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Summer

3.65 of 5 stars 3.65 · rating details · 4,339 ratings · 364 reviews

A new Englander of humble origins, Charity Royall is swept into a torrid love affair with an artistically inclined young man from New York City, but her dreams of a future with him are thwarted.

A bold, provocative work, 'Summer' was an immediate sensation when first published in 1917 and still stands as one of Wharton's greatest achievements.

Paperback, Thrift Edition, 144 pages

Published September 15th 2006 by Dover Publications (first published 1917)

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Mar 29, 2010 karen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: littry-fiction, my-summer-of-classix

this book is touted as "edith wharton's most erotic book". the introduction blabs on and on about its eroticism, and how scandalous it is. so i have devised a little drinking game. i invite you - i entreat you - to prepare a shot glass with your favorite scotch or whiskey, and do a shot every time you start feeling a little hot from all the sexy good times. i pretty much guarantee that shot glass will be untouched by the end of your readings. this book is not erotic, even in the broadest, most m...more

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Jun 28, 2012 Becky rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics, 1001books, librivox-audiobooks-they-re-free, women-s-studies

This is the first time that I’ve revisited Wharton since having thrust upon me when I could properly appreciate her in high school. The flow of the narrative was simple and clear, but it was profound. I think that the sentences unadulterated by lofty adjectives and convoluted sentence structure that was sometimes preferred at the time very well suit the story that Wharton was telling.

Still, I remained unmoved by the story. I couldn’t connect with the characters; I couldn’t find myself sympathizi...more

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Aug 22, 2011 Dale rated it 4 of 5 stars

Wharton - one of my top top favorites - calls this short novel the "hot Ethan Frome" and that's exactly right: it's very similar to EF, and very different from most of her novels, in many ways. And yet - you see glimmers of what become hallmarks for her, for example, her adoptive father and his ways echo or foreshadow Mr. Rosedale, and the internal monologue and subtle and slow change in perception of these men, by each heroine, glimmer with the other. I've always thought of Ethan Frome as so ve...more

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May 25, 2009 Wanda rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: 2009, ebooks

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 08, 2011 Nenia Campbell rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: x-1910s, 1001-books

I found Charity Royall a very obnoxious character, personally. She was selfish, arrogant, and greedy. I hated her self-righteous attitude in the beginning, and her over-entitled attitude in her adoptive father's house (even if he was a total creeper, yech). I hated the way she treated Lucius in the beginning, and her defensive, spiteful attitude after he TRIED TO HELP her! And then when he sort of breaks up with her at one point, she stalks him. What a bitch!

The story itself was pretty good, and...more

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Oct 01, 2007 Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

This is a book about a girl's sexual awakening and the pure pleasure she derives from it. Of course, there are consequences involved, especially since this is a poor girl near the bottom of the social ladder in a small western New England town.

Summer is very different from The House of Mirth or The Age of Innocence where sex was either avoided, unfulfilled or occured offstage. This book deals with both sexuality and class distinction and touches on incest as well. While these topics are openly...more

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Apr 19, 2013 Dianne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013

Charity Royall lives in the tiny New England village of North Dormer with her guardian, the temperamental Lawyer Royall. Lawyer is his occupation, not his name which I don't think we are ever given. He became her guardian when he "brought her down from the mountain" where she lived among poverty stricken people, taking her away from her mother who was more than willing to have one less mouth to feed. Mrs. Royall died when Charity was about 15 years old, leaving Mr. Royall and Charity to rattle a...more Charity Royall lives in the tiny New England village of North Dormer with her guardian, the temperamental Lawyer Royall. Lawyer is his occupation, not his name which I don't think we are ever given. He became her guardian when he "brought her down from the mountain" where she lived among poverty stricken people, taking her away from her mother who was more than willing to have one less mouth to feed. Mrs. Royall died when Charity was about 15 years old, leaving Mr. Royall and Charity to rattle around in the emptiness of their lonely house.

At seventeen, Charity is discontented with her sleepy small town life, especially after her guardian makes it clear he would like to be something more than guardian to her. When the town librarian dies, she applies for the part-time job, hoping for both distraction and a little money of her own. One summer day an attractive young man, Mr. Harney, comes in to find a book and Charity's life suddenly becomes more exciting.

They spend a lot of time together that summer, Charity driving him about the neighbourhood in Mr. Royall's buggy so he can sketch local architecture. For the first time, Charity is happy. She loves both the attention Mr. Harney pays her and the freedom of doing what she pleases, unchaperoned and unchallenged. Eventually though, the fairytale ends and Mr. Harney must return to his job in New York.

When Charity makes the shattering discovery that her lover has been engaged to someone else the entire time, she is already carrying his child. The options open to her are few and none of them attractive. She could go back to the mountain and raise her child in conditions more horrible than she had ever imagined, she could try to suppress the "grave surprise of motherhood" that already has her experiencing the protective maternal instinct and have her child aborted, or she could marry Mr. Royall and face a loveless lifetime of marriage. I won't spoil it by telling you the rest.

I enjoy Edith Wharton's writing; there's an atmosphere of resignation in her stories that I find appealingly realistic. In "Summer" Charity sets the tone early in the first chapter when she sighs: "How I hate everything!" Even when she falls in love and is feeling intensely happy, the reader senses that such happiness can't last. When she loses it, it feels inevitable.

A couple of passages I particularly liked:

"Such had been the sole link between North Dormer and literature, a link piously commemorated by the erection of the monument where Charity Royall, every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, sat at her desk under a freckled steel engraving of the deceased authour, and wondered if he felt any deader in his grave than she did in his library."

"...their past was now rich enough to have given them a private language."

Good writing, a great sense of place and realistic characters give me lots of reason to recommend this one - at least to anyone who doesn't absolutely have to have a happy ending. (less)

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Mar 25, 2013 Gale rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: american-classics, american-women-writers, romance

DISCOVERY OF SECRET PASSIONS
“Smoldering Passions and Self restraint”

Edith Wharton’s second novel set in New England was written during
World War 1 from her expatriate’s home in Paris in 1916. Her style does not reflect a sentimental reminiscence for gentle hills and bountiful earth, for she continues her evocation of the starkness of social existence, against the desolation of the heartless landscape of New England, which she began in ETHAN FROME. While the former story is related by an objec...more DISCOVERY OF SECRET PASSIONS
“Smoldering Passions and Self restraint”

Edith Wharton’s second novel set in New England was written during
World War 1 from her expatriate’s home in Paris in 1916. Her style does not reflect a sentimental reminiscence for gentle hills and bountiful earth, for she continues her evocation of the starkness of social existence, against the desolation of the heartless landscape of New England, which she began in ETHAN FROME. While the former story is related by an objective narrator during a prolonged winter stay, SUMMER—presented by the omniscient narrator--opens in June, culminates on July 4th and ends in early frosty autumn. In both cases it is the arrival of a stranger which serves as a catalyst to set the stories in motion. It is during these months of Nature’s extremes of heat and color, perfume and growth, that passion flowers in the breast of the youthful protagonist.

Raised as a charity child, brought down in human compassion from the wretched Mountain community, Charity at 17 treads a wary existence in the red house. At home she bolts her door against the possible repetition of attempted lechery on the part of her sexually-frustrated guardian, while by day she sits bored in the decaying library—a legacy from old Hatchard. Books may gather dust and mold but the heroine recognizes the siren lure of Nature in this season of ripening desire. She has no wish to rot inside, unappreciated by locals and unloved by any man, until Lucius Harney, doing research on quaint, historical residences, arrives to spend the summer with his elderly aunt. As an objective outsider he can not possibly be tainted by the shameful whispers about Charity’s past. Or can he…

Sentenced for Life?
So how does a young woman of the in early 20th century dare to seek to escape the social prison of a Victorian mindset—does she have the right to shape her own destiny, to challenge and disown her negative heritage, to carve out her own role in backwater North Dormer--whose very name suggests a window into what should be privacy. The village rumor mill runs rampant despite the platonic nature of her nighttime vigil. After the innuendoes about a certain fallen girl’s visit to a particular House in a larger town, it is inevitable that Charity’s indiscretions will be magnified and distorted—until they ultimately prove true. Is she to be trapped among these little minds with even less heart for life? Does the man she passionately loves have the stuff of true romantic heroes or will he succumb to expediency? The controversial ending may puzzle readers, but in some sense it is a mild victory for decency and practicality--if not for happiness.

(June 18, 2008. I welcome dialogue with teachers.)

(less)

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Mar 23, 2013 Barb Terpstra rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the first book I've read by Edith Wharton I think (it's possible I read "The Age of Innocence" but I'm not 100% certain).

This book centers around a girl, her name is Charity, who is, in fact a charity case. She was brought "down from the mountain" which, in her town, would be where all the undesireables live. Charity has a complicated relationship with her guardian, Mr. Royall. Although he is the one who brought her down from the mountain, she views him as a hard man who does not care fo...more

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Jul 23, 2012 Brenda Sorrels rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was part of a recent blog posting I did at http://www.brendasorrels.com/blog/ so I'll just give the "gist" of it here.

