No Gifts From Chance: A Biography of Edith Wharton

Louann Atkins Temple Women & Culture Series

by Shari Benstock

Praise for the first edition (published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1994): "Here, at last, is Edith Wharton in all her power, her ambitions, and her angers. For the first time we have a biography using new material and allowing us to acclaim an accomplished though prejudiced woman, one who was against women's suffrage, who surrounded herself with famous men, yet was the author of insightful, feminist novels. Here is the truth, brilliantly recounted, compelling to read." -- Carolyn G. Heilbrun, author of Writing a Woman's Life "This may be the best-written biography of the 1990s]. Evocative, rich in new material, and always focused on Edith Wharton the woman, Benstock's way of telling the woman writer's story is superb. If we thought we knew the Wharton story before, this book proves us wrong." -- Linda Wagner-Martin, author of Sylvia Plath: A Biography "It was indeed an age of innocence but it was also an age of experience. Shari Benstock's biography of Edith Wharton captures that world. Beautifully researched and impressively thorough, this new biography is especially interesting about Wharton's family and her relationships. It will benefit all students and lovers of her fiction." -- Fred Kaplan, author of Henry James: The Imagination of Genius "Shari Benstock's biography is quite simply the standard biography of Edith Wharton. This is true even though other excellent biographies preceded hers." -- Carol J. Singley, author of Edith Wharton: Matters of Mind and Spirit

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

546 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Laura]

I'm enjoying this biography infinitely more than Hermione Lee's. Benstock's style is much more engaging, allowing the biography to feel more like a story about a woman named Edith Wharton rather than the pretentious (and inaccurate!) dissertation that is Lee's biography.

UPDATE: I've read a little too much Wharton. Need a break.

[Richard Jespers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely engaging and informative literary biography of Edith Wharton. Very comprehensive and impartial. Benstock remains clear of her subject and allows the facts to speak for themselves: Wharton's affair with Morton Fullerton; Wharton’s philanthropic work in France during World War I; twenty-four dependents whom she supported in the last years of her life; forty-eight books, mostly fiction except for some in architecture, memoir. A pioneer.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the life of Edith Wharton fascinating and had no idea she was so active in WW1 and set up so many charities. I also loved the vignettes between Edith and her friends, Henry James, Codman, Fullerton. Her comment in French at the home of Isabelle Stuart Gardner at a New Years dinner which got her exiled from future events was embarrassingly entertaining....I really liked this book. The woman traveled, had fascinating friends, and really was a powerhouse.

[JFN · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book in 2004 and have since reread it. It's the only biography I've read more than once, due largely to Benstock's engaging writing style and the thorough treatment of the material. You won't really know Edith Wharton until you read this book. Fascinating. It just flies.

[Sketchbook · Rating 2 out of 5]

An upchucking example of flavorless bio writing :
Just throw anything into a pot of research-goulash.
This recipe should not be encouraged.

[Olivia]

I'm curious to compare this biography to Hermione Lee's.

[Brenda Boersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insight into a great writers' private life. Such times she lived through. From inherited wealth to her own earned wealth, she was a woman ahead of her time.

[Meghan Portillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first biography I've read on EW, so I'm not sure if my disappointments will continue into other biographies. Maybe it's because EW was largely Victorian in her upbringing and manner, but it seemed like this book lacked emotion, for the most part.

One of my first surprises was that less than 80 pages into the book, Edith is in her 30s -- what was happening during those other years besides her marriage?? Benstock only really catches up with her when she starts to become a serious writer - and even then I found the book lacking because Benstock spent so much time describing architectural details, interior design, very specific itineraries of Edith's many travels. I was hoping to read more about how Edith came upon story ideas and what stories were autobiographical, but by and large, it was only novels that were discussed in some detail and the stories seemed merely a footnote. (Maybe the stories were written about in other biographies and Benstock just didn't want to cover what others had gone over ...)

Benstock was, however, kind enough to convert American and French currency from EW's time into American dollars as of the early 1990s - so it was astounding to see how much money Edith spent on her homes/estates. She also provided American *and* French reviews of EW's work and it was really interesting to see how differently the two countries reacted to her work.

There is a chapter devoted to Edith's relief work during WWI that I found fascinating. It is amazing what she accomplished and how her relief organizations helped so many people and families. The end of the book was rather melancholy. It was quite sad to read about one friend after and another dieing whom I'd gotten to know throughout the book ... It seemed like she was doomed to see all of her loved ones die and be alone. The chapter that dealt with Edith's death was very poignant and I actually cried when I read it.

While I don't regret reading this book, I am looking forward to reading other biographies on Edith Wharton.

[I read [book:The Letters of Edith Wharton|2967975] after reading this biography ... I get the sense that Benstock basically read the letters and wrote the biography as she went along, if that makes sense ...]

[Brynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wharton's life, though full of privledge and wealth, was far more complex than I knew before reading her biography. Her work in Europe during the Great War alone is enough to make this biography worth the read.

[Biosyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh what a life. To have traveled in Europe before McDonalds and The Gap got over there would be glorious! Its hard to imagine living during her time and having the lesiure to write and create. I bet she never knew they made movies out of her books...my favorite being "Ethan Frome" with Liam Neeson.

[Kay Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shari Benstock's ample biography is useful for its descriptions of Edith Wharton's trips to Washington, DC, and her illness and recuperation in Philadelphia. Benstock provides good critiques of Edith Wharton's short stories.

[Jane Lopes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edith Wharton was one of the most important writers of her time, a fascinating woman who counted Henry James among her closest friends, who was considered a mentor of sorts by F. Scott Fitzgerald. This is a compelling book about this incredibly talented and, in many ways, incredibly lonely woman.

[Sally Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the Wharton fanatic. Well-researched and mostly well-written, it is just too detailed for any but the devotee.