Other editions of book Summer; A Novel

Considered by some to be her finest work, Edith Wharton's "Summer" created a sensation when first published in 1917, as it was one of the first novels to deal honestly with a young woman's sexual awakening. "Summer" is the story of proud and independent Charity Royall, a child of mountain moonshiners adopted by a family in a poor New England town, who has a passionate love affair with Lucius Harney, an educated young man from the city. Wharton broke the conventions of woman's romantic fiction by making Charity a thoroughly contemporary woman--in touch with her feelings and sexuality, yet kept from love and the larger world she craves by the overwhelming pressures of environment and heredity. Praised for its realism and candor by such writers as Joseph Conrad and Henry James and compared to Flaubert's "Madame Bovary," "Summer" was one of Wharton's personal favorites of all her novels and remains as fresh and relevant today as when it was first written.

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Edith Wharton (1862-1937), born Edith Newbold Jones, was an American novelist, short story writer, and designer. She combined her insider's view of America's privileged classes with a brilliant, natural wit to write humourous and incisive novels and short stories. Wharton was well-acquainted with many of her era's literary and public figures, including Henry James and Theodore Roosevelt. Besides her writing, she was a highly regarded landscape architect, interior designer, and taste-maker of her time. She wrote several influential books, including The Decoration of Houses (1897), her first published work, and Italian Villas and Their Gardens (1904). The Age of Innocence (1920), perhaps her best known work, won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize for literature, making her the first woman to win the award. Her other works include: The Greater Inclination (1899), The Touchstone (1900), Sanctuary (1903), The Descent of Man, and Other Stories (1904), The House of Mirth (1905), Madame De Treymes (1907), The Fruit of the Tree (1907), The Hermit and the Wild Woman, and Other Stories (1908), Ethan Frome (1912), In Morocco (1921), and The Glimpses of the Moon (1921).

Originally published by Scribners in 1917, Summer is a novel of Wharton's mid-period and tells the story of Charity, a girl 'of the mountains' who is the ward of Lawyer Royall. The plot recounts how Charity finds herself caught between the attentions of two essentially unsavoury characters, Royall on the one side, who does himself no favours by invading the girl's bedroom, and on the other Lucius Harney, who purports to be the gentleman suitor only to get Charity pregnant while actually engaged to another woman. That Harney also cavorts with prostitutes only serves to emphasise his true character. Taken by itself, the plot shows similarities to the work of Thomas Hardy in its emphasis on a strong female lead who is placed in jeopardy by the men she attracts. Consciously or not, Wharton also seeks to make connections with the landscape, creating an affinity between Charity and her Mountain roots. Whether this succeeds or not is another matter.

Considered by some to be her finest work, Edith Wharton's "Summer" created a sensation when first published in 1917, as it was one of the first novels to deal honestly with a young woman's sexual awakening. "Summer" is the story of proud and independent Charity Royall, a child of mountain moonshiners adopted by a family in a poor New England town, who has a passionate love affair with Lucius Harney, an educated young man from the city. Wharton broke the conventions of woman's romantic fiction by making Charity a thoroughly contemporary woman--in touch with her feelings and sexuality, yet kept from love and the larger world she craves by the overwhelming pressures of environment and heredity. Praised for its realism and candor by such writers as Joseph Conrad and Henry James and compared to Flaubert's "Madame Bovary," "Summer" was one of Wharton's personal favorites of all her novels and remains as fresh and relevant today as when it was first written.

Full text.Considered by some to be her finest work, Edith Wharton's "Summer" created a sensation when first published in 1917, as it was one of the first novels to deal honestly with a young woman's sexual awakening. Summer is the story of proud and independent Charity Royall, a child of mountain moonshiners adopted by a family in a poor New England town, who has a passionate love affair with Lucius Harney, an educated young man from the city. Wharton broke the conventions of woman's romantic fiction by making Charity a thoroughly contemporary woman--in touch with her feelings and sexuality, yet kept from love and the larger world she craves by the overwhelming pressures of environment and heredity. Praised for its realism and candor by such writers as Joseph Conrad and Henry James and compared to Flaubert's "Madame Bovary," "Summer" was one of Wharton's personal favorites of all her novels and remains as fresh and relevant today as when it was first written.

Classics for Your Collection:goo.gl/U80LCr---------Edith Wharton's "Summer" is a different kind of book than the others of hers, but not one bit less rich and enthralling. "Summer" is set in a small New England town and centers around the complex relationships of just a few main characters. The main character, Charity Royall, is unsure of her place in society, raised in the home of one of the most prominent men in a small town but always made aware that she comes "from the mountain." The mountain is peopled with the poor and uneducated, who are so lowly placed as to have no status whatsoever in the society on whose fringe they live. Charity bounces between a feeling of position and power and one of abject inferiority, her very name being a reflection of her lack of legitimate claim on the society in which she lives. The novel details the sexual awakening of its protagonist, Charity Royall, and her cruel treatment by the father of her child, and shares many plot similarities with Wharton's other novel, Ethan Frome. If you have enjoyed other Wharton novels, you are sure to find this one a satisfying read. It is short, but powerful, and as you close the book, you’ll feel the story has come full cycle and reached its inevitable conclusion.Scroll Up and Get Your Copy!

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Summer, a novel by Edith Wharton first published in 1917. The story is set in New England . Eighteen-year–old Charity Royall is bored with life, she is a librarian and ward of North Dormer’s premier citizen, Lawyer Royall. While at the library, she meets a visiting architect named Lucius Harney. Any profits made from the sale of this book will go towards supporting the Freeriver Community project, a project that aims to support community and encourage well-being. To learn more about the Freeriver Community project please visit the website- www.freerivercommunity.com