Edith Wharton: Novels

by Edith Wharton, Hermione Lee (Editor)

After winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1921 for The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton published four novels that brought her signature blend of dramatic irony and penetrating social satire to bear on what she called “the growing sense of waste and loss wrought by those irreparable years” of World War I. The Library of America now brings together these brilliant books from the 1920s in the fifth volume of its definitive edition of Wharton’s collected works.

The Glimpses of the Moon (1922) is a story of love finding its way amidst upper-class social maneuvering. Believed by some to have been an inspiration for The Great Gatsby—Fitzgerald wrote the title cards for the novel’s 1923 silent film adaptation—it follows Nick Lansing and Susy Branch, both of prominent but financially diminished New York families, as they hatch a scheme to marry in order to live off of their wedding gifts and divorce as soon as either finds a way to step up the social ladder.

Inspired by a young man she met during her war relief work in France, A Son at the Front (1923) opens in Paris on July 30, 1914, as Europe totters on the brink of war. Expatriate American painter John Campton, whose only son George, having been born in Paris, must report for duty in the French army, struggles to keep his son away from the front while grappling with the moral implications of doing so. A poignant meditation on art and possession, fidelity and responsibility, A Son at the Front is Wharton’s indelible take on the war novel.

A masterful satire of the Jazz Age, Twilight Sleep (1927) dissects the flapper mentality and the New York society ladies who turn to drugs, spirituality, and occultism to escape boredom and ennui. Its protagonist, Pauline Manford, studiously ignores all hints of trouble in her privileged world: rumors surrounding her spiritual guru, her daughter’s trysts with a married man, her son’s troubled marriage, her first husband’s drinking, and her second husband’s apathy, until a catastrophe threatens to involve the whole family in scandal.

The Children (1928), which volume editor Hermione Lee has called “a daring and profoundly sad book . . . the most remarkable and surprising of the novels that came after The Age of Innocence,” concerns forty-six-year-old Martin Boyne, who even as he negotiates marriage to a lovely widow, unexpectedly falls under the spell of fifteen-year-old Judith Wheater and her troupe of siblings.

Also included is a chronology of Wharton’s life, newly expanded from Hermione Lee’s masterful biography of Wharton, as well as helpful explanatory notes.

Genres: Collections, 20th Century, American, Fiction, Classics, Literature

1031 pages, Hardcover

First published September 29, 2015

About the author

Edith 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.

Reviews

[Mary Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Glimpses at the Moon is a classic....better than Fitzgerald, more compassionate with the potential to grow into adulthood

[Elissa Ely]

You either adore Edith Wharton or you can't tolerate her for more than a paragraph. No one ever changes their mind. I happen to adore her.

[Mills College Library]

Fiction W553gm 2015