Showing results by author "Edith Wharton" in All Categories

Newland Archer, that paragon of Gilded Age New York, seems bound for a life of privilege with an ideal companion, May Welland. Then a childhood friend, the free-thinking, passionate Countess Ellen Olenska returns from Europe. In charged encounters between these three and a large cast of unforgettable characters, Edith Wharton elaborates on a timeless theme, the clash between the need to belong and the urge to leap beyond oneself. An American by birth and an expatriate by choice, the author probes her own youthful origins in this winner of the 1921 Pulitzer Prize in Literature.

"You won't know till afterward. You won't know till long, long afterward." When Ned and Mary Boyne hear that their new house is haunted, they laugh it off and joke that every good house in the countryside must have a ghost for it to be worth purchasing. They move in and forget all about its supposed supernatural quirks. But when Mary notices a strange change in her husband's behaviour, she begins to suspect a not so friendly ghost is indeed at play.

"I tell you there's nothing the public likes as much as convictions - they'll always follow a man who believes in his own ideas. And this book is just on the line of popular interest." Professor Linyard is a man of science. And when he writes a book to great acclaim in which he takes the side of religion, he fully expects the satire to be understood. But when it's taken at face value, he goes along with it to better provide for his family.

"Phil, my dear boy, really -- what's the matter? Why don't you answer? Have you seen the eyes?" An older gentleman invites a group of friends over for dinner and to discuss the supernatural. Afterwards, when only two guests remain, he tells them a story about The Eyes, about a man who is repeatedly haunted at night by a pair of grotesque eyes floating over the foot of his bed. 'The Eyes' is a short, sharp read that slowly enters your psyche and leaves you with a paragraph that may haunt you forever, because it's not about ghosts at all...

"La casa de la alegría" fue la novela que consagró a Edith Wharton, saludada desde su publicación como un clásico norteamericano. Huérfana a los diecinueve años, Lily Bart es acogida por una tía en el seno de uno de los más antiguos clanes de la sociedad neoyorquina. Diez años después aún no se ha casado y ni su exigua renta personal ni la generosidad condicional de su protectora han hecho nada para favorecer su independencia.

Ethan Frome is a novel published in 1911 by the Pulitzer Prize-winning American author Edith Wharton. It is set in the fictitious town of Starkfield, Massachusetts, New England, where an unnamed narrator tells the story of his encounter with Ethan Frome, a man with dreams and desires that end in an ironic turn of events.

‘Bunner Sisters’ explores the lives of the impoverished class in 1870s New York. Sisters Ann Eliza and Evelina run a small shop out of a shabby basement on a side street. Despite their misfortunes, they are happy in their small, supportive community of women. This bubble will soon be burst, however, as Ann Eliza and Evelina are faced with the harsh realities of the world that exists outside of their shop. A considerate exploration of American society, class, and sibling relationships, Edith Wharton’s novel is unmissable if you enjoyed Louisa May Alcott’s ‘Little Women’.

Witty socialite Lily Bart has expensive tastes. Unfortunately, she does not have the social status to match. So far she has managed to get by on ‘old money’ and has become accustomed to a certain level of luxury. Her luck seems to be running out, however, as she approaches thirty and begins to scramble for an eligible bachelor who will secure her both an elevation of social status and stability.

Edith Wharton (1862-1937) was brilliant, well-educated, well-read, well-traveled, privileged, and prolific. Wharton was, one might say, an influencer of her time. Her body of work encompasses 15 novels, seven novellas, 80-plus short stories, poems, plays, and nonfiction writings spanning travel, design, criticism, war articles, and a memoir. In 1921, she was the first woman awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Literature for her most famous novel, The Age of Innocence.

In the dead gray cold of Starkfield, Massachusetts, farmer Ethan Frome is struggling to scrape out a living. His duties are to his wife, Zeena - an ungrateful, soul-sick hypochondriac as frigid as the New England winter. When Zeena’s cousin Mattie arrives to help with the farm, the ethereal, gentle-natured beauty brings a light and a fugitive affection into Ethan’s life. Yet for Ethan and Mattie, daring to be happy - and together - will have its consequences.

Written in 1892 but not published until 1916, this beautifully crafted story features two sisters who keep a shop in a shabby part of New York City. When Ann Eliza, the eldest sister, gifts Evelina with a clock on her birthday, events are set in motion which will forever change not only their relationship but the very fabric of their world.

Lily Bart, impoverished though she was born into New York City's high society in the 19th century, was raised and educated to marry well both socially and economically. As she approaches the age of 29, her marital prospects become limited, and she descends on a two-year social slide from privilege to a tragically lonely existence on the margins of society.

In this gem of a short story, Edith Wharton's talent for satire shines. Mrs. Ballinger and the ladies of the Lunch Club, that exclusive group dedicated to literature and erudition, are eagerly anticipating a visit by the noted novelist Osric Dane. Her books have been read by all the members except their newest, Mrs. Roby, whose idea of a perfect novel is one that entertains and preferably ends with marriage for the hero and heroine. It's painfully clear to Mrs. Ballinger and the others that Mrs. Roby is not on their intellectual plane.

Fighting France: From Dunkerque to Belfort, is a compilation of articles Wharton wrote for Scribner’s Magazine and the Saturday Evening Post, reporting from the Western Front during WWI. Living in Paris, she was trapped in France when travel became impossible after Germany declared war and French mobilization began. She was one of a number of expatriate American writers living there, primarily women, who became involved in war charities during the opening months of the conflict, years before the United States abandoned its official policy of neutrality.

"What an incalculable sum of gifts and virtues went to make up the monster's daily meal." So observes American expatriate painter John Campton, whose only son is conscripted to military service in France at the beginning of WWI. In Edith Wharton's saga, A Son at the Front, we share the character's anguish as thousands of young men are sacrificed to the insatiable appetite of the war. The lessons are as relevant today as they were almost 100 years ago.

This collection of 10 classic tales is very representative of Wharton's approach to story-telling - in the narrative, the venue becomes a character almost as much as do the people. Situations are presented in an elegantly understated way, and the overall effect is disturbing rather than blatantly horrific.

Questo romanzo, con cui l'autrice vinse il premio Pulitzer nel 1921 (ed era la prima volta che una donna vinceva quel premio), parla della New York del 1870, della famosa Gilded Age. Ma dietro l'oro apparente, si nasconde la rete di convinzioni, tradizioni e ipocrisia che imprigiona il protagonista così inevitabilmente da renderlo egli stesso, col tempo, acquiescente alla propria prigionia.

A bumper collection of classic ghost stories and strange supernatural tales.

Prudence Rutledge is terrified. She sits in her isolated New England farmhouse, fearing that her husband is stepping out on her. Seems like Saul has been seen down at the pond, meeting up with a young woman named Ora Brand. Trouble is, Ora Brand has been dead for over a year.

This is a complex and honest portrait of a simple country girl as she confronts her sexuality and the all-encompassing forces of maturity. Wharton's writing expresses the emotions of Charity Royall, her awakening to, and confusion about her first love as few other authors can.