From Hermione Lee, the internationally acclaimed, award-winning biographer of Virginia Woolf and Willa Cather, comes a superb reexami...
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Feb 05, 2009
Edith Wharton had an unfortunate habit of burning her letters, which makes her an elusive topic for biographers. Critics enthusiastically agreed, however, that Hermione Lee succeeds in bringing Wharton to vibrant life. They were impressed by Lee's scholarship and unwillingness to speculate, as others have done before her, without proof. Instead, Lee teases out the details of Wharton's life by analyzing evidence that scholars often overlook: houses she decorated, travel itineraries, and reading l
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Jul 10, 2009
Elizabeth
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It's taken me forever to read this biography. But it was well worth it--an amazing writer and an amazing woman. (The fact that I read the Al Smith bio at the same time was interesting. They lived at the same time in the same city and you would think they were from different planets because they were). Hermione Lee is a wonderful dedicated biographer with a great style. Wharton's life is dense and it's slow-going, but I enjoyed it. I am grateful that her childhood letters weren't available
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Aug 19, 2011
Lynne-marie
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A brilliant literary biographer takes on a second-rate novelist determined to raise her standing from that of a frozen-blooded bluestocking to a full-fledged major author. Quite a feat to undertake. And, Lee almost achieves it … except that Wharton's works remain stubbornly ice-bound, no matter how modern-oriented Lee attempts to make Wharton seem. Ruined in her early years, Wharton never recovered to full adult-hood and, indeed, hated men all her life. Such a basis is not the platform from
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Nov 13, 2011
Corinne E.
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This book was well written and impeccably researched. However, it is far too long and contains too many details that are not necessary and which do not illuminate the subject of Edith Wharton--her work and life. I experienced the book as a kind of seed catalogue and, while reading it, it occurred to me, in a politically incorrect nationalist fashion, that we would likely do better if an educated American, as opposed to a British woman with a decided penchant for writing biographies of our nat
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May 05, 2009
Emily
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Although I have almost zero interest in military strategy, I do believe I would read a biography of Vice Admiral Nelson if Hermione Lee wrote one. Her prose is an absolute pleasure, she's insightful and nuanced, and I'm very lucky that she happens to specialize in authors of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, rather than in tire manufacturers or bank directors. Her most recent book, Edith Wharton, only heightens my esteem: she paints a complex, multi-dimensional portrait of Whart
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Oct 22, 2010
Kate
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A comprehensive biography of a writer whose novels I have long admired. Wharton was a keen observer of the milieu (upper class New York of the 1880s and 1890s) in which she came of age; as Hermione Lee comments, "...one of her achievements was to write with hard, penetrating, analytical realism about a society 'wholly absorbed in barricading itself against the unpleasant.'" (p. 32). Unfortunately she was also a racist, anti-Semitic and anti-feminist snob, which considerably diminishe
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Oct 31, 2010
I love this book. I visited Wharton's home, The Mount, in Lenox last month and became fascinated with the question of how a woman of high social standing, who received no formal education became an internationally acclaimed writer. Lee writes about how Wharton chronicled the shallowness and hypocrisies of high society in end of the 19c. Century NY while simultaneously detailing the norms of society, popular architecture, elements of interior design, and vividly describing the content and design
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Dec 21, 2011
Vicki
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Early on in this hefty tome, I found myself enjoying it immensely. The approach is more thematic than chronological, so I wouldn't recommend this as a first introduction to the life of Edith Wharton - the RWB Lewis biography is still probably best for that. But this is still an engrossing new examination of Wharton as an artist, person and influencer. This book also has some of the best insights I've found so far into the complex relationship between Wharton, Henry James and his circle.
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Jul 04, 2011
Becky
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In short, Lee's biography is more than just a book about the famous author Edith Wharton. In this densely written book, we learn about the culture of turn of the century, upper-class society in New York City. We learn about gardens and landscaping in the United States in comparison to Italy and other European countries. We learn about little lap dogs, and their popularity way before the likes of Paris Hilton started toting them around. We learn of the ever sophisticated, cultural center that
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Oct 05, 2010
Lara
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I first attempted to read this biography when it came out. It was during winter break of my first year of grad school, and I was reading anything I could find about Edith Wharton. I thought this biography seemed unparalleled in its breadth and quality. Turner Classic Movies forced me to rethink my initial reaction.
