Summer »

One of America's most important novelists, Edith Wharton was a refined, relentless chronicler of the Gilded Age and its social mores. Along with close friend Henry James, she helped define literature at the turn of the 20th century, even as she wrote classic nonfiction on travel, decorating and her own life.

American author best known for her novels about the upper-class society into which she was born. This remains what some consider her finest work and was one of the author's personal favorites. Best known for her Pulitzer Prize-winning Age of Innocence (1920) and her long tale Ethan Frome (1911) this work was praised for its realism and candor in depicting a young woman's sexual awakening. Eighteen year old, proud and independent Charity Royall is portrayed as a thoroughly contemporary woman.

Library Journal

Though Summer is not out of print, the September film release of Martin Scorsese's production of Wharton's The Age of Innocence is bound to have caused a renewed interest in all her books. Bantam's edition is the least expensive offering of this title currently on the market.