From the Bookshelf of Tyler Public Library…

[close] Summer by Edith Wharton is a very accessible classic whose protagonist, Charity Royall, experiences first love. It is a coming of age story that is brutally honest, tragic and ultimately quite depressing.

Wharton's lovely prose makes this an easy read, were it not for the bleak descriptions of poverty and the fearsome lack of choices women faced at the turn of the twentieth century. Charity Royall was brought 'down from the mountain' as a baby by her foster father, Lawyer Royall, of North Dormer. Charity is raised knowing that she must be grateful for being raised in North Dormer, which 'represents all the blessings of the most refined civilization.' Her dilemma is that she is too good for the local boys, but not good enough for society gentlemen. Her options are practically non-existent. As the book begins, Charity has just begun her first job as town librarian, which she secured, thanks to her foster father. The North Dormer Library is in poor condition, with no new books purchased for the last twenty years, and it is here, the moldering book stacks, that she meets the young gentleman who captures her heart.

Wharton's sense of humor shows in her descriptions of Charity, whose lack of education and customer service skills make her eligible as one of the worst literary librarians ever to grace a novel.

Highly recommended for classic readers who enjoy Theodore Dreiser, and Thomas Hardy,