I tried to read this book freshman year in college, but I couldn't get into it. This time I let the cover make me believe I was in for a perfect "summer" read, and delved in knowing really nothing about the nature of the book. I was in for a surprise. Wharton's main character, Charity, is young and unformed, a time in her life when first love seems to be everything, a...more

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May 06, 2012 Sara rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: general-fiction

Eighteen-year-old Charity Royall, the ward of the town lawyer, has grown up the quiet, dull little town of North Dormer. Only a recent trip to the town of Nettleton opened her eyes to just how small and insignificant her town, and her life, is, and that knowledge was pushed to the back of her mind after returning home. But the intrusion into her life of a young man named Lucius Harney is about to reawaken her longing for life beyond the small town.

One of the things that caught my attention in th...more

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Feb 25, 2012 Tony rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-mainstream

SUMMER. (1917), Edith Wharton. ****.
Ms. Wharton described this novel as her “hot Ethan” book, referring to her earlier novel, Ethan Frome (which I should probably read again, since it’s been forty-some years since I last read it). Both novels are set in the Berkshires in Massachusetts, as opposed to her usual settings of the well-to-do in NYC. It turns out that this novel is a love story with a twist. A young girl, Charity Royall, lives with her adoptive father in a small town nestled in the hi...more SUMMER. (1917), Edith Wharton. ****.
Ms. Wharton described this novel as her “hot Ethan” book, referring to her earlier novel, Ethan Frome (which I should probably read again, since it’s been forty-some years since I last read it). Both novels are set in the Berkshires in Massachusetts, as opposed to her usual settings of the well-to-do in NYC. It turns out that this novel is a love story with a twist. A young girl, Charity Royall, lives with her adoptive father in a small town nestled in the hills. Charity discovers early on that he is a borderline alcoholic, but she is still grateful for his taking her in – away from the poverty that would have been her fate with her “family” in the mountains. Her benefactor was once a very active lawyer, but now spends most of his time in the village working, though not very hard, with his local clients. Charity remains relatively isolated and has few friends her age, mainly because of the size of the village. That changes when a cousin of a neighbor arrives in town to stay for a while and plans to study the architecture of the village. This budding architect and Charity soon become friends, and she offers to take him around the area so that he can sketch the houses of interest to him. In due course, the friendly relationship becomes hotter, and Charity’s sexual passion is awakened. She sees this man, Lucius Harney, as a potential way out of the small town she is trapped in. While this relationship is developing, Charity also learns that her guardian has more than a casual interest in her when he comes into her bedroom after a few drinks too many. Although years older than her, he proposes marriage to her, which she immediately turns down. Her desperation to get out of the village increases exponentially. After a while, she discovers that she is pregnant, and that her supposed knight in shining armor is becoming less knightly. The novel tracks the interplay between men and women, and between village and city life in a very frank (for the time) way. It is a novel about repressed sexuality, prejudice, and, in a quiet and subtle way, incest. Recommended.
(less)

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Feb 05, 2012 Alex rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reading-through-history, 2012

I was told this book was dirty, and ...well, to be fair, I was told it was dirty "for Wharton," which I suppose is true as far as it goes, but still: oblique references to illicit trysts aren't exactly begging for the fap when you fade out after they hold hands. Remind me this though: next time I'm sitting next to a leathery woman from Lowell on the bus and she's all "Hey, what are YOU reading?" and I say "Edith Wharton" and she mishears me and thinks I said "It's for work," and gives me a lectu...more

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Oct 15, 2011 Corinne E. Blackmer rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Corinne E. by: Betsy Beacom

Shelves: earlier-american, fiction

Charity Royall is a beautiful, limited, petulant, and yearning young woman trapped in the New England town of North Dormer, Massachusetts, and literally expiring from boredom. She is the orphaned ward of an elderly lawyer in town who manages to squash plans for her to receive a formal education. That lack of education, coupled with boredom, sets the stage for the sexual tragedy that occurs one summer when she meets the visiting young architect, Lucius Harney. Charity falls in love and gets pregn...more

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Sep 02, 2011 Jenny Blounts rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book so much more than I thought I would! It has all of the compelling romance and drama that one would expect from a short novella about the sexual coming-of-age of a young woman in a small New England town and, admittedly, that's what kept me turning the pages. However, Wharton is no writer of silly, frivolous romances. The story of Charity Royall is also one of complex class structures, gender limitations, the discovery of one's identity, and missed opportunities.

Charity Royall,...more I loved this book so much more than I thought I would! It has all of the compelling romance and drama that one would expect from a short novella about the sexual coming-of-age of a young woman in a small New England town and, admittedly, that's what kept me turning the pages. However, Wharton is no writer of silly, frivolous romances. The story of Charity Royall is also one of complex class structures, gender limitations, the discovery of one's identity, and missed opportunities.

