A biography of the noted author, tracing her evolution from shy debutante to the social chronicler of her age
Shari Benstock is Professor of English at the University of Miami (Florida).
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
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
Benstock ( Women of the Left Bank: Paris 1900-1940 ) here presents a comprehensive portrait of the gifted writer; born into a prominent New York family, Edith Jones (1862-1937) married Edward Wharton in 1885 and embarked on life as a society matron. The author asks provocatively, ``How did the frightened debutante become the social chronicler of her age?'' Benstock's engrossing response draws extensively on unpublished materials to detail Wharton's dramatic metamorphosis into the successful author whose fiction ( House of Mirth , 1905) exposed the hypocrisies of her class. Wharton traveled abroad and lived for many years in France, where her love affair with Morton Fullerton provided a passionate escape from her difficult marriage. Her husband's unpredictable behavior--he was manic-depressive--precipitated a divorce in 1913. Wharton's close circle of intellectual friends, including writer Henry James, encouraged and sustained her. Despite bouts of debilitating respiratory illness, she wrote prolifically and won the Pulitzer Prize for Age of Innocence (1920). Photos not seen by PW . (July)
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