The Age of Innocence

“Is it—in this world—vulgar to ask for more? To entreat a little wildness, a dark place or two in the soul?“—Katherine Mansfield

“There is no woman in American literature as fascinating as the doomed Madame Olenska… . Traditionally, Henry James has always been placed slightly higher up the slope of Parnassus than Edith Wharton. But now that the prejudice against the female writer is on the wane, they look to be exactly what they are: giants, equals, the tutelary and benign gods of our American literature.“—Gore Vidal

“Will writers ever recover that peculiar blend of security and alertness which characterizes Mrs. Wharton and her tradition?“—E. M. Forster

Edith Wharton was born in 1862 into the upper stratum of New York society. Though this environment provided ample material for her novels, it did not encourage her artistic growth. Educated by tutors and governesses, she was raised solely for marriage. Her own marriage in 1885 to Edward Wharton proved an emotional disappointment.

Wharton suffered the first of a series of nervous breakdowns in 1894. Despite the strain of her marriage, or perhaps because of it, she began writing fiction, publishing her first story in 1889. Her first published book was a guide to interior decorating, followed by several novels and story collections. These works were written while the Whartons lived in Newport and New York, traveled in Europe, and built their home, The Mount, in Lenox, Massachusetts.

In Europe, she met Henry James, who became a close friend, traveling companion, and a discerning critic of her work. The House of Mirth (1905) was a critical success and a bestseller, as was Ethan Frome (1911).

In 1913, the Whartons divorced, and Edith took up permanent residence in France. Her subject matter, however, remained America, particularly the wealthy New York society of her youth. Her satirical novel, The Custom of the Country, was published in 1913, and The Age of Innocence earned her the Pulitzer Prize in 1921.

In her later years, she was admired by a new generation of writers, including Sinclair Lewis and F. Scott Fitzgerald. In total, she wrote some thirty books, including her autobiography, A Backwards Glance (1934). She died at her villa near Paris in 1937.

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