and "The Gods Arrive." "The House of Mirth" is a fine example of how deftly she handled the interplay between her famous, doomedheroine, Lily Bart's downward spiral emotional life amid the expectations and realities of both her self and societal repressions. I consider Wharton to be one of the most empathetic writers I've ever read. Lily Bart has one of my all time favorite, most moving quotes, her farewell to her friend Selden:

She paused again, trying to transmit to her voice the steadiness of her recovered smile. "There is someone I must say good-bye to. Oh, not you--we are sure to see each other again--but the Lily Bart you knew, I have kept her with me all this time, but now we are going to part, and I have brought her back to you--I am going to leave her here. When I go out presently she will not go with me. I shall like to think that she has stayed with you--and she'll be no trouble, she'll take up no room."
She went towards him, and put out her hand, still smiling. "Will you let her stay with you?" she asked.

It was Selden in "House of Mirth" who made me see the for the first time in literature what an impact ambiguity can be in characters. You the reader want to reach out and grab him and rail at him to rescue Lily Bart, to snap out of it, to help her. But of course he cannot, and to her credit Wharton realized this and eschewed easy answers , knowing that there are few offered in real life, and none for Lily.
This fine biography also recounts in detail Wharton's early life in New York and of course her lifelong love affair with France, which was really her true home. There's plenty of information on her troubled marriage and affair, of her heroic efforts during WWI, of her famous friendship with Henry James, among many others. "Edith Wharton" is a wonderful biography of a great writer, one I think Wharton herself would be proud of.

Excellent biography brings Wharton to life
I loved this audiobook, although at 7 disks, the abridged version I heard was clearly very, very abridged. Lee's research and writing make Edith Wharton seem so real and so human and puts her books into perspective in terms of what was going on in her life at the time she wrote them.

The only criticism I have for this audiobook is that there are a whole lot of quotes from her letters, etc. that are in French, and only about 1/3 of them are followed by English translations. It's really frustrating as a non-French speaker to be denied these parts of what is an extraordinarily fascinating story. There is even a point where, in the midst of some particularly juicy correspondence, it says something to the effect of "And perhaps most revealing, Wharton wrote (long French sentence)." I was DYING to know what she said!!!

Other than that, though, this is an amazing, inspiring book that will make you want to read or re-read everything Edith Wharton wrote.

Outstanding
I was first introduced to Hermione Lee when I stumbled upon and read her outstanding biography of Virginia Woolf. With so much already written by and about Woolf, I could not imagine an author coming up with enough fresh material, or old material written freshly, to justify reading such a huge book. But I did, and I was very, very impressed.

So, when I entered my "Edith Wharton phase" and began looking for a biography of Wharton before reading her works, I was more than pleasantly surprised to find that Hermione Lee had written a similarly huge biography of EdithWharton.

Unlike Woolf, Wharton left almost nothing behind for her biographers, except her works: she left none of the letters others sent her (there may be rare exceptions) and there are very few letters that she wrote others that have survived. But despite this Lee has written another outstanding biography.

This is why I like it:

1) the numerous references throughout the book to other classic literary works, from Goethe to Bronte;

2) the extensive research on Henry James;

3) reading about Edith Wharton's appreciation (or lack thereof) of the modernist movement, specifically that of Virginia Woolf, the Bloomsbury Group, and James Joyce;

4) Wharton's thoughts on love, marriage, and divorce;

5) the candid, but balanced look at Wharton's affairs;

6) the meshing of Wharton's life with her novels; and,

7) the way she ends the book, and the vignette of Lee's personal visit to Wharton's grave in Paris.

I have the hard cover; this, review, I believe will be on the softcover.

Lots of Detail
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. ... Read more