Charity Royall, originally born in a desolate, crime-ridden mountain community, is adopted at a young age by Mr. Royall and his wife, who passes away while Charity is still young. Charity passes her childhood in North Dormer, a lower middle class town that offers limited opportunities to a young woman as independent and spirited as Charity. As Charity reaches womanhood, her relationship with her guardian becomes more complicated and, in the midst of this arrives Lucius Harney, a handsome, young, worldly architect who is visiting from out of town. Charity is immediately smitten with this unlikely match, and a summer romance ensues.

This is no fairytale, however, and as the outside world, social structures and expectations, and Charity's own growing sense of her own true identity complicate things, the story takes some turns that are--although somewhat predictable, it's true--seemingly inevitable. This inevitability is powerfully disappointing, considering Charity's unique strength, independent spirit, and spunk. Charity is by no means flawless, however, and, generally, Wharton's complex characterization of all of the main characters urge the reader to look beyond a simple "life is unfair" moral and to really consider what leads Charity to her destiny (I'm still pondering this...)

Wharton's prose is quite rich, with lush descriptions that perfectly capture the essence of a golden, dreamy summer of youth, one that is abuzz with life and bursting with possibilities. At the end of the book, as Charity is contending with the fallout of her summer romance and, at the same time, coming face-to-face with who she really is, autumn has set in with its cold, hard nights, and it is apparent how easily reality can steal away the fleeting freedom of summer.(less)

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Apr 16, 2011 Greenland rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This was tucked into a recent care package sent by Shannon and I believe I took it as a challenge. Change has been big in my life in the past year (A Photoshopped pic of me regenerating would not be so far from the truth.) so perhaps my ability to read and enjoy classic romances had changed, as well?

Summer is definitely not my usual type of read. Charity develops no paranormal abilities, Lucius is not a ghost and neither he or Charity are time travelers meeting each other in a non-linear fashion...more This was tucked into a recent care package sent by Shannon and I believe I took it as a challenge. Change has been big in my life in the past year (A Photoshopped pic of me regenerating would not be so far from the truth.) so perhaps my ability to read and enjoy classic romances had changed, as well?

Summer is definitely not my usual type of read. Charity develops no paranormal abilities, Lucius is not a ghost and neither he or Charity are time travelers meeting each other in a non-linear fashion. The village is not a mental construct of Royall's nor is The Mountain a slumbering eldritch horror. There is one scene where Charity and Lucius ride out a rainstorm in a hoary ramshackle cabin while a menacing redneck threatens to awaken. The twist, for me? He does not turn out to be a zombie.

That kind of SFF story and the brisk, modern prose that it tends to be told in have been the only thing I've been able to read for quite a few years. In comparison, literary romances come off as dense and sleepy to me, so I was happily surprised that I took to Summer so immediately.

A lot of it has to do with Edith Wharton's own brisk pace. (This is to her detriment at the end of the book, but we'll get to that.) The story consists mainly of Charity reacting to her limited world and watching as it transforms bit by bit, from social events to quiet resolutions, so it builds slowly. Nevertheless, I was constantly curious as to where the characters were going to go next. Wharton's writing style is well-paced, flitting quickly through but stopping now and then to offer a particularly flowery bit of descriptive context. This book is very light on dialogue, as well, and yet it doesn't feel bogged down in exposition. It's all very well crafted and precise while feeling casual.

I ended up sympathizing with all three of the main characters and found lovely little idiosyncracies in their personalities that I could readily see in people I knew (or have known). Lucius' awkward courting during the fireworks just kills me. Once he and Charity finally go on an excursion it becomes readily apparent how limited a person he is both in interests and means. To Charity everything is a wonder, to the reader a shitty cheap cafe does not a date make!

Charity is an unendingly selfish teenager, denying herself the very growth she desires more than anything in favor of comfort, but her very first utterance in the novel is something I could immediately see as the opening line of any current YA novel. I never quite liked her but I was always engaged by her.

Royall drew great wells of pity from me, being an old man who the world has passed by, who remembers social proprieties but can't recall why certain boundaries are where they are. Wharton allows him to make some serious mistakes but stops him short of being a true villain and I adore this decision on her part, as it makes him a far FAR more interesting character.

The storytelling present has one major flaw in that Wharton suddenly draws everything up short in Chapter 15. After such a fluid, languid plot, suddenly we're given Every Dramatic Turn that can possibly be made. Charity begins the chapter cuddling up happily with Lucius and ends it shivering in a ditch, pregnant, broke, and alone. The book re-establishes its pace after this and delivers a satisfying (if bleak) conclusion but...WOW. I hereby nominate Chapter 15 of Summer as Edith Wharton's "cocaine chapter."

