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Edith Wharton: 14 Great Novels
Collected here are 14 novels by Edith Wharton. Included are also links to free audiobook verions of the novels.Edith Wharton was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and designer. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1927, 1928 and 1930.Wharton combined her insider's view of America's privileged classes with a brilliant, natural wit to write humorous, incisive novels and short stories of social and psychological insight. She was well acquainted with many of her era's other literary and public figures, including Theodore Roosevelt. Novels The Touchstone, 1900The Valley of Decision, 1902Sanctuary, 1903The House of Mirth, 1905Madame de Treymes, 1907The Fruit of the Tree, 1907Ethan Frome, 1911The Reef, 1912The Custom of the Country, 1913Bunner Sisters, 1916Summer, 1917The Marne, 1918The Age of Innocence, 1920 (Pulitzer Prize winner)The Glimpses of the Moon, 1922 Free audiobooks available The Touchstone, 1900The Valley of Decision, 1902 - not available as audiobook at this timeSanctuary, 1903The House of Mirth, 1905Madame de Treymes, 1907The Fruit of the Tree, 1907Ethan Frome, 1911The Reef, 1912The Custom of the Country, 1913Bunner Sisters, 1916Summer, 1917 - not available as audiobook at this timeThe Marne, 1918The Age of Innocence, 1920 (Pulitzer Prize winner)The Glimpses of the Moon, 1922Enjoy!
347 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 19, 2009
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About the author
Edith Wharton
1,461 books5,289 followersEdith Wharton emerged as one of America’s most insightful novelists, deftly exposing the tensions between societal expectation and personal desire through her vivid portrayals of upper-class life. Drawing from her deep familiarity with New York’s privileged “aristocracy,” she offered readers a keenly observed and piercingly honest vision of Gilded Age society.
Her work reached a milestone when she became the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, awarded for The Age of Innocence. This novel highlights the constraining rituals of 1870s New York society and remains a defining portrait of elegance laced with regret.
Wharton’s literary achievements span a wide canvas. The House of Mirth presents a tragic, vividly drawn character study of Lily Bart, navigating social expectations and the perils of genteel poverty in 1890s New York. In Ethan Frome, she explores rural hardship and emotional repression, contrasting sharply with her urban social dramas.
Her novella collection Old New York revisits the moral terrain of upper-class society, spanning decades and combining character studies with social commentary. Through these stories, she inevitably points back to themes and settings familiar from The Age of Innocence. Continuing her exploration of class and desire, The Glimpses of the Moon addresses marriage and social mobility in early 20th-century America. And in Summer, Wharton challenges societal norms with its rural setting and themes of sexual awakening and social inequality.
Beyond fiction, Wharton contributed compelling nonfiction and travel writing. The Decoration of Houses reflects her eye for design and architecture; Fighting France: From Dunkerque to Belfort presents a compelling account of her wartime observations. As editor of The Book of the Homeless, she curated a moving, international collaboration in support of war refugees.
Wharton’s influence extended beyond writing. She designed her own country estate, The Mount, a testament to her architectural sensibility and aesthetic vision. The Mount now stands as an educational museum celebrating her legacy.
Throughout her career, Wharton maintained friendships and artistic exchanges with luminaries such as Henry James, Sinclair Lewis, Jean Cocteau, André Gide, and Theodore Roosevelt—reflecting her status as a respected and connected cultural figure.
Her literary legacy also includes multiple Nobel Prize nominations, underscoring her international recognition. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature more than once.
In sum, Edith Wharton remains celebrated for her unflinching, elegant prose, her psychological acuity, and her capacity to illuminate the unspoken constraints of society—from the glittering ballrooms of New York to quieter, more remote settings. Her wide-ranging work—novels, novellas, short stories, poetry, travel writing, essays—offers cultural insight, enduring emotional depth, and a piercing critique of the customs she both inhabited and dissected.
Her work reached a milestone when she became the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, awarded for The Age of Innocence. This novel highlights the constraining rituals of 1870s New York society and remains a defining portrait of elegance laced with regret.
