Edith Wharton

Author profile

born

January 24, 1862 in New York, New York, The United States

died

August 11, 1937

gender

female

genre

Literature & Fiction

About this author

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Edith Newbold Jones 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 whic...more Edith Newbold Jones 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.

In 1913 Edith divorced Edward. She lived mostly in France for the remainder of her life. When World War I broke out, she organized hostels for refugees, worked as a fund-raiser, and wrote for American publications from battlefield frontlines. She was awarded the French Legion of Honor for her courage and distinguished work.

The Age of Innocence, a novel about New York in the 1870s, earned Wharton the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1921 -- the first time the award had been bestowed upon a woman. Wharton traveled throughout Europe to encourage young authors. She also continued to write, lying in her bed every morning, as she had always done, dropping each newly penned page on the floor to be collected and arranged when she was finished. Wharton suffered a stroke and died on August 11, 1937. She is buried in the American Cemetery in Versailles, France.
- Barnesandnoble.com(less)

combine editions
Books by Edith Wharton

Average rating: 3.68 · 105,565 ratings · 7,427 reviews · 256 distinct works

	The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, Maureen Howard (Introduction) 3.89 avg rating — 33,442 ratings — published 1920 — 37 editions	My rating:
	Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, Elizabeth Ammons (Annotations) 3.25 avg rating — 31,362 ratings — published 1911 — 207 editions	My rating:
	The House of Mirth 3.91 avg rating — 21,072 ratings — published 1905 — 7 editions	My rating:
	Ethan Frome and Other Short Fiction by Edith Wharton, Mary Gordon (Introduction) 3.58 avg rating — 4,166 ratings — published 1911 — 8 editions	My rating:
	Summer by Edith Wharton, Dover Thrift Editions 3.62 avg rating — 3,068 ratings — published 1917 — 115 editions	My rating:
	The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton, Linda Wagner-Martin (Annotations) 3.92 avg rating — 2,357 ratings — published 1912 — 34 editions	My rating:
	The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton, Marion Mainwaring 3.80 avg rating — 1,533 ratings — published 1938 — 29 editions	My rating:
	Roman Fever and Other Stories 4.12 avg rating — 720 ratings — published 1934 — 10 editions	My rating:
	The Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton, Regina Barreca (Introduction) 3.80 avg rating — 790 ratings — published 1922 — 81 editions	My rating:
	The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton, Laszlo Kubinyi (Illustrator) 3.81 avg rating — 729 ratings — published 1976 — 21 editions	My rating:

More books by Edith Wharton…

Quotes by Edith Wharton

“Life is always either a tightrope or a feather bed. Give me the tightrope.”
― Edith Wharton

tags: tough-broad

702 people liked it

“If only we'd stop trying to be happy, we could have a pretty good time.”
― Edith Wharton

tags: happiness

392 people liked it

“There are two ways of spreading light: to be
The candle or the mirror that reflects it.”
― Edith Wharton

tags: positive

219 people liked it

See all Edith Wharton's quotes »

Polls

Which books would you like to read for June's category 1?

The Ruins by Scott B. Smith and The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

24 votes, 51.1%

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

23 votes, 48.9%

47 total votes

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