Other editions of book The Children

A bestseller when it was first published in 1928, Edith Wharton's The Children is a comic, bittersweet novel about the misadventures of a bachelor and a band of precocious children. The seven Wheater children, stepbrothers and stepsisters grown weary of being shuttled from parent to parent "like bundles," are eager for their parents' latest reconciliation to last. A chance meeting between the children and the solitary forty-six-year-old Martin Boyne leads to a series of unforgettable encounters. Among the colorful cast of characters are the Wheater adults, who play out their own comedy of marital errors; the flamboyant Marchioness of Wrench; and the vivacious fifteen-year-old Judith Wheater, who captures Martin's heart. With deft humor and touching drama, Wharton portrays a world of intrigues and infidelities, skewering the manners and mores of Americans abroad.

This ebook includes a biographical introduction, a short, critical analysis of Wharton's career and a brief introduction to this work. This ebook does not contain textual annotations.Originally published in 1928, The Children is a late novel concerns Martin Boyne's distraction from his anticipated marriage to Rose Sellars, a recently widowed woman of his own age. The distraction comes in the form of seven children he meets aboard a ship sailing from South America to Italy, principally the eldest of them, the fifteen year-old Judith Wheater. Torn between his obligation to Rose and his gradual attraction to Judith, Martin begins to question his motive while nursing a regret for a life without children.The novel has been interpreted as an autobiographical work of fiction in which Wharton expresses her own regret at not having children and in the process enthusing about her love for the younger people in her life. That said, in a modern society, the central relationship between Martin, a forty-six year old man and Judith, some thirty years younger and not yet out of puberty can't help to raise questions of propriety.

This ebook includes a biographical introduction, a short, critical analysis of Wharton's career and a brief introduction to this work. This ebook does not contain textual annotations.Originally published in 1928, The Children is a late novel concerns Martin Boyne's distraction from his anticipated marriage to Rose Sellars, a recently widowed woman of his own age. The distraction comes in the form of seven children he meets aboard a ship sailing from South America to Italy, principally the eldest of them, the fifteen year-old Judith Wheater. Torn between his obligation to Rose and his gradual attraction to Judith, Martin begins to question his motive while nursing a regret for a life without children.The novel has been interpreted as an autobiographical work of fiction in which Wharton expresses her own regret at not having children and in the process enthusing about her love for the younger people in her life. That said, in a modern society, the central relationship between Martin, a forty-six year old man and Judith, some thirty years younger and not yet out of puberty can't help to raise questions of propriety.

This ebook includes a biographical introduction, a short, critical analysis of Wharton's career and a brief introduction to this work. This ebook does not contain textual annotations.Originally published in 1928, The Children is a late novel concerns Martin Boyne's distraction from his anticipated marriage to Rose Sellars, a recently widowed woman of his own age. The distraction comes in the form of seven children he meets aboard a ship sailing from South America to Italy, principally the eldest of them, the fifteen year-old Judith Wheater. Torn between his obligation to Rose and his gradual attraction to Judith, Martin begins to question his motive while nursing a regret for a life without children.The novel has been interpreted as an autobiographical work of fiction in which Wharton expresses her own regret at not having children and in the process enthusing about her love for the younger people in her life. That said, in a modern society, the central relationship between Martin, a forty-six year old man and Judith, some thirty years younger and not yet out of puberty can't help to raise questions of propriety.

This ebook includes a biographical introduction, a short, critical analysis of Wharton's career and a brief introduction to this work. This ebook does not contain textual annotations.Originally published in 1928, The Children is a late novel concerns Martin Boyne's distraction from his anticipated marriage to Rose Sellars, a recently widowed woman of his own age. The distraction comes in the form of seven children he meets aboard a ship sailing from South America to Italy, principally the eldest of them, the fifteen year-old Judith Wheater. Torn between his obligation to Rose and his gradual attraction to Judith, Martin begins to question his motive while nursing a regret for a life without children.The novel has been interpreted as an autobiographical work of fiction in which Wharton expresses her own regret at not having children and in the process enthusing about her love for the younger people in her life. That said, in a modern society, the central relationship between Martin, a forty-six year old man and Judith, some thirty years younger and not yet out of puberty can't help to raise questions of propriety.

