Reading 1001 discussion

4 stars
Jan 2018

This novella is my third Wharton and is right in the middle in terms of ranking. I loved Ethan Frome, which I gave either 4 or 5 stars -- it would definitely be 5 if I wrote the review today. I found The Age of Innocence a bit too dull, though beautifully written. I gave it 3 stars, I think... but today I would give it 2. And this one is a solid 4 stars. I wonder if this will remain the case, but I like her novellas much more than her novels.

There is nothing new or surprising in this one, unless you take into account the time in which it was written, and you definitely should. The novella is very open about female sexuality and is an indictment upon the roles of women at the time. Wharton must have been solidly feminist.

3 stars

I gather this book caused a sensation when it was published. Certainly, young women weren’t supposed to have strong personalities and enjoy a love affair. Wharton has a real gift for creating the oppressive atmosphere of tiny, stifling, New England villages. I did like this book and appreciate Wharton’s writing but the ‘pit of your stomach’ feeling that you have while reading this is a little hard to take. You just know the main character is not going to have the life she dreams of. This short book will give you a good idea of Wharton’s writing, but I’m not sure it is the one to start with.

3 stars

A naive small-town young woman is seduced by a visiting man from NYC. Nothing new in that story, but Wharton's telling of it had me double-checking the publication date repeatedly. 1917? From a well-regarded author? Wow. Charity butts heads with her adoptive father, does what she wants, sneaks around, and enjoys herself. Of course, today's reader can see exactly where that will end up. The resolution of this book, though, is what really surprised me.

I liked this story a lot, but I definitely prefer Wharton's New York stories. I felt sorry for Charity because I know the feeling of growing up in a small town and the desperation of wanting to get away. I'm not sure exactly how I feel about Mr Royall, but I'm pretty sure that Charity and her child will have a better life with him than she would have had with Harney.

My edition of the book, , has a quote from an Edna St Vincent Millay poem that suits Charity and Harney's relationship perfectly:
"I know I am but summer to your heart, and not the full four seasons of the year."

This book by Edith Wharton is set in New England in the rural area, small town, unlike her novels that are often set in New York. This one reminded me more of her book Ethan Frome. The story is about Charity Royall, a young woman from the mountain raised by the Royals. Its themes include social class, the role of women in society, destructive relationships, sexual awakening. Charity Royall is rather dull person. She has a job at the library but knows nothing of books and sits there making lace which i gather She is not very good at. She is hired to be there a certain amount of hours but thinks nothing of leaving early. I was only impressed with her ability to set limits and boundaries with men but even that was short lived. In the end, Charity does make at least a decision that will ensure a future and safety. Lawyer Royall is the other character and some might say he is the main character. Lawyer Royall went up the mountain and rescued Charity after her father was sent to prison and made the request of Royall that he do so. Lawyer Royall and his wife raised Charity and even though she used his last name, she was never officially adopted. After the death of his wife, Charity remained with Royall. Their relationship is conflicted. The other man, Lucius Harney, really is the weak male who leads on Charity but in the end he fails to take charge. He is an architect who has come to study the buildings in the area and he takes an interest in remodeling the musty library. Both Royal and Charity are merciless to each other in telling the other of their flaws and both don't "fit" well in North Dormer but have chosen to live there. Rating 3.4

This was my first Edith Wharton book so far. My sister loves Wharton, so I had to go back and reread bits of this one after I finished it, once she pointed out why she liked it. I am definitely not into the same sorts of novels as she is. Oh well.
I do like that this story fills in the character of the sort of girl that turns up in the periphery of other novels. I just finished The Secret History and am rereading The Eye of the World(Robert Jordan), and in both there are the sorts of young men who hook up with young women as a casual thing just to have a sexual/romantic partner while they are visiting someplace. These sorts of male characters turn up a lot, and their female partners get just brief descriptions usually, and a name (usually) but rarely enough to develop them into people. I found Charity annoying, and how dare she take a job as a librarian if she won't take care of the books! But in this story we get to actually meet the naive small-town girl Lucius meets while exploring the less civilized parts of New England for hidden architectural treasures.
I still didn't really enjoy this one, but it was well written, just not the sort of book I look forward to reading. I gave this book 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars on Goodreads.