I read this novel greedily on the subway and before bed each night, it's just so well-built and thoughtful. And I haven't even really scratched at the implications behind the characters, writing, and plot in this book.(less)

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Jan 25, 2011 Hyo Woo rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literature

I expect a happy ending or at least somewhat "feminist" ending (like Charity left the town to be independent) but the novel betrayes me although I enjoy the story of a lille girl with temper and self-absolved pride. Why did the author entitle this book as "Summer"?

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A girl came out of lawyer Royall’s house, at the end of the one street of North Dormer, and stood on the doorstep. (1)
“How I hate everything...more I expect a happy ending or at least somewhat "feminist" ending (like Charity left the town to be independent) but the novel betrayes me although I enjoy the story of a lille girl with temper and self-absolved pride. Why did the author entitle this book as "Summer"?

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A girl came out of lawyer Royall’s house, at the end of the one street of North Dormer, and stood on the doorstep. (1)
“How I hate everything!” she murmured. (2)
Charity Royall had always been told that she ought to consider it a privilege that her lot had been cast in North Dormer. She knew that, compared to the place she had come from, North Dormer represented all the blessings of the most refined civilization. (3)
He was a dreadfully “lonesome” man; she had made that out because she was so “lonesome” herself. He and she, face to face in that sad house, had sounded the depths of isolation; and though she felt no particular affection for him, and not the slightest gratitude, she pitied him because she was conscious that he was superior to the people about him, and that she was the only being between him and solitude. (14)
“I want to have some money of my own. So was to get away when I want to…. Anywhere I can earn my living. I’ll try go up the Mountain if I have to.” (19)
“It’s no use trying to be anything in this place.” (25)
“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.” (33)
“This is where I belong-this is where I belong” she kept repeating to herself; but the words had no meaning for her. Every instinct and habit made her a stranger among these poor swamp-people living like vermin in their liar. (58)
“Things don’t change at North Dormer: people just get used to them.” (83)
She clung to him desperately, and as he drew her to his knees on the couch she felt as if they were being sucked down together into some bottomless abyss. (146)
Late that evening, in the cold autumn moonlight, they drove up to the door of the red house. (200)

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What is most interesting to me is the ending that Charity comes back at the red house with Mr. Royall after all. The novel starts from the subtle description of North Dormer which Charity “hates everything” (2). She thinks that she does not belong to the North Dormer community representing “all the blessings of the most refined civilization” compared to “the place she had come from” (3). Hence, it seems natural for Charity, who is eager to escape from her “prison,” to fall in love with Harney a friendly outsider of North Dormer. However, it is notable that she, intentionally or unintentionally, fails to escape. The first opportunity is rejected when she refused to go a boarding-school after Mrs. Royall’s death because she thinks Mr. Royall is a “dreadfully lonesome man” as much as she is (14), even though she still wants to earn money enough to get away from the village and be independent. Since she has not “got anybody belonging to [her], the way other folks have,” Charity keeps mentioning about the Mountain (19, 44), the origin which makes her “so different” (46). When Mr. Royall humiliates her in front of the public, Charity determines to go back to the Mountain where her own folks live. Similarly, after she finds out Harney’s betrayer and her pregnancy, Charity decides to return to the Mountain. However, both attempts fail and she ends up getting back to the red house. Charity realizes that the life in the Mountain is not good for her own child and leaves to save her child from such a miserable fate. In her imagination, the Mountain had symbolized her refuge to forget miserable and desperate situation in the reality, while she realizes that it was only her fancy. Marrying her guardian is somewhat understandable given her situation (a girl who has no money and pregnant out of wedlock), which belies my expectation of the ending that she leaves North Dormer behind to find new life although she still hides her secret by keeping the blue broach for her baby. What the author try to tell through Charity’s inescapableness? Why did she entitle the novel “Summer”? (less)

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Jul 29, 2010 Sera rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Fans of Edith Wharton or the classics in general

Shelves: classics, kindle, own, 1001-books

I really enjoy reading Edith Wharton novels. Similar to her others, she focuses on class differences as one of the themes in this book. However, unlike the others, instead of focusing on the upper echelons of society and who's in and who's out, she looks at the middle to low classes in this one. Interestingly, what happens to the characters in this story and how they act is so much more scandalous than anything that happened in The Age of Innocence. I wonder if Wharton's treatment of the charact...more

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Jul 19, 2010 Judy rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is one of Wharton's least-known novels, similar in some respects to Ethan Frome. While it was supposedly one of Wharton's own favorites, I didn't like it nearly as much as her short stories in Roman Fever. "Summer" is about the unexpected love affair between a young woman named Charity, who had been adopted from rough poverty as a young child and taken into the home of a married couple, and a handsome artist whose urban background and superior education would make them an unlikely match.

