The House of Mirth

Edith Wharton

Is Lily Bart a victim of circumstance or an agent of her own destruction? Edith Whartons acutely observed novel poses this question as it follows Lilys tragic path through the country houses, card tables and drawing rooms of New Yorks beau monde at the turn of the 20th century. Impoverished but well-born, Lily realizes a secure future depends on her acquiring a wealthy husband. Her desire for a comfortable life means that she will not marry for love without money, but her resistance to the rules of the social elite endangers her many marriage proposals and leads to a dramatic downward spiral into debt and dishonor. More a tale of social exclusion than of failed love, The House of Mirth reveals Whartons compelling gifts as a storyteller and her clear-eyed observations of the savagery beneath the well-bred surface of high society.

The Marne. A Tale of the War

Edith Wharton

American writer Edith Wharton is known for her novels of manners set in old New York; yet much of her adult life was spent in France. She lived in Paris throughout World War I and was heavily involved in refugee work. She was a hugely successful writer and the first woman ever to win the Pulitzer Prize for her novel The Age of Innocence. In this 1918 novella, we are introduced to the story of 15-year-old Troy Belknap who is from a wealthy family in New York but yearns to serve in the area of France along the Marne River where critical World War I battles took place, known as The Marne. Wharton takes the reader on a dizzying journey down the line between Troys rose-colored, heroic ambitions, the grim realities of the war, and the often hollow and ugly attitudes of Americans at home.

The Reef

Edith Wharton

This is Whartons fifth novel. It is considered, together with the previous Ethan Frome and the subsequent The Custom of the Country, as partly autobiographical. Young diplomat George Darrow is on his way to meet Anna Leath, an old girlfriend who is now a widow with a young daughter and a grown stepson. When Anna abruptly postpones their rendezvous without explanation, Darrow concludes that she is no longer interested in him. He has a brief liaison with the delicate, generous Sophy Viner, a kind woman of the working class. Unfortunately, the lives of Darrow, Anna, Sophy and Annas stepson Owen become linked and the extremely discreet sexual relationship between Darrow and Sophy complicates their lives. Whartons talent for balancing emotional turmoil and all the social manners of her time is blended into this philosophical work that explores the metaphorical reefs in the hearts of women.

The Touchstone

Edith Wharton

Glennard had never thought himself a hero; but he had been certain that he was incapable of baseness. The central character, Stephen Glennard, sells for publication the private letters of a former, deceased lover, who had become a famous writer, so that he can finance his marriage to the girl he loves. The letters are a success, and he is able to be married. But when the guilt becomes unbearable and he confesses his transgression to his new wife, will she be able to forgive him? Will he be able to forgive himself? The debut novella from one of Americas greatest authors Edith Wharton, first published in 1900. It was also published under the title A Gift From The Grave.

The Valley of Decision

Edith Wharton

Published in 1902, The Valley of Decision is Edith Whartons first full length novel set in late 18th century Italy. In it, Odo Valsecca, a young Italian raised by peasants, is plucked from poverty and dropped into the lap of luxury as the newly named heir to his cousin, a duke. It is the time leading up to the French revolution, and Europe swirls with conflicting factions and ideologies, some trying to prop up the feudal and religious traditions that empowered them, and others seeking a new way. Meanwhile, in France, a revolution is brewing... Forced to choose between conflicting loyalties those to the forces of social reform with which he allied himself before he came to power, or those of the feudal tradition to which he belongs by blood Odo must define himself.