Edith Wharton
Author
Accelerated Reader
IL: UG - BL: 9.7 - AR Pts: 26
Language
English
Description
Set among the elegant brownstones of New York City and opulent country houses like gracious Bellomont on the Hudson, the novel creates a satiric portrayal of what Wharton herself called "a society of irresponsible pleasure-seekers" with a precision comparable to that of Proust. And her brilliant and complex characterization of the doomed Lily Bart, whose stunning beauty and dependence on marriage for economic survival reduce her to a decorative object,...
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
"Highly acclaimed at its publication in 1913, The Custom of the Country is a cutting commentary on America's nouveaux riches, their upward-yearning aspirations and their eventual downfalls. Through her heroine, the beautiful and ruthless Undine Spragg, a spoiled heiress who looks to her next materialistic triumph as her latest conquest throws himself at her feet, Edith Wharton presents a startling, satiric vision of social behavior in all its greedy...
Author
Series
Publisher
Dover
Pub. Date
c1994
Language
English
Description
Described by literary critic Robert Morss Lovett as "a novelist of civilization, absorbed in the somewhat mechanical operations of civilization, absorbed in the somewhat mechanical operations of culture, preoccupied with the upper ('and inner') class," Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edith Wharton (1862-1937) also wrote superbly crafted works of short fiction. The seven stories in this excellent collection demonstrate the author's ability to create...
Author
Publisher
New York Review Books
Pub. Date
[2021]
Language
English
Description
"No history of the American uncanny tale would be complete without mention of Edith Wharton, yet many of Wharton's most dedicated admirers are unaware that she was a master of the form. In fact, one of Wharton's final literary acts was assembling Ghosts, a personal selection of her own most chilling stories, written between 1902 and 1937. In "The Lady's Maid's Bell," the earliest tale included here, a servant's dedication to her mistress continues...
Author
Series
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Pub. Date
2008
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Description
The first Pulitzer Prize for literature awarded to a woman was for The age of innocence, Edith Wharton's elegant portrait of desire and betrayal in Old New York. In the highest circle of New York social life during the 1870s, Newland Archer, a young lawyer, prepares to marry the docile May Welland. But before their engagement is announced, he meets the mysterious, nonconformist Countess Ellen Olenska, May's cousin, who has returned to New York after...
Author
Publisher
Penguin Books
Pub. Date
1993.
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
"Launched into society at a glorious and very expensive debutante ball, Lily sees a world of unlimited possibility before her. But her fathers announcement that he is financially ruined, followed quickly by his death, leave Lily and her mother with only one "asset"Lilys extraordinary beauty and charm. At the age of 29, now orphaned, Lily lives with an aunt who offers minimum, often grudging, hospitality and financial support. A wealthy husband could...
16) Ethan Frome
Publisher
Miramax Home Entertainment
Pub. Date
[2003?]
Language
English
Description
A classic love triangle, set in 19th century rural New England.
17) The Buccaneers
Publisher
Distributed by Warner Home Video
Pub. Date
[2006]
Language
English
Description
Four young American girls journey from America to England in search of romance and adventure in this exquisite production of Edith Wharton's final book.
Publisher
Distributed by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment
Pub. Date
2001
Language
English
Description
The story takes place at the opening of a new century, one that held forth all kinds of promises, especially for women. In this post-Victorian Fifth Avenue milieu, Lily Bart, an unmarried woman of 29 with dwindling prospects, needs a husband badly. She lives beyond her means, relying on the grudging charity of her elderly aunt. She is the kind of girl who would make an admirable decoration on some fine gentleman's arm, but there is a liveliness--a...