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The Choice
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.
26 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 16, 2009
9 people are currently reading
66 people want to read
About the author
Edith Wharton
1,500 books5,343 followersEdith Wharton emerged as one of America’s most insightful novelists, deftly exposing the tensions between societal expectation and personal desire through her vivid portrayals of upper-class life. Drawing from her deep familiarity with New York’s privileged “aristocracy,” she offered readers a keenly observed and piercingly honest vision of Gilded Age society.
Her work reached a milestone when she became the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, awarded for The Age of Innocence. This novel highlights the constraining rituals of 1870s New York society and remains a defining portrait of elegance laced with regret.
Wharton’s literary achievements span a wide canvas. The House of Mirth presents a tragic, vividly drawn character study of Lily Bart, navigating social expectations and the perils of genteel poverty in 1890s New York. In Ethan Frome, she explores rural hardship and emotional repression, contrasting sharply with her urban social dramas.
Her novella collection Old New York revisits the moral terrain of upper-class society, spanning decades and combining character studies with social commentary. Through these stories, she inevitably points back to themes and settings familiar from The Age of Innocence. Continuing her exploration of class and desire, The Glimpses of the Moon addresses marriage and social mobility in early 20th-century America. And in Summer, Wharton challenges societal norms with its rural setting and themes of sexual awakening and social inequality.
Beyond fiction, Wharton contributed compelling nonfiction and travel writing. The Decoration of Houses reflects her eye for design and architecture; Fighting France: From Dunkerque to Belfort presents a compelling account of her wartime observations. As editor of The Book of the Homeless, she curated a moving, international collaboration in support of war refugees.
Wharton’s influence extended beyond writing. She designed her own country estate, The Mount, a testament to her architectural sensibility and aesthetic vision. The Mount now stands as an educational museum celebrating her legacy.
Throughout her career, Wharton maintained friendships and artistic exchanges with luminaries such as Henry James, Sinclair Lewis, Jean Cocteau, André Gide, and Theodore Roosevelt—reflecting her status as a respected and connected cultural figure.
Her literary legacy also includes multiple Nobel Prize nominations, underscoring her international recognition. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature more than once.
In sum, Edith Wharton remains celebrated for her unflinching, elegant prose, her psychological acuity, and her capacity to illuminate the unspoken constraints of society—from the glittering ballrooms of New York to quieter, more remote settings. Her wide-ranging work—novels, novellas, short stories, poetry, travel writing, essays—offers cultural insight, enduring emotional depth, and a piercing critique of the customs she both inhabited and dissected.
Her work reached a milestone when she became the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, awarded for The Age of Innocence. This novel highlights the constraining rituals of 1870s New York society and remains a defining portrait of elegance laced with regret.
Wharton’s literary achievements span a wide canvas. The House of Mirth presents a tragic, vividly drawn character study of Lily Bart, navigating social expectations and the perils of genteel poverty in 1890s New York. In Ethan Frome, she explores rural hardship and emotional repression, contrasting sharply with her urban social dramas.
Her novella collection Old New York revisits the moral terrain of upper-class society, spanning decades and combining character studies with social commentary. Through these stories, she inevitably points back to themes and settings familiar from The Age of Innocence. Continuing her exploration of class and desire, The Glimpses of the Moon addresses marriage and social mobility in early 20th-century America. And in Summer, Wharton challenges societal norms with its rural setting and themes of sexual awakening and social inequality.
Beyond fiction, Wharton contributed compelling nonfiction and travel writing. The Decoration of Houses reflects her eye for design and architecture; Fighting France: From Dunkerque to Belfort presents a compelling account of her wartime observations. As editor of The Book of the Homeless, she curated a moving, international collaboration in support of war refugees.
Wharton’s influence extended beyond writing. She designed her own country estate, The Mount, a testament to her architectural sensibility and aesthetic vision. The Mount now stands as an educational museum celebrating her legacy.
Throughout her career, Wharton maintained friendships and artistic exchanges with luminaries such as Henry James, Sinclair Lewis, Jean Cocteau, André Gide, and Theodore Roosevelt—reflecting her status as a respected and connected cultural figure.
Her literary legacy also includes multiple Nobel Prize nominations, underscoring her international recognition. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature more than once.
In sum, Edith Wharton remains celebrated for her unflinching, elegant prose, her psychological acuity, and her capacity to illuminate the unspoken constraints of society—from the glittering ballrooms of New York to quieter, more remote settings. Her wide-ranging work—novels, novellas, short stories, poetry, travel writing, essays—offers cultural insight, enduring emotional depth, and a piercing critique of the customs she both inhabited and dissected.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 10, 2017
Different from most Wharton writings... what a choice though. I enjoyed the writing, but would have liked to know more of the past between all the characters. Wharton is a master story teller, easily able to transport her reader even in the shortest of stories.
December 30, 2022
Another pithy, compelling short story from the master.
May 25, 2022
Entertaining listening 🎶🔰
Another will written British 🏰romantic relationships adventure thriller short story by Edith Wharton about life of a couple 💑 where the husband is spending the wife's fortune having already spent his mother's. I would recommend this novella and author to 👍 readers of mysteries. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎶 to Alexa as I do because of health issues. 2022 👒🏰😉
Another will written British 🏰romantic relationships adventure thriller short story by Edith Wharton about life of a couple 💑 where the husband is spending the wife's fortune having already spent his mother's. I would recommend this novella and author to 👍 readers of mysteries. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎶 to Alexa as I do because of health issues. 2022 👒🏰😉
January 28, 2024
A man spends all of his mother’s money and then goes through his wife’s funds, his latest boondoggle being his prized motor boat. She wishes him dead so that she could be with his lawyer, and her lover. But no sooner does she say the words out loud to her lover than her husband catches them together in the boat house and both the husband and the lover fall into the lake and, of course, only the husband survives. Such is the woman’s lot in life.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 9, 2014
This was basically a short story from 1916. I picked it up at the same time that I got Coming Home and was hoping I would enjoy it as much. Not quite.
This is more about an unhappy marriage, where he is living off of her income and she can't wait for him to die. And continues to sign money over to him.
This is more about an unhappy marriage, where he is living off of her income and she can't wait for him to die. And continues to sign money over to him.
September 9, 2016
Una historia trágica donde el destino se ríe de forma cruel de la infelicidad de una mujer atrapada en un matrimonio sin amor.
No es de las mejores novelles de Wharton, pero en ella se palpa la esencia de muchas de sus obras que reflejan y critican esos convencionalismos de la alta sociedad que limitan la libertad de las mujeres a elegir su propio destino.
No es de las mejores novelles de Wharton, pero en ella se palpa la esencia de muchas de sus obras que reflejan y critican esos convencionalismos de la alta sociedad que limitan la libertad de las mujeres a elegir su propio destino.
June 12, 2016
This is actually my first read of anything Wharton and it was wonderful. Very Downton Abbey, or I should say that Downton Abbey is very Edith Wharton. I'll be reading more. If an author can leave you hopeful but infuriated after only 16 pages, they're worth a closer look.
January 9, 2014
Very short. What's there is good, but seems more of a sketch of an idea.
August 29, 2013
The Choice had the potential to be a good book. It was too short and ended abruptly.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews