Edith Wharton: The great American novelist's life is presented in exquisite detail by biographer Hermione Lee

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	• Edith Wharton (Vintage) Hermione Lee Vintage, 2008 - 912 pages average customer review:based on 11 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Wharton and Peace

I just finished Hermione Lee's biography, which took me roughly a month to finish (I usually don't spend more than a few days on a book.), and its girth occasionally hurt my back. (That's a joke...) I have not read other biographies Lee has written (though I do own "Virginia Woolf", and was impressed with Lee's insight of Woolf on the DVD of "The Hours"), so I can't compare, but I gather the Virginia Woolf biography is very good. I have read other biographies of Edith Wharton; R.W.B. Lewis', and Cynthia Griffin Woolf's excellent "A Feast of Words", and Lee's is an exhaustive reiteration of much that has come before, with some subtle additions and revisions of thought. I have a new vision of Wharton during her "Neurasthenic" period, which struck her early in marriage. She gardened, wrote and traveled extensively, whereas I had the impression she was bed-ridden and slightly invalid. The life force of Edith Wharton appears to have been astonishing and exhausting. Very few of us would pass her formidable "muster", and I understand completely why Henry James labeled her "The Angel of Devastation" (Disappointing discovery that James was virulently anti-suffrage).

The book is at times, dispassionately academic. It has moments, and at its best one has the sense that Lee is weaving, or knitting, a complete picture of who Edith Wharton might actually have been. Yes, there are some things we will never know, but I get the idea. Some chapters moved along briskly, other didn't (for me). The chapter called "Italian Backgrounds" is loaded with minute detail about those kinds of gardens and Wharton's interest in them (as you would guess from the title). I'm not a gardener, however, and found myself losing interest - there is A LOT of description of Italian Gardens. Illustrations would have helped (me). I did enjoy HL's analysis of EW's Italian novel "The Valley of Decision" (the book is completely worth it for the analysis of the Wharton's writings. I wish Penguin, or N.Y.R.B, or Vintage would publish an affordable and attractive edition of "The Valley of Decision") As another reviewer observed, the book does get bogged down with detail from time to time. While I certainly couldn't write such a book (I disagree with the assertion that it was not well researched, on the contrary, the research seems dizzying and at the very least thorough: nothing is perfect.), I'm impressed that Hermione Lee did.

Wharton comes across as delightfully bitchy with the upper classes. The Breakers is described as a "Thermopylae of Bad Taste". Mrs. Wharton, on a tour of a wealthy acquaintances' home, was informed that this was the woman's "Louis Quinze Room", to which Mrs. Wharton replied, looking about through her lorgnette, "Why, my dear?" (Her knowledge of architecture and historical interiors was encyclopedic, and would currently entitle her to a Masters Degree. She would have several, in fact... and a Doctorate or two.) In a letter she stated that an unnamed party "...decided to have books in their library." Her story "The Line of Least Resistance" borrowed too closely from an angered Emily Sloane's personal life, and Ogden Codman may have summed up Edith best saying, " Poor Pussy is of course very unpopular... she goes out of her way to be rude to people."

Most familiar with EW know how involved she was with the building and all details of each new Wharton residence, and there were many. One of the virtues of Lee's book is that we get a complete view of events; the timelines, the day-to-day occurrences in the process (es), also the transgressions (notably with Ogden Codman and the building of the Mount.) It is clear that Edith (or "Puss") wore the pants in the family. Teddy comes across as an affable, but slightly bumbling, "Club" man of the "Old Chap" sportsman type. He was not intellectually inclined, and hopelessly mismatched with the polar opposite Edith Jones.

The latter half of the book is dedicated to Wharton's life in France; her affair with Morton Fullerton, homes in the Rue De Varenne (and social place in The Faubourg.), and of course her valiant, tireless war work, all covered in great detail. Interesting that Proust may have been a translator of "The House of Mirth", and though she and Proust were many times over connected socially, they never met. The pairing is a no-brainer, and bearing in mind Wharton's conscious or unconscious predilection for homosexual companions (Henry James, Andre Gide to name a few - even her passionate mid-life love affair was with the prodigiously bi-sexual Fullerton), it's possible that Proust and Wharton would have been great friends, though Lee points out that Proust was primarily interested in Countesses. When read together "The House of Mirth", "The Custom of the Country" (read it if you haven't - it's one of EW's most satisfying, ruthless, and well-written novels.), and "The Age of Innocence" (more sublime with every reading), could be compared to Wharton's miniature version of Proust. Have your French dictionary ready though, as there is much quotation of letters written in French with minimal translation - another category (like architecture, and gardening) in which Lee assumes her reader has a working knowledge.

I had hoped there might be more information about Wharton's frosty mother Lucretia, and Edith's relationship with her. Lee points out that little written material relating to her parents has survived. However, Lee suggests that Wharton's own haughty nature may have been an inherited trait of Mama, and that "Lu" is front and center in many, many instances of Wharton's writing. Wharton was candid in her version of her mother. I wonder if it ever occured to her that she may have been more similar to Lucretia than different. (Perhaps Lily's mother in "The House of Mirth", who expresses distaste at people who "live like pigs" is a sketch of Lucretia Jones) It's been commonly thought that Lucretia had Edith's young poetry published in a volume titled "Verses" in Newport, but it was more likely her more intellectually sympathetic fathers's doing. Which makes more sense, as one pictures the exasperation Mother must have felt with the bafflingly intelligent Edith - forcing Mama to entertain her friends while the child is seized with the urge to "Make-Up" (write stories)

All in all, "Edith Wharton" is an exhaustively researched biography of considerable merit. There were sections that moved ahead with full steam, and some that sort of drag (for me) and need to be plowed through in order to finish, but I certainly don't resent the information. For the most part it has beautifully "woven" quality about it. It does seem that it would benefit with more editing; the amount of smaller (I hesitate to say lesser) detail is mind numbing. Her great friendship with Henry James is beautifully documented. Included is the account of the elaborate hoax she and James New York publisher orchestrated in order to give James a generous advance on a future book (meant to bolster his flagging self-esteem), which was really just a very generous monetary gift from Edith. The analysis of stories and novels is excellent, and well worth the price of admission. I read in an interview of Hermione Lee that she felt she would not be thought "smart enough" if she were actually able to meet Edith Wharton. Perhaps the length and breadth stems from that thought, that she is writing to prove herself worthy of her subject. I think Ms. Lee may rest easy with her next subject: she is a perfectly capable biographer.

Also recommended: Cynthia Griffin Wolff's "A Feast of Words", a tightly written compellingly analyzed study of Mrs. Wharton

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Lots of Detail

This biography of Edith Wharton features lots of detail, some newly presented, but not as much organization or insight as one would hope for. I wonder if Lee not being American was one reason for this: she can be excellent in some of her analyses--of some of Wharton's novels, especially of "Ethen Frome," for example--but doesn't seem to come to an overall understanding of Wharton that satisfies me. This is like some other biographies that are touted as "major" in that the biographer is piling up the details, but perhaps getting lost in them. Lee is a talented biographer, and she questions the accepted wisdom regarding some of the phases of Wharton's life, but this is not her best work. Still, she makes a good case for Wharton's strength of character and ability to deal with her life's difficulties while continuing to produce first rate work. Wharton's greatness as a writer is what we don't entirely see in Lee's account.

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Edith Wharton: The great American novelist's life is presented in exquisite detail by biographer Hermione Lee

