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The Touchstone by Edith Wharton — review
Having read a few works by Edith Wharton, I’ve become familiar with her beautifully articulated style. Still, I was nonetheless impressed by just how accomplished The Touchstone is considering that it is Wharton’s first published novella. The story revolves around Stephen Glennard, a New York lawyer, who doesn’t have enough money to marry his sweetheart,…
1900s, 20th century, 3rd pov, 4 STARS, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, american classics, beautiful prose, books about writers, CLASSICS, Edith Wharton, female authors, GUILT, HISTORICAL FICTION, introspective, MARRIAGE, morality, NEW YORK, NOVELLA/SHORT STORY, psychological, published in 1900, read in 2020, ROMANCE, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, the touchstone, unrequited love -
The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton — book review
Step aside, Becky Sharp. Move over, Scarlett O’Hara…make way for Undine Spragg, the most unscrupulous anti-heroine I have ever encountered. “[S]he could not conceive that any one could tire of her of whom she had not first tired.” Wharton once again focuses her narrative on a young woman’s unrelenting attempts at social climbing. While Wharton…
1910s, 20th century, 3rd pov, 4 STARS, affairs, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, american classics, aristocracy, bad love, beautiful prose, BOOK REVIEW, Booklr, BOOKWORM, class, CLASSICS, Edith Wharton, favourite authors, FRANCE, HISTORICAL FICTION, Italy, LITERARY FICTION, MARRIAGE, NEW YORK, PRIVILEGE, psychological, published in 1913, READ IN 2019, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, The Custom of the Country, travel -
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton — book review
“The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.” As many readers have already pointed out, there is little mirth to be found in The House of Mirth (and I thought that The Age of Innocence and Summer had despairing endings…what a…
20th century, 3rd pov, 4.5 STARS, affairs, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, american classics, aristocracy, beautiful prose, class, CLASSICS, Edith Wharton, favourite authors, female authors, HISTORICAL FICTION, introspective, NEW YORK, psychological, published in 1905, READ IN 2019, ROMANCE, satire, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, The House of Mirth, tragedy -
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton — book review
“I mean: how shall I explain? I—it’s always so. Each time you happen to me all over again.” A few months ago I read Edith Wharton’s novella, Summer. Although I thought its obliqueness to be rather fascinating, I was frustrated by its relatively short length, and thought that the characters would have benefitted from having…
1870s, 19TH CENTURY, 4 STARS, affairs, AMERICAN AUTHOR, american classics, aristocracy, beautiful prose, class, CLASSICS, Countess Ellen Olenska, Edith Wharton, favourite authors, female authors, gilded age, MARRIAGE, May Welland, NEW YORK, Newland Archer, psychological, published in 1920, pulitzer prize winners, READ IN 2019, ROMANCE, satire, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, The Age of Innocence -
Summer by Edith Wharton — book review
Although short Summer is an interesting read. Feelings and actions are obliquely revealed or hinted at, so much so that many of the decisive events that our ‘heroine’ Charity experiences are only alluded to or described in an indirect fashion. Because of this, the changing dynamics between the various characters can at times be hard…
1910s, 20th century, 3.25 stars, 3rd pov, age gap, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, american classics, bad love, beautiful prose, class, CLASSICS, Edith Wharton, favourite authors, female authors, HISTORICAL FICTION, Longing, New England, NOVELLA/SHORT STORY, published in 1917, READ IN 2019, ROMANCE, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, Summer, tragedy
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