Wharton’s literary achievements span a wide canvas. The House of Mirth presents a tragic, vividly drawn character study of Lily Bart, navigating social expectations and the perils of genteel poverty in 1890s New York. In Ethan Frome, she explores rural hardship and emotional repression, contrasting sharply with her urban social dramas.
Her novella collection Old New York revisits the moral terrain of upper-class society, spanning decades and combining character studies with social commentary. Through these stories, she inevitably points back to themes and settings familiar from The Age of Innocence. Continuing her exploration of class and desire, The Glimpses of the Moon addresses marriage and social mobility in early 20th-century America. And in Summer, Wharton challenges societal norms with its rural setting and themes of sexual awakening and social inequality.
Beyond fiction, Wharton contributed compelling nonfiction and travel writing. The Decoration of Houses reflects her eye for design and architecture; Fighting France: From Dunkerque to Belfort presents a compelling account of her wartime observations. As editor of The Book of the Homeless, she curated a moving, international collaboration in support of war refugees.
Wharton’s influence extended beyond writing. She designed her own country estate, The Mount, a testament to her architectural sensibility and aesthetic vision. The Mount now stands as an educational museum celebrating her legacy.
Throughout her career, Wharton maintained friendships and artistic exchanges with luminaries such as Henry James, Sinclair Lewis, Jean Cocteau, André Gide, and Theodore Roosevelt—reflecting her status as a respected and connected cultural figure.
Her literary legacy also includes multiple Nobel Prize nominations, underscoring her international recognition. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature more than once.
In sum, Edith Wharton remains celebrated for her unflinching, elegant prose, her psychological acuity, and her capacity to illuminate the unspoken constraints of society—from the glittering ballrooms of New York to quieter, more remote settings. Her wide-ranging work—novels, novellas, short stories, poetry, travel writing, essays—offers cultural insight, enduring emotional depth, and a piercing critique of the customs she both inhabited and dissected.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 17, 2017
Unsettling yet thoroughly engrossing
If you love happy endings or light romances, you will never find them here. What you will read are complex emotions and outstanding descriptive plots with characters among the turn-of-the-century American elite. These are relationship stories. Sometimes you will wish for a character to see what would seem to us an easy solution, but not in Edith Wharton's worlds. The inner machinations of the etiquette and rules of these wealthy Americans in New York and Europe are fascinating, if you are willing to accept that there are simply no easy romances to be found.
If you love happy endings or light romances, you will never find them here. What you will read are complex emotions and outstanding descriptive plots with characters among the turn-of-the-century American elite. These are relationship stories. Sometimes you will wish for a character to see what would seem to us an easy solution, but not in Edith Wharton's worlds. The inner machinations of the etiquette and rules of these wealthy Americans in New York and Europe are fascinating, if you are willing to accept that there are simply no easy romances to be found.
December 10, 2022
Wharton is always worth it
With her amazing insights into human interactions, Wharton is always worthy of underlining. And when true love triumphs for all the right reasons, it doesn't get much better than that.
With her amazing insights into human interactions, Wharton is always worthy of underlining. And when true love triumphs for all the right reasons, it doesn't get much better than that.
June 6, 2019
One of the best
This is a very best collection o Edith Wharton. It demonstrates her capacity for a variety of settings, as well as a completeness of novels.
This is a very best collection o Edith Wharton. It demonstrates her capacity for a variety of settings, as well as a completeness of novels.
September 8, 2022
Good, solid prose. Has a lovely timing and flow. Of its time and class.
January 31, 2021
I only read the Age of Innocence, but it was enlightening! Love those 20's.
April 26, 2014
I saw the movie then read the book. Wharton is an amazing writer and was able to depict the ruthless attitudes prevalent in high society of the times along with the helpless situation in which women were trapped. It was a thought-provoking albeit difficult read as writing styles have changed over the past century since it was written.
January 28, 2017
Lover her work
August 31, 2019
A fabulous author
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews