Wharton's first literary success, set amid fashionable New York society, reveals the hypocrisy and destructive effects of the city's social circle on the character of Lily Bart. Impoverished but well-born, Lily must secure her future by acquiring a wealthy husband; but her downfall — initiated by a romantic indiscretion — results in gambling debts and social disasters. Unabridged republication of the edition published by C. Scribner's Sons, New York, 1905.
Summer by Edith Wharton One of the first novels to deal honestly with a woman's sexual awakening, Summer created a sensation upon its 1917 publication, shattering conventional standards with candor and realism.
The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington The lives and changing fortunes of three generations of a once-powerful and socially prominent family are chronicled in this vivid portrait of the corrupting influence of greed and materialism.
Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser The first masterpiece of the American naturalistic movement, Sister Carrie made its controversial debut in 1900. Condemned for its alleged immorality, the novel traces the fortunes of a small-town girl's rise from obscurity to fame.
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton Classic story of wasted lives, set against a bleak New England background. Superbly delineated characters in a hauntingly grim tale of thwarted love. Considered by many to be Wharton's masterpiece.