The...more

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May 03, 2009 Colleen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Edith Wharton now ranks up there with my favorite authors: Jane Austen, the Brontes, and Somerset Maugham. I've absolutely loved every book of hers that I've read. Summer is no exception. The story is timeless--a young, naive girl becomes enchanted by a man who breezes into town and has an affair with him. There are, of course, consequences--she becomes pregnant. The fact that this was written in 1917 must have been scandalous. As usual, with Wharton's books, there is no black and white, just lo...more

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Mar 03, 2011 Tracy rated it 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars. I agree with my mom, it is a compelling story of summer love.

The book club is reading Edith Wharton this month, and I happened to pick up a collection of novellas and short stories instead of getting just Ethan Frome. Yay for unexpected books from the library!

Why the 3.5 stars for a book I liked? It's an old story, so I think it didn't move me as much as a modern tale of the same situation might have. I liked it all the way through, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in Edi...more

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Jun 25, 2012 Helen Kitson added it

Shelves: fiction

The heroine of this novel is 18-year-old Charity Royall, who lives with her guardian having been taken from her mother on the Mountain, which represents the uncivilised world - "There's a queer colony up there, you know: sort of outlaws, a little independent kingdom".

In the first part of the novel Charity is sparky and independent. When her guardian stumbles into her bedroom one night, pleading 'lonesomeness', Charity roughly reminds him, "This ain't your wife's room any longer". She demands tha...more The heroine of this novel is 18-year-old Charity Royall, who lives with her guardian having been taken from her mother on the Mountain, which represents the uncivilised world - "There's a queer colony up there, you know: sort of outlaws, a little independent kingdom".

In the first part of the novel Charity is sparky and independent. When her guardian stumbles into her bedroom one night, pleading 'lonesomeness', Charity roughly reminds him, "This ain't your wife's room any longer". She demands that he gets Miss Hatchard to make her the new librarian, and insists that her guardian gets "a woman here in the house with me". Royall caves in pretty promptly, although he makes no secret of the fact that what he really wants is for Charity to marry him. Charity, though, wants "some money of my own" so that she can escape from Royall and from the small town of North Dormer.

If the moment when her guardian enters her bedroom is one of the novel's pivotal moments, so too is the arrival in the town of architect Lucius Harney, who seduces Charity but has no intention of marrying her. After her guardian verbally abuses her in public, seeing her out with Harney, Charity thinks of going back to the Mountain. For all her spark and assertiveness, the bottom line is that Charity's options are limited. "She had never learned any trade that would have given her independence in a strange place..."

Once she's discovered she's pregnant, again her first thought is of escape to the Mountain. When she arrives there, however, her horror of the place, the people "herded together in a sort of passive promiscuity in which their common misery was the strongest link", quickly drives her away. She is desperate to escape but realises that, for her, there is no escape. Beyond her small hometown, "everything...was darkness". If there are other options open to her, she can't see them, and so they might as well not exist.

Although the way the story ends seems to close off any chance of Charity finding independence, I don't think it's necessarily as bleak and un-feminist as some critics have claimed. It's true that she ends up married to a man she doesn't love, and that her 'salvation' is gained through the agency of a man rather than through her own efforts; nevertheless, he marries her because she's pregnant, as an act of kindness, and on their honeymoon he chooses to sleep in a chair rather than beside her in bed, 'to show her she was safe with him'. I think the modern reader has to remember that this book was published in 1917. Charity is a strong heroine, I believe, and I don't feel that her ultimate fate is indicative of any weakness on her part, more a practical acceptance of what she must do for her own sake and for that of the child she is carrying. [June 2005](less)

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Jun 01, 2012 Kristen rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. There's no doubt about it, Wharton is talented and has a very well-written novel here. However, I can't say that this was my favorite book. I should have started out with one of her other books maybe, like Age of Innocence? I think she wrote that one? Anyway, I found this one rather...upsetting. I hate Harney. For real???Why are men such animals? OK, let me rephrase that. Why are SOME men such animals?? The whole time you're thinking Mr. Royall is the creepy one because of certain events that ta...more There's no doubt about it, Wharton is talented and has a very well-written novel here. However, I can't say that this was my favorite book. I should have started out with one of her other books maybe, like Age of Innocence? I think she wrote that one? Anyway, I found this one rather...upsetting. I hate Harney. For real???Why are men such animals? OK, let me rephrase that. Why are SOME men such animals?? The whole time you're thinking Mr. Royall is the creepy one because of certain events that take place in the beginning, but no! Gr. But I love that her story comes full circle with Mr. Royall. He is the one person who truly loves her. Just as he saved her in the beginning, he saves her in the end.

