Edith Wharton, Illuminated by The Message

In his introduction, Patrick Reardon contends that the greatness of Wharton’s art has long been overlooked. “Over the past century, she has been dismissed as a woman novelist and as someone who specialized in the novel of manners.… As a storyteller, she is subtle and nuanced.… Her subject isn’t so much the world as our perceptions of the world and our search to find our place in that world. And at the heart of all of her works is the question: What does it all mean?” This volume includes excerpts from Wharton’s stories, poetry, nonfiction, and novels, including The Age of Innocence, Ethan Frome, and The House of Mirth.