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After Holbein
A pair of elderly New York socialites, Anson Warley and Evelina Jasper, reveal the tragedy of the decay that comes with old age. Believing that they are sharing an extravagant meal at a busy dinner party, Anson and Evelina relive a night from their youth in the now-empty dining room at Jasper’s once-opulent home. HarperPerennial Classics brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperPerennial Classics collection to build your digital library.
25 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1928
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About the author
Edith Wharton
1,582 books5,430 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 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 11, 2017
“A rather remarkable man… only intermittently.”
I thought this was going to be horror, with echoes of Jekyll and Hyde, but it takes a different turn: poignant, heartbreaking, beautiful. It’s a glimpse into failing minds, cushioned by old retainers, devotedly playing along. Not just white lies, but golden ones. Reality is as slippery for the reader as the protagonists. The situation is worse for the one who has some awareness of what's slipping away.
* “He had reached the time of life when Alps and cathedrals become as transient as flowers.”
More Wharton Stories
I read this as one of twenty stories in The New York Stories of Edith Wharton , which I reviewed here.
Reading them one after the other made me notice her favoured ingredients, from which she selected a unique combination for each story, and which led me to concoct a recipe for Write Your Own Wharton Short Story, which I posted here.
I thought this was going to be horror, with echoes of Jekyll and Hyde, but it takes a different turn: poignant, heartbreaking, beautiful. It’s a glimpse into failing minds, cushioned by old retainers, devotedly playing along. Not just white lies, but golden ones. Reality is as slippery for the reader as the protagonists. The situation is worse for the one who has some awareness of what's slipping away.
* “He had reached the time of life when Alps and cathedrals become as transient as flowers.”
More Wharton Stories
I read this as one of twenty stories in The New York Stories of Edith Wharton , which I reviewed here.
Reading them one after the other made me notice her favoured ingredients, from which she selected a unique combination for each story, and which led me to concoct a recipe for Write Your Own Wharton Short Story, which I posted here.
May 21, 2025
(3.5) this was so sad
January 2, 2022
Recommended by Margaret Atwood in an interview. Enjoyable read. Would have given it four stars if it wasn't for the last line.
January 20, 2019
A very interesting story. As someone who has passed the watershed age of 60, this story of old age and its tragedies came a bit close to home for me. Edith Wharton has the uncanny ability to so accurately describe people and their inner thoughts and motivations.
“After Holbein” relives another age in New York City history; a way of life as unattainable to most people then as it is to us now. It is a short-story that reads like a full-length movie in the readers’ mind’s eye, and the ending comes as a great surprise, and a mystery.
“After Holbein” relives another age in New York City history; a way of life as unattainable to most people then as it is to us now. It is a short-story that reads like a full-length movie in the readers’ mind’s eye, and the ending comes as a great surprise, and a mystery.
July 7, 2018
Boring
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews