The Reef [with Biographical Introduction]
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A complex, subtle and moving story of the ways in which people torment one another and the awful power of retrospective jealousy (PENELOPE LIVELY )
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
Edith Wharton's variation on the theme of the eternal triangle features Anna Leath, a rich American widow living in France, her daughter's governess, Sophy Viner, and the first love of Anna's youth who has come back into her life.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is shot through with tragedy right from the first page. You know that nothing good will come of anything and it is heartbreaking watching these futile attempts at snatching happiness from the inevitable jaws of doom. I love Wharton but I didn't think that this was one of her best books. Sophie's choice of young man is misguided as he is patently a cad, and I felt no sympathy or liking for him. I much prefer her books set in the USA with the strict social mannerisms and rigidity with which her heroes and heroines do battle. That theme is here too but it seems much more confused and unsure of itself in France, like Wharton doesn't have the confidence of her own convictions to drive the story along. By the end I was just wishing they would hurry up and destroy each other so I could go to bed.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This excellent book is less famous than Wharton's masterpieces The Age of Innocence and The Custom of the Country, but it's no less intense than the former and no less elegantly plotted than the latter. In the opening chapters, one awkward misunderstanding leads the deeply flawed hero to make a tragic error, and the trap is set. The story then unfolds with a brooding power, as Wharton traces the interrelations of four characters bound together in a knot of their own making. The book is masterly in construction and beautifully written, with the dark personal drama offset by lyrical descriptions of rural France.
One caveat: the particular predicament which the book describes is determined by the social mores of its time: the action which initiates the drama would not have the same terrible impact in more liberal times. This may alienate some readers, but it shouldn't. Any reader capable of transposing him or herself into the mindset of the early twentieth century should be haunted by the power of one of Wharton's most gripping studies of emotion.
One caveat: the particular predicament which the book describes is determined by the social mores of its time: the action which initiates the drama would not have the same terrible impact in more liberal times. This may alienate some readers, but it shouldn't. Any reader capable of transposing him or herself into the mindset of the early twentieth century should be haunted by the power of one of Wharton's most gripping studies of emotion.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
You could say that "The Reef" has two themes -- that you have to risk great pain to experience great passion, and the questions of infidelity, love and class and how they clash.
It also happens to be the brilliant Edith Wharton at her most contemplative, since the entire dramatic storyline takes place in a love square at a rural French chateau. While "The Reef" is a slow-moving affair, the hauntingly poetic prose that Wharton employs -- and the painful questions it raises -- are worth immersing your brain into.
Charles Darrow has been reunited with his first love Anna, now a widow living in France. He plans to propose to her, but on the train receives a telegram telling him not to come until the thirtieth of the month. Angry and hurt (he's kind of a playboy brat), he salves his hurt feelings by escorting pretty Sophy Viner (Alicia Witt), a feisty young girl hoping to get a job on the stage, around Paris for awhile. Unsurprisingly, Sophy's vibrant personality leads to a brief affair.
A few months later, Charles and Anna have made up their differences, and their romance is back on track. But when Charles arrives at Anna's mother-in-law's chateau, he learns that her daughter's new governess is none other than Sophy. To make this whole scenario even more surreal, Charles' ex-lover is now engaged to Anna's stepson -- and both Anna and the stepson are unaware of what happened. But though Sophy and Charles try to keep their shared past a secret, the truth threatens to ruin all four of them.
Yeah, it sounds a bit like a soap opera in period dress. It's only because of Wharton's skill that, instead of a cheap tawdry story, "The Reef" becomes a languid, sun-washed study of sexual double-standards, class, and repressed emotion. The entire novel is awash in a seemingly endless sea of contemplations -- many of the characters linger for pages over their pasts, their conflicted feelings, and the secrets they hide from one another.
But it's also a study of tough relationship questions -- should infidelity be forgiven, and at what stage of a possible relationship does it become infidelity? And if someone wrongs you, can you trust them again?
It's also beautifully written -- Wharton's slow, stately prose is filled with exquisite turns of phrase and beautifully evocative images. Even the most mundane places painted with words as if on a canvas ("The sun lay pleasantly on its brown walls, on the scattered books and flowers in old porcelain vases"). Much of the narrative is wrapped up in the slowly shifting inner feelings, tiny gestures and veiled comments of the characters, so that half of the most important confrontations seem to happen in a sort of code.