A few days after Christmas in 2007, when I was first reading it, I saw a commercial on TCM claiming they were to air the 1934 production of "The Age of Innocence." More...
A few days after Christmas in 2007, when I was first reading it, I saw a commercial on TCM claiming they were to air the 1934 production of "The Age of Innocence." More...
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Jan 15, 2008
Melissa
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Listened to the abridged audiobook... can only imagine how many pages I would have skipped if I was reading it. The long descriptions of her gardens, the passages in untranslated French, the relationships among the Paris haute monde who I never heard of... there were many times I know I zoned out. I did enjoy, however, the analysis of her books, which I haven't read in a long time and long to go back to, although I can't because of the endless schoolwork. I was disappointed by Wharton's snobbish
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Aug 03, 2008
Garen
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Hermione Lee wishes she were Edith Wharton. But, she's not.
Where Ms. Wharton illuminates a whole world, she never presumes a frame of reference and is sure to lead us through each nuance of her geography with a carefully drawn map of perfectly chosen words and descriptions. Ms. Lee drops us in the middle of her city in the middle of the block, and it is only by diligence that we can see the signs or street names: She launches into German or French, offering no translation; names peop More...
Where Ms. Wharton illuminates a whole world, she never presumes a frame of reference and is sure to lead us through each nuance of her geography with a carefully drawn map of perfectly chosen words and descriptions. Ms. Lee drops us in the middle of her city in the middle of the block, and it is only by diligence that we can see the signs or street names: She launches into German or French, offering no translation; names peop More...
Oct 15, 2008
Gemma
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I was late to work this morning because I was finishing this book.
I cried when Edith died. I know, it’s her biography, she dies at the end! But still. It was really movingly done. But not overly sentimental!
That’s the main thing I like about Hermione Lee is that she treats her subjects with love and respect, but also fairly. Read: multi-dimensionally. Edith Wharton hated Jews and supported the fascist party. When she died in 1937, she admitted she was afraid of Hitler and More...
I cried when Edith died. I know, it’s her biography, she dies at the end! But still. It was really movingly done. But not overly sentimental!
That’s the main thing I like about Hermione Lee is that she treats her subjects with love and respect, but also fairly. Read: multi-dimensionally. Edith Wharton hated Jews and supported the fascist party. When she died in 1937, she admitted she was afraid of Hitler and More...
Jul 17, 2007
El
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I took my time with this book partly because it is 800+ pages and hardcover (thus unwieldy and difficult to carry on the bus), but also because Edith is my girl and I wanted to spend as much time with her as I could. The author clearly knows Edith's business and was eager to share it with the world. R.W.B. Lewis and other previous biographers were able to take a reader to Edith's world only on a surface level. Hermione Lee was able to take a reader into Edith's world as though the reader is a
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Dec 16, 2008
Alicia
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I have been struggling through Hermione Lee's exceptionally well-written biography about Edith Wharton. It is actually quite readable but it 750 pages long and that is quite a time commitment for all but the most dedicated Wharton fans.
Having said that, if you have any interest in Edith Wharton, this is an exceptional and quite readable biography and I do highly recommend it. It is worth the time investment if you are a fan of Wharton, American literature and/or women in history.
Having said that, if you have any interest in Edith Wharton, this is an exceptional and quite readable biography and I do highly recommend it. It is worth the time investment if you are a fan of Wharton, American literature and/or women in history.
Aug 07, 2009
Rodney
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Wharton herself would surely appreciate the craft and fastidious comprehensiveness of this book, which mirrors her own approach to art and life. It does go overboard just a little, such as when Lee lists just about every wine in Wharton's cellar, but otherwise the author does a splendid job of turning years of research into a brilliantly interesting story of a highly eventful life. A perfect example of a biographer who is worthy of her subject.