This short, well written book by Wharton is one of her two books that takes place in New England, the other being Ethan Frome. New England and its disintegrating society is very much a character in the book and one can visualize the humid, hot weather oppressing the small towns under the blue shadow of a small mountain in the Berkshires. The plot is as old as the hills, but as Jamie mentions above, the fact that Charity, our main character takes on a full existence in which she is allowed to make decisions for herself rather than being merely the "bad girl" in the background makes it a bit unique. Also, our other Main Character, Mr. Royall has a strangely complicated life with complicated motivations and yet we only know about him through what he does and how he acts rather than having insight into what he is thinking or feeling from the narrator.
The ending wasn't so much surprising as of a piece with the respect the rest of the story brought to the characters. One finishes the book with a sense that there is another on-going story to be told about these characters but I was happy enough for the book to end. I enjoyed the book and gave it 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 in GR.

Summer is set in New England and was published in 1917, which is surprising considering its subject matter. An ignorant small town girl is seduced by the sophisticated nephew of the town busybody, who returns to the city and his fiancee. The heroine's relationship with her guardian is the most important consideration, and it is a complicated and nuanced relationship. Wharton evokes a small, seedy backwater with elegant prose. The emotional turmoil of a young woman embroiled in her first love affair is carefully explained, but that Wharton described this book as "her hot Ethan Frome" (would she have used that expression?) is quite mystifying, because the sexual encounters are hardly explicit.

Pip, that is so funny that you interpreted “hot” in the modern meaning to be sexual. I think Wharton meant that Ethan Frome took place in the freezing cold New England winter and this story took place in the hot, sticky and humid New England summer....but you could be right...they did consummate their physical relationship in this book while in Ethan Frome, they did not.

***

This is the summery version of Ethan Frome. Same setting (isolated New England town), roughly similar plot (impossible love story which ends tragically for the young woman involved). However, the ultimate conclusion in Summer does not feel nearly as strong and tragic as the ending in Ethan Frome. Even though Wharton labelled this novel her "hot Ethan Frome", fear not, she was only referring to the weather; there was nothing too erotic or exciting about the story.

4 stars

My second Wharton. I liked this one better than The Age of Innocence.

“But anyway we all live in the same place, and when it's a place like North Dormer it's enough to make people hate each other just to have to walk down the same street every day.”

“All I know is she thinks it's all my fault, and I'm going to lose my job, and I wanted it more'n anyone in the village, because I haven't got anybody belonging to me, the way other folks have. All I wanted was to put aside money enough to get away from here sometime.”

Rating: 4.75 stars


I am biased because I love Wharton's writing. This is my second time to read this book. Only she can write a book about a cringe-worthy relationship and tragedy and have me absolutely love it.

4 stars.

I love Edith Wharton and I like romances, and since I have read a few things by her I went into this not expecting a straight-forward romantic tale; which is certainly not what you get. As ever with Wharton, this was beautifully written, with a great sense of place. It was more "modern" in the portrayal of Charity's sexuality than I was expecting. I particularly liked the ambiguity of the ending. It seems very dark to me; Charity seemed almost in a trance in her wedding ceremony and not fully aware of what she was doing, but it was perhaps(?) making the best of a horrible situation. Unsettling.

This is a beautifully written and sensitive love story, for the time quite bold in the way it addresses female sexuality so I can see why it was controversial. It is also a coming of age story as Charity Royall learns about herself through her relationships with her lover Lucius Harney and her guardian and protector Lawyer Royall, and she moves from a rather excitable and naive girl to a pragmatic woman whose suffering has lent her wisdom and resignation.

I like Edith Wharton’s writing and enjoyed the rural setting of this novella as well as the contrast of small town life and the abject poverty of the Mountain. Rural or city, Wharton shows us the difficulties of life for a woman, but in a very engaging and heartwarming way.