edith wharton.

i didn’t start out as a huge edith wharton fan as my first exposure to her writing was ethan frome as a junior in high school. my classmates and i were disgusted by how heavy and depressing the book was. after reading the age of innocence and the house of mirth, i can’t say i would call wharton’s writing uplifting or even in the ballpark of “sunny” but i love her ability to break down social hierarchies and ambition and paint multi layered characters caught in the web of convention.

a few years ago i bought hermione lee’s biography on wharton but haven’t touched it yet (the thing is HUGE). now that i have blown through all her major works it might be time to dust it off.