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Wharton, aged 45
1907
Public Domain
Edith Wharton
1862 - 1937Edith Wharton
TL;DR
TL;DR
Edith Wharton was an American novelist, short story writer, playwright and designer at the turn of the last century.
Wharton drew upon her own inside knowledge of and own experiences with life as a part of New York's upper class 'aristocracy' to craft stories that realistically portray the lives and morals of the Gilded Age and often center around themes of culture, marriage, happiness, crime, art, human nature and the supernatural.
She was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1921 and had a profound impact on American literature.
Photograph of a young Edith Wharton, with Dog
ca. 1889
Collection/Beinecke 10061396
Wharton and her two pet Pekingese Dogs
1920
Wharton photographed in her home in France
(Courtesy Granger Historical Picture Archive/Alamy)
A more in-depth look
A more in-depth look
Edith Wharton, née Edith Newbold Jones, was born in New York, USA, on January 24th 1862. Her family was a wealthy, long-established part of the city's upper-class society. Edith enjoyed a private education by governesses and tutors, both at home and abroad in Europe, where she and her family resided for six years after the American Civil War (1861-1865). From an early age, she enjoyed both reading and writing.
She made her debut in society in 1879 and married wealthy Boston banker Edward Wharton in 1885.
Altough she wrote and printed a book of poetry when she was 16, it was not until well into her marriage that she began to pursue writing in earnest. A major literary model for her was Henry James, whom she knew personally.
Before publishing her first novel The Valley of Decision in 1902, she contributed poems and short stories to magazines such as Harper's and Scibner's, and wrote collections of short stories.
In 1921, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for The Age of Innocence which tells of life in upper-class New York society. Other famous novels include The House of Mirth (1905), Ethan Frome (1911) and The Custom of the Country (1913). Aside of writing novels she also published many short stories like The Letters, Xingu and Atrophy to name but a few. These may be found in collections such as The collected short stories of Edith Wharton (Vol. II).
After 1907, she left America to live in France. She died on August 11th, 1937 in Saint-Brice-sous-Forêt, near Paris, France.
By the time of her death, she had published more than fifty books, which include short stories, historical novels, travel books, historical novels, and criticsm.
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