Summer
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Product Description
A tale of forbidden sexual passion and thwarted dreams played out against the lush, summer backdrop of the Massachusetts Berkshires Edith Wharton called Summer her 'hot Ethan'. In their rural settings and their poor, uneducated protagonists, Summer (1916) and Ethan Frome represent a sharp departure from Wharton's familiar depictions of the urban upper class. Charity Royall lives unhappily with her hard-drinking adoptive father in an isolated village, until a visiting architect awakens her sexual passion and the hope for escape. Exploring Charity's relation to her father and her lover, Wharton delves into dark cultural territory: repressed sexuality, small-town prejudice, and, in subtle hints, incest.
About the Author
Edith Wharton was born Edith Newbold Jones on January 24, 1862, during the American Civil War. Wharton published her first short story in 1891; her first story collection, The Greater Inclination, in 1899; a novella called The Touchstone in 1900; and her first novel, a historical romance called The Valley of Decision, in 1902. The book that made Wharton famous was The House of Mirth, published in 1905. She died in 1937.
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First Sentence
A girl came out of lawyer Royall's house, at the end of the one street of North Dormer, and stood on the doorstep. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
A girl came out of lawyer Royall's house, at the end of the one street of North Dormer, and stood on the doorstep. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
This is such a well-told story that I am awed at Wharton's skill. It exactly depicts that feeling of a teenager breaking out from their home life and beginning to experience the world on their own terms without the mediation of parents or teachers. Charity's wonderful summer of discovery has moments of real magic, as she explores a world that seems shiny and new and fresh to her inexperienced eyes and she also finds a boy to share it with. But experience can be bitter as well as magical and she also finds out some things that change her view of herself and the world. The reality of life for girls in the latter 19th century was less than idyllic and Charity in the end discovers what she has to do to compromise and survive (unlike some of Wharton's heroines, who never figure this out).
If you have ever had a marvellous summer of discovery, or the memories of a gap year, or first year at university, you will surely recognise the emotion that Charity experiences, breaking out of her small world to discover something beyond what she had known before.
If you have ever had a marvellous summer of discovery, or the memories of a gap year, or first year at university, you will surely recognise the emotion that Charity experiences, breaking out of her small world to discover something beyond what she had known before.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
Like the two reviewers before me, this was the first Edith Wharton novel I have read. It is also my first KIndle book - so I thought I should mark the occasion by writing my first review!
I found the writing beautiful and poetic. I was very much reminded of Tess of the D'Ubervilles and also Mill on the Floss. The whole situation especially towards the end seems so desperate and loaded against poor Charity who, having come down from the mountain, seems to have had her fate predetermined. However, being an optimist, I like to think that the relationship with Mr Royall will blossom and life for Charity takes a turn for the better.
I found the writing beautiful and poetic. I was very much reminded of Tess of the D'Ubervilles and also Mill on the Floss. The whole situation especially towards the end seems so desperate and loaded against poor Charity who, having come down from the mountain, seems to have had her fate predetermined. However, being an optimist, I like to think that the relationship with Mr Royall will blossom and life for Charity takes a turn for the better.
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I was wrapped up in this book from the start. It was a delight to discover a 'new' romantic classic that I felt should have long ago been turned in a Sunday evening series! I don't want to give away anything of the plot but the 'architect' comes to the little town where Charity lives (with Mr. Royall) having been 'brought down from the mountain' (where the poor and outcasts live). They meet at the library where Charity works part-time .. a town architect and a 'mountain girl'? The picture painted of the life of everyone and the growing romance etc. And Mr. Royall there in the background' ... Mrs. Royall having died. Made me think of books like Tess of the D, Wuthering Heights etc. I'm off to look for more books by this (to me) newly discovered authoress. The ending of the book is abrupt and unsatisfactory but do NOT let this (and it's only my opinion anyway) put you off reading a book that is poetically and beautifully written depicting environment and emotions in a very real way.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Read and enjoy
Edith Wharton's superb and evocative prose, excellent characterisation, and generally insightful writing shine through in this rather short novel focusing on a young woman's... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Perfectionist?
Elegant prose
Beautifully written, easy to read and compelling.
A clever and unpredictable story, full of rich descriptions placing the reader right into the varied and contrasting... Read more
A clever and unpredictable story, full of rich descriptions placing the reader right into the varied and contrasting... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Lowdown
Beautifully written / happy with Kindle version
This is the first Edith Wharton novel that I've read, and it has certainly roped me in. I've purchased a few more of her books and looking forward to reading them. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Sylvia Wurtzel
timeless
As easily read today as when written. Some books are timeless and this is one. The characters are real people with both good and bad sides to their characters. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Harvey Bailey
SUMMERS END
tHIS WAS THE FIRST BOOK I READ ON MY NEWLY PURCHASED KINDLE, I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED THE STORY BUT THE ENDING COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER WRITTEN, NOT REALISING IT WAS THE END I PAGE... Read more
Published 16 months ago by AVID READER
One magical summer
It's some book that make you dislike a character but yet fall for her over time, that can make you never want to live in a forgotten little place like that while all the time... Read more
Published on 1 Jun 2009 by Boof
"[The mountain] is where I was born...where I belong."
Written in 1917, Summer is Wharton's most explicitly sexual novel, tracing the awakening of Charity Royall to the sweetness of love and its power. Read more
Published on 3 Dec 2006 by Mary Whipple
A classic with "easy" language but no-so-easy plot
I usually read more modern writers, but my mother adores Wharton, so if there's nothing else, she's usually what I'll find. Read more
Published on 29 Jun 1998
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