Charles is a rather flawed male lead -- he's weak, flirtatious and easily upset, and seems to regard Anna postponing their meeting as being more inconsiderate than his affair with someone else. The women's roles are far more compelling, though. Anna is a strong, wealthy woman who is trying to uncork her own intense feelings so she can fully appreciate life, and Sophy is her polar opposite -- a vibrant, joyous young girl who lacks the resources to enjoy life as she wishes.
A lesser author would have crashed on "The Reef," but in Edith Wharton's hands it becomes a powerful, vaguely tragic love quadrangle. Definitely worth reading, though it slows to a crawl at times.
It also happens to be the brilliant Edith Wharton at her most contemplative, since the entire dramatic storyline takes place in a love square at a rural French chateau. While "The Reef" is a slow-moving affair, the hauntingly poetic prose that Wharton employs -- and the painful questions it raises -- are worth immersing your brain into.
Charles Darrow has been reunited with his first love Anna, now a widow living in France. He plans to propose to her, but on the train receives a telegram telling him not to come until the thirtieth of the month. Angry and hurt (he's kind of a playboy brat), he salves his hurt feelings by escorting pretty Sophy Viner (Alicia Witt), a feisty young girl hoping to get a job on the stage, around Paris for awhile. Unsurprisingly, Sophy's vibrant personality leads to a brief affair.
A few months later, Charles and Anna have made up their differences, and their romance is back on track. But when Charles arrives at Anna's mother-in-law's chateau, he learns that her daughter's new governess is none other than Sophy. To make this whole scenario even more surreal, Charles' ex-lover is now engaged to Anna's stepson -- and both Anna and the stepson are unaware of what happened. But though Sophy and Charles try to keep their shared past a secret, the truth threatens to ruin all four of them.
Yeah, it sounds a bit like a soap opera in period dress. It's only because of Wharton's skill that, instead of a cheap tawdry story, "The Reef" becomes a languid, sun-washed study of sexual double-standards, class, and repressed emotion. The entire novel is awash in a seemingly endless sea of contemplations -- many of the characters linger for pages over their pasts, their conflicted feelings, and the secrets they hide from one another.
But it's also a study of tough relationship questions -- should infidelity be forgiven, and at what stage of a possible relationship does it become infidelity? And if someone wrongs you, can you trust them again?
It's also beautifully written -- Wharton's slow, stately prose is filled with exquisite turns of phrase and beautifully evocative images. Even the most mundane places painted with words as if on a canvas ("The sun lay pleasantly on its brown walls, on the scattered books and flowers in old porcelain vases"). Much of the narrative is wrapped up in the slowly shifting inner feelings, tiny gestures and veiled comments of the characters, so that half of the most important confrontations seem to happen in a sort of code.
Charles is a rather flawed male lead -- he's weak, flirtatious and easily upset, and seems to regard Anna postponing their meeting as being more inconsiderate than his affair with someone else. The women's roles are far more compelling, though. Anna is a strong, wealthy woman who is trying to uncork her own intense feelings so she can fully appreciate life, and Sophy is her polar opposite -- a vibrant, joyous young girl who lacks the resources to enjoy life as she wishes.
A lesser author would have crashed on "The Reef," but in Edith Wharton's hands it becomes a powerful, vaguely tragic love quadrangle. Definitely worth reading, though it slows to a crawl at times.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
I think I missed the point!
I read this book because Jenefer Robinson discusses it in "Deeper than Reason". I enjoyed the experience, there is a feeling of locality and a sympathy with characters I can pick... Read more
Published on 22 Feb 2007 by Ben Basing
Flawed Characters= realism; Great Characterization & Setting
Yes, Wharton was just a tad mean and crude in writing the male counterpart of this book, but that's what makes this book so interesting. These characters had flaws! Read more
Published on 25 Mar 1999
Dry + Narrow = Darrow?
Try as I may, I can't understand why Mrs. Wharton is so sympathetic towards the heroine's lover, George Darrow. Read more
Published on 9 Mar 1999
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