I also didn't just love Charity. I actually find her quite selfish, even though she has these random acts of kindness, or to be more accurate, humaneness. Mostly she was robotic, and immature and had no depth as a character for me. She neglects her job at the library, (I mean seriously! Those poor books...) she cares only about her own feelings. I know this is a story about a girl growing up, discovering her sensuality, and learning the true attributes of love, but honestly. I really did not care for her. To be honest, she just seemed to be not the brightest person. I guess that's what happens when you're raised by a man who appears to not really talk to or care about you.

OK, this will be jumbled because I'm writing as my thoughts come to me. But as you can see, I have some conflicting feelings about this novel. On one hand, I have even decided I am indifferent about Charity, which is actually worse than hating or loving her. She's like a stranger, and 300 pages are devoted to her story! Weird. Summer is sad...but I think it's an illustration of the lesson many youth go through (maybe not always quite to that extent) of realizing what real, pure love is and should be. In that sense, I did enjoy it. So, I guess on the other hand, I am glad that Charity has flaws. I think it's a realistic depiction of a young girl growing up. It doesn't mean I like stark reality, but it is refreshing to see raw experiences and raw characters learning and molding to become something better than they were. I am definitely contradicting myself a lot in this review, but I guess that's just a sign that this book is written pretty well.(less)

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May 17, 2012 Kelsey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-in-2012

While not erotic by today's standards, I think a lot of reviewers are doing Wharton a disservice by claiming that this novel of a young woman's sexual awakening is not at all "sexy." Most of Wharton's other work, and the work of her contemporaries, presents a world where sex seems to not exist, or at least does not do so up front and center. In "Summer," love, sex, pregnancy, and abortion are all dealt with directly, with only a vague sense of euphemism. Charity was not my favorite female heroin...more

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Aug 23, 2011 Carrie rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I realize many people are complaining that they were expecting this book to be more "erotic", based on the description. Granted, it definitely wasn't the most erotic book I've ever read, but I think it helps to consider the context in which it was written. This book was written in 1917, almost 100 years ago, and given the social values of the time, and the difference in what was considered "shocking" or "scandalous" then, as opposed to now, I'd say this probably was pretty cutting edge for the...more I realize many people are complaining that they were expecting this book to be more "erotic", based on the description. Granted, it definitely wasn't the most erotic book I've ever read, but I think it helps to consider the context in which it was written. This book was written in 1917, almost 100 years ago, and given the social values of the time, and the difference in what was considered "shocking" or "scandalous" then, as opposed to now, I'd say this probably was pretty cutting edge for the time.
The plot revolves around a young woman, Charity Royall, who lives in a small town in rural New England with her guardian, Lawyer Royall, one of the most important men in town, who, along with his wife (who is now deceased), brought Charity "down from the Mountain", (a poor settlement of drinkers, prostitutes, and ne'er-do-wells that is looked down upon by the people in the neighboring towns) when she was five.
When she was seventeen, a drunken Mr. Royall tries to come into her room, presumably seeking sex, which prompts her to get a job at the local library, where she meets Lucius Harney, a young man from the "big city", who is a the cousin of one of her neighbors. They begin a friendship, which then turns into an affair. Mr. Royall does not approve of their relationship and offers to speak with Harney in order to get him to ask Charity to marry him. After Charity refuses to agree to this, Mr. Royall then asks her to marry him on two different occasions. Charity decines.
After Charity finds out that Harney is actually engaged to another girl, Miss Balch, whom Charity envies and has always viewed as a competitor, she finds out that she, Charity, is pregnant. She decides not to tell Harney and, even though he has promised to "take care of some things" (break off his engagement) and then come back and marry Charity. Charity then writes him a letter telling him to do the right thing and go on with his engagement and marriage to Miss Balch.
When Charity finds out she is pregnant, she makes the decision to go back up to the Mountain and look up her mother. She also decides she will keep her baby and do whatever it takes, even if that means becoming a prostitute, to take care of her child. On her way to the mountain, she runs in to the preacher, who is going up to the Mountain because Charity's mother is dying. She gets a ride with him, but her mother has already died when she arrives.
She stays the night up on the Mountain and decides that she is not going to stay there. When she leaves the next day, she encounters Mr. Royall, who has come looking for her. He again asks her to marry him, and this time she consents. She realizes that he knows she is pregnant, which is why he asks her to marry him. They go to a nearby town and get married, after which they return home to resume their lives.
Overall, I enjoyed this story, but I never did grow to like the character of Charity, who seemed to be a spoiled, stubborn, and just generally unlikeable character. Perhaps if the novel had been longer, and Wharton had developed the characters more in depth, I would have, but this was not the case. You definitely have to keep the context of the time in which this novel was written in mind when reading it, since societal values and what was considered "taboo" in 1917 is so different from what is considered "taboo" in 2011.

