The Reef - Softcover

Edith Wharton, Wharton; Edith Wharton

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1604242159 ISBN 13: 9781604242157

Publisher: Book Jungle, 2007

Synopsis

Edith Wharton's novels and short stories are full of her humorous understanding of the upper classes. She left America for France beginning in 1907 and stayed during World War 1. The Reef tells the story of Americans in France and the social conflicts they face. The morality in this novel revolves around a woman opposing the marriage of her stepson to a woman who has had an affair.

About this title

Review

A complex, subtle and moving story of the ways in which people torment one another and the awful power of retrospective jealousy (PENELOPE LIVELY)

About the Author

Edith Newbold Jones (Edith Wharton) was born into such wealth and privilege that her family inspired the phrase "keeping up with the Joneses." The youngest of three children, Edith spent her early years touring Europe with her parents and, upon the family's return to the United States, enjoyed a privileged childhood in New York and Newport, Rhode Island. Edith's creativity and talent soon became obvious: By the age of eighteen she had written a novella, (as well as witty reviews of it) and published poetry in the Atlantic Monthly.

After a failed engagement, Edith married a wealthy sportsman, Edward Wharton. Despite similar backgrounds and a shared taste for travel, the marriage was not a success. Many of Wharton's novels chronicle unhappy marriages, in which the demands of love and vocation often conflict with the expectations of society. Wharton's first major novel, The House of Mirth, published in 1905, enjoyed considerable literary success. Ethan Frome appeared six years later, solidifying Wharton's reputation as an important novelist. Often in the company of her close friend, Henry James, Wharton mingled with some of the most famous writers and artists of the day, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, André Gide, Sinclair Lewis, Jean Cocteau, and Jack London.

Edition details

• Publisher: Book Jungle
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1604242159
• ISBN 13: 9781604242157
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 248