Old New York Books
An unwed mother gives up her daughter so that the child can join New York City's fashionable society of the mid-1800s. Years later, on the eve of the girl's wedding, "Aunt" Charlotte's long-suppressed anguish surfaces. Edith Wharton was a master of the novella form, and this tale of a mother's tragic sacrifice is one of her greatest contributions to the genre. It provides a fine example of her keen eye for observing and articulating the telling details of class and society. Available at last in a stand-alone edition, this enduringly popular story first appeared serialized in The Red Book Magazine in 1922 and later in an anthology. The basis for a successful Broadway show of the 1930s, it was later adapted into a popular film starring Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins.
Edith Wharton (1862-1937), born Edith Newbold Jones, was an American novelist, short story writer, and designer. She combined her insider's view of America's privileged classes with a brilliant, natural wit to write humourous and incisive novels and short stories. Wharton was well-acquainted with many of her era's literary and public figures, including Henry James and Theodore Roosevelt. Besides her writing, she was a highly regarded landscape architect, interior designer, and taste-maker of her time. She wrote several influential books, including The Decoration of Houses (1897), her first published work, and Italian Villas and Their Gardens (1904). The Age of Innocence (1920), perhaps her best known work, won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize for literature, making her the first woman to win the award. Her other works include: The Greater Inclination (1899), The Touchstone (1900), Sanctuary (1903), The Descent of Man and Other Stories (1904), The House of Mirth (1905), Madame de Treymes (1907), The Fruit of the Tree (1907), The Hermit and the Wild Woman and Other Stories (1908), Ethan Frome (1912), In Morocco (1921), and The Glimpses of the Moon (1921).
Edith Wharton (1862-1937), born Edith Newbold Jones, was an American novelist, short story writer, and designer. She combined her insider's view of America's privileged classes with a brilliant, natural wit to write humourous and incisive novels and short stories. Wharton was well-acquainted with many of her era's literary and public figures, including Henry James and Theodore Roosevelt. Besides her writing, she was a highly regarded landscape architect, interior designer, and taste-maker of her time. She wrote several influential books, including The Decoration of Houses (1897), her first published work, and Italian Villas and Their Gardens (1904). The Age of Innocence (1920), perhaps her best known work, won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize for literature, making her the first woman to win the award. Her other works include: The Greater Inclination (1899), The Touchstone (1900), Sanctuary (1903), The Descent of Man and Other Stories (1904), The House of Mirth (1905), Madame de Treymes (1907), The Fruit of the Tree (1907), The Hermit and the Wild Woman and Other Stories (1908), Ethan Frome (1912), In Morocco (1921), and The Glimpses of the Moon (1921).