Author Description

Professor Beer's study provides an introduction to the whole range of Edith Wharton's work in the novel, short story, novella, travel writing, criticism and autobiography. The opening chapter provides an overview of recent scholarship in Wharton studies including an appraisal of biographical texts, and subsequent chapters treat recurrent themes and ideas in her fiction and non-fiction, and the American and European context of her work. The major novels, as well as those less well-known, are discussed as are: contemporary reception of her work, American responses to her expatriation, her friendships with the leading artists of her day, and the influence of the First World War on her work.