A bestseller when it was first published in 1928, Edith Wharton's "The Children" is a comic, bittersweet novel about the misadventures of a bachelor and a band of precocious children. The seven Wheater children, stepbrothers and stepsisters grown weary of being shuttled from parent to parent "like bundles," are eager for their parents' latest reconciliation to last. A chance meeting between the children and the solitary forty-six-year-old Martin Boyne leads to a series of unforgettable encounters. Among the colourful cast of characters are the Wheater adults, who play out their own comedy of marital errors; the flamboyant Marchioness of Wrench; and the vivacious fifteen-year-old Judith Wheater, who captures Martin's heart. With deft humour and touching drama, Wharton portrays a world of intrigues and infidelities, skewering the manners and mores of Americans abroad.

Originally published in 1928, The Children is a late novel concerns Martin Boyne's distraction from his anticipated marriage to Rose Sellars, a recently widowed woman of his own age. The distraction comes in the form of seven children he meets aboard a ship sailing from South America to Italy, principally the eldest of them, the fifteen year-old Judith Wheater. Torn between his obligation to Rose and his gradual attraction to Judith, Martin begins to question his motive while nursing a regret for a life without children. The novel has been interpreted as an autobiographical work of fiction in which Wharton expresses her own regret at not having children and in the process enthusing about her love for the younger people in her life. That said, in a modern society, the central relationship between Martin, a forty-six year old man and Judith, some thirty years younger and not yet out of puberty can't help to raise questions of propriety.

On a cruise ship between Algiers and Venice Martin Boyne, a bachelor in his forties, befriends a band of ebullient, precocious children. The seven Wheater stepbrothers and sisters, grown weary of being shuttled between mother and father 'like bundles', are eager for their parents' latest reconciliation to last. They are kept together as a 'family' by the eldest, Judith, who takes on the role of protector. Genuinely outraged at the plight of the 'homeless' and fought-over children, Boyne finds himself increasingly drawn to their enchanting, improper and liberating ways. Among the colourful cast of characters are the Wheater adults, who play out their own comedy of marital errors; the flamboyant Marchioness of Wrench; and the vivacious fifteen-year-old Judith Wheater, who captures Martin's heart. With deft humour and touching drama, Wharton portrays a world of intrigues and infidelities, skewering the manners and mores of Americans abroad.

A bestseller when it was first published, The Children is a comic, bittersweet novel about the misadventures of a bachelor and a band of precocious children. The seven Wheater children, stepbrothers and stepsisters grown weary of being shuttled from parent to parent are eager for their parents' latest reconciliation to last. A chance meeting between the children and the solitary 46-year old Martin Boyne leads to a series of unforgettable encounters.

As the big liner hung over the tugs swarming about her in the bay of Algiers, Martin Boyne looked down from the promenade deck on the troop of first-class passengers struggling up the gangway, their faces all unconsciously lifted to his inspection. "Not a soul I shall want to speak to—as usual!" Some men's luck in travelling was inconceivable. They had only to get into a train or on board a boat to run across an old friend; or, what was more exciting, make a new one. They were always finding themselves in the same compartment, or in the same cabin, with some wandering celebrity, with the owner of a famous house, of a noted collection, or of an odd and amusing personality—the latter case being, of course, the rarest as it was the most rewarding. There was, for instance, Martin Boyne's own Great-Uncle Edward. Uncle Edward's travel-adventures were famed in the family. At home in America, amid the solemn upholstery of his Boston house, Uncle Edward was the model of complacent dulness; yet whenever he got on board a steamer, or into a train (or a diligence, in his distant youth), he was singled out by fate as the hero of some delightful encounter.