Edith Newbold "Pussy" Jones was born into a wealthy and socially prominent New York family in 1862. Her father was cold and distant. He was involved in real estate transactions. Her mother Lucretia was not a good mentor for her precocious bookworm daughter. Edith had two older brothers. Her childhood was lonesome punctuated by long trips to the cities of Europe (her father died in Cannes). Edith received no formal schooling but fed her retentive mind by study in her father's library. Wharton was a passionate reader and author from a very early age. She received no encouragement from her parents being married off to the much older Edward "Teddy" Wharton in 1885. Teddy was bipolar loving horses, drinkiing and playing cards with his buddies. Their marriage was a disaster ending in divorce after 25 years of life together. The couple were childless.
Edith had a passionate affair at 45 with Morton Fullerton a newspaperman in Paris who had countless affairs. The couple never married but remained friendly until Edith's death in 1937.
Edith was a Francophile who did a good deal of relief work during the first world war winning several honors from the French government. In politics she was conservative. Wharton was antisemitic, snobbish and looked down upon persons of color. She was a control freak who demanded excellence in her writing and life. Edith traveled widely for over 50 years staying in the best hotels; eating in great restaurants and exploring art museums, libraries and concerts. What a life of privilege!!!
Wharton never married following the divorce from Teddy. Mrs. Wharton did have several lifelong male friends most notably Walter Barry the President of the Paris version of the US Chamber of Commerce. She was also friendly with novelist Aldous Huxley, art historian Bernard Bernson and several lady friends. The great novelist Henry James was her most famous literary pal. She is often compared to James in her writing style. Hermione Lee says as far as we know all of these friendships were platonic. Wharton's friendships were with the wealthy and artistic elite. The novelist was a consummate snob who was, nevertheless, viewed as being kind and loyal by her friends.
Edith Wharton wrote many novels among the most famous being "The Custom of the Country"; "Ethan Frome"; "The Age of Innocence"; "Glimpses of the Moon" and "Summer". Wharton was a prolific short story author selling her tales to magazines. Her focus was on the wealthy. She dealt with marriage. incest, New York society and the the sexual mores of the well to do. She was disdained by the younger authors of the 1920s for being old fashioned. She wrote in an elegant style noted for its daring subject matter.
Hermione Lee is the author of Virginia Woolf as well as this biography on Wharton. The book is 800 pages long dealing in incredible detail with such topics as:
a. Wharton's love life and divorce from Teddy.
b. Wharton's many gardens and her books on gardening.
c. Close descriptions of all the fabulous homes Edith owned which are shown in several pictures included in the book.
d A description of the most important travels Wharton made in her life.
e. Short but well informed synopses and critical comments on her novels and short stories. We also get a glimpse of her poetry.
f. Discussions of the lives of her closest friends.
g. A loving review of Edith Wharton's World War I volunteer service to France.
After finishing this book I admire Wharton for her dedication to the craft of novel authorship. Wharton was a woman of high standards and loyalty to her friends. She could be frosty but was kind. Her love for animals, friends in need and loving care for aging servants is commendable. Her snobbish disdain for those of different races or religions is not appreciated (She converted to Roman Catholicism in her last few years.). Wharton was a born storyteller who can still hold the interest of the modern reader.
Hermione Lee is an excellent biographer who knows literature. Her biography of Edith Wharton is a wonderful book for those willing to devote the hours needed to read the lengthy text.

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Edith Wharton

I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in E.W.'s fiction. I have read the previous reviews, which together give a very good idea of the scope of the book. In short, reading this will help the student of literature become better acquainted with the context of Wharton's work. Hermione Lee does a masterful job of weaving her analysis of Wharton's fiction into the biographical montage. I say montage because this book is not a chronological synopsis of E.W.'s life; rather, one has to wade through the chapters and sometimes backtrack to figure out where in time, exactly, Lee is pulling the reader. I relied on other sources to help with chronology in this case.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

From Hermione Lee, the internationally acclaimed, award-winning biographer of Virginia Woolf and Willa Cather, comes a superb reexamination of one of the most famous American women of letters.

Delving into heretofore untapped sources, Lee does away with the image of the snobbish bluestocking and gives us a new Edith Wharton-tough, startlingly modern, as brilliant and complex as her fiction. Born into a wealthy family, Wharton left America as an adult and eventually chose to create a life in France. Her renowned novels and stories have become classics of American literature, but as Lee shows, Wharton's own life, filled with success and scandal, was as intriguing as those of her heroines. Bridging two centuries and two very different sensibilities, Wharton here comes to life in the skillful hands of one of the great literary biographers of our time.

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