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Feb 16, 2013 Barbara rated it 5 of 5 stars

I'm currently on an Edith Wharton binge. Ethan Frome has long been my favorite novel so I thought it was about time I got around to reading more Wharton. According to the introduction, Edith Wharton considered this her finest book.
This book holds up nicely as a girl's coming of age story. Charity Royall is a great female lead character. She is genuine, brave and cheeky and she follows her heart. She is a survivor and lives without regret. Considering this novel was written in 1917, she is quite...more

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Oct 26, 2010 Destinee Sutton rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: grown-up-books, historical-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Charity Royall is an unusual character. She's happy just being friends with this hot young guy that strolls into town, even though she seems totally into him. Then she doesn't particularly want to marry said hot young guy once they fall in love. She isn't jealous of her lover's fiancee. She isn't worried about her reputation. She's so sure of the power she has over the men in her life. When she gets pregnant, she decides not to ensnare her lover in marriage. Instead, she's going to go off on her...more

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Jan 22, 2009 Jaime rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009, general_fiction

The first thing that struck me when I finished this book was how times have changed. This was considered extremely provocative when it was published, yet Charity and Harney are only described kissing a few times, and are never described doing anything else. Charity strikes me as a very unhappy young woman, and even ungrateful. She lives with her much older (and yes, imperfect) guardian, and treats him with nothing but scorn throughout the entire story, even though he took her in and cared for he...more

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Aug 22, 2011 Jenny rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved this book so much more than I thought I would! It has all of the compelling romance and drama that one would expect from a short novella about the sexual coming-of-age of a young woman in a small New England town and, admittedly, that's what kept me turning the pages. However, Wharton is no writer of silly, frivolous romances. The story of Charity Royall is also one of complex class structures, gender limitations, the discovery of one's identity, and missed opportunities.

Charity Royall,...more I loved this book so much more than I thought I would! It has all of the compelling romance and drama that one would expect from a short novella about the sexual coming-of-age of a young woman in a small New England town and, admittedly, that's what kept me turning the pages. However, Wharton is no writer of silly, frivolous romances. The story of Charity Royall is also one of complex class structures, gender limitations, the discovery of one's identity, and missed opportunities.

Charity Royall, originally born in a desolate, crime-ridden mountain community, is adopted at a young age by Mr. Royall and his wife, who passes away while Charity is still young. Charity passes her childhood in North Dormer, a lower middle class town that offers limited opportunities to a young woman as independent and spirited as Charity. As Charity reaches womanhood, her relationship with her guardian becomes more complicated and, in the midst of this arrives Lucius Harney, a handsome, young, worldly architect who is visiting from out of town. Charity is immediately smitten with this unlikely match, and a summer romance ensues.

This is no fairytale, however, and as the outside world, social structures and expectations, and Charity's own growing sense of her own true identity complicate things, the story takes some turns that are--although somewhat predictable, it's true--seemingly inevitable. This inevitability is powerfully disappointing, considering Charity's unique strength, independent spirit, and spunk. Charity is by no means flawless, however, and, generally, Wharton's complex characterization of all of the main characters urges the reader to look beyond a simple "life is unfair" moral and to really consider what leads Charity to her destiny (I'm still pondering this, personally...)

Wharton's prose is quite rich, with lush descriptions that perfectly capture the essence of a golden, dreamy summer of youth, one that is abuzz with life and bursting with possibilities. At the end of the book, as Charity is contending with the fallout of her summer romance and, at the same time, coming face-to-face with who she really is, autumn has set in with its cold, hard nights, and it is apparent how easily reality can steal away the fleeting freedom of summer. (less)

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Jul 24, 2010 Tressa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, general-fiction, kindle, womens-issues

Believe it or not, I consider this to be a page-turner of a novel because I couldn't wait to pick it up to see what was happening in Charity's life.

Charity was brought from the mountains as a little girl and raised by a middle-class couple named Royall. She falls in love with a wealthy young man named Lucius Harney, who seduces her into an affair. Charity lives a confused life, never really fitting in because she came from destitution, is living a comfortable life as a Royall, and sadly knows sh...more

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About Edith Wharton

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 a...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)

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“...though she had not had the strength to shake off the spell that bound her to him she had lost all spontaneity of feeling, and seemed to herself to be passively awaiting a fate she could not avert.” — 39 people liked it

“How I hate everything!” — 3 people liked it

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