Dec 17, 2009
Sarah
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Well, it is really a wonderful throughly researched book...but I couldn't finish it. After I got through the time of her divorce, I skipped right to the analysis of her novels along with fun andecdotes about the characters that are thinly (or not so thinly) disgused real people. The actual discussion of the literature was much more interesting to me than the story of her life. What does that say about me? Do I prefer to draft my own ideas about the author's character solely through the works
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Aug 17, 2009
louise
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this is thew best biography I have ever read about an author. The details she has about the authors life add so to the reading of her books. You see where she found her characters and her stories. The life Wharton led was a fascinating one in itself, she traveled a great deal into unknown places off the beaten track, she was adventurous. Her expatriate life and friendships are fascinating. Fabulous read
Jun 02, 2009
Laurie
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I liked it enough to finish it, but struggled to understand why I never was captured - I enjoy Wharton's books and thought the biography would be a delight. I think it came down to this; I prefer biographies that really set up the culture and the politics of the time period. Hermione Lee did this to a small degree; I would have preferred more. But overall, I think this is a must-read for Wharton fans.
Feb 25, 2009
Patricia
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This was the summer (08) read for my book group. It's big and dense but it's a very good literary biography and I enjoyed it more than I expected I would.
I did get bogged down and had to stop for awhile. As a literary biography the author does a good job tying Wharton's life to her body of work, but the in-depth analysis of some of her novels got really old for me. I'm not a big fan of her fiction; I find it long-winded and preachy at times. Part of this is the time it was writte More...
I did get bogged down and had to stop for awhile. As a literary biography the author does a good job tying Wharton's life to her body of work, but the in-depth analysis of some of her novels got really old for me. I'm not a big fan of her fiction; I find it long-winded and preachy at times. Part of this is the time it was writte More...
Jun 22, 2008
Kelly
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This will take me a year to read, at least. It is so dense. And very long. And heavy. When I am lying in bed to read this and I want to put it down, I have to do so with two hands -- one hand is not strong enough. But I digress. Edith Wharton herself was clearly an amazing woman, but Hermione Lee makes her life "accessible" without drawing unwarranted conclusions or taking anything for granted. By "accessible" I mean with adequate historical context provided so that yo
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Aug 15, 2007
Lauren
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It took me all summer to read this biography which is both magnificent and a bit of a slog. I liked Lee's biography of Virginia Woolf better, but this is deep, generous, and extremely thoughful about the work. It is perhaps more about Wharton than you ever wanted to know, but some chapters are just masterpieces, mini-essays on topics as varied as her relationship with Henry James, the gardens in her last two French houses, and her reaction to modernism in the 1920s.
Best of all, I will be More...
Best of all, I will be More...
Jan 21, 2012
I've always meant to read one of Hermione Lee's celebrated biographies. Please inform me if the one on Virginia Woolf in better, I just happen to find Edith Wharton a smidge more alluring.
Apr 01, 2010
Linda
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This was a wonderful book on the life of Edith Wharton. I learned so much about her and the time period she lived in.
May 11, 2009
Patricia
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This was an impressive work that reflects Lee's thorough and dauntless scholarship. Even though I sometimes bowed my head under the onslaught of details that will undoubtedly be more relished by Wharton scholars than by a curious common reader, it was reassuring to be in such competent hands. Ultimately the long read was worth it because the biography is informed not only by meticulous research, but also by a sympathetic imagaination. Lee's ability to enter into Wharton's passions made the secti
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Feb 28, 2011
C.M.
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At last, Wharton has the bio she deserves. A grand, plummy pleasure to read, all 850+ pages.
Apr 01, 2009
letterbyletter
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Time to admit defeat at page 330 (of 700+ pages). Lee's meticulous detailing of Wharton's various and wide-ranging interests, including Italian gardens and American interior design, is intriguing, but it's not quite the introduction I was looking for.
Jun 16, 2008
Joanna
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An exhaustingly thorough analysis of Wharton's life and writings. I adore Wharton's work and studied her in grad school, but this book is not for the faint at heart. Once she moved to France and wasn't writing as frequently, I lost interest and haven't been able to finish it.
Update: Now it's June 2008, and I picked this up again last month. Finally finished it, and glad I did. It was interesting to see how an aging author deals with changing society morals and settings, esp when that More...
Update: Now it's June 2008, and I picked this up again last month. Finally finished it, and glad I did. It was interesting to see how an aging author deals with changing society morals and settings, esp when that More...
