The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 2 April 2000
by Edith Wharton
A remote New England town is the setting for this dark novel. Unlike Ethan Frome's Starkfield, which was wintry and forbidding, North Dormer is a bright, sunny and warm village surrounded by beautiful forests and fields. The beauty of its description induces a soft-focus nostalgia that was, no doubt, not Wharton's intention, writing for early 20th century readers. Writing from a Europe torn by World War 1, Wharton returned to the New England countryside trapped in staid, stiff, and gloomy morals. The cheery vision of a village in summer is in sharp contrast to the miserable lives of some of its inhabitants. Charity is a sweet young girl who works at the neglected town library. While not worldly, she yet dreams of the big cities and active lives beyond this village. When Lucius Harney walks in to the library one afternoon, her dreams begin to take shape in a stormy affair that brightens her summer. Lawyer Royall, Charity's guardian, a bitter older widower, looks upon the affair with foreboding and jealousy. Charity brushes aside his concern, chalking up his behavior to his frustrated desire to marry her himself. Things only go downhill from there. While Charity is an energetic character, strong and determined, she is yet trapped by the moral waters in which she swims. Wharton's writing is beautiful and occasionally uplifting, despite the darkness of the message.
Also by Wharton: [Ethan Frome] [The House of Mirth] [The Age of Innocence]
See Also: [Edith Wharton by Louis Auchincloss]