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Edith Wharton’s Followers (5,276)

Edith Wharton

Born

in New York City, The United States

January 24, 1862

Died

August 11, 1937

Genre

Fiction

Influences

Henry James, Jane Austen ...more

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Edith Wharton emerged as one of America’s most insightful novelists, deftly exposing the tensions between societal expectation and personal desire through her vivid portrayals of upper-class life. Drawing from her deep familiarity with New York’s privileged “aristocracy,” she offered readers a keenly observed and piercingly honest vision of Gilded Age society.

Her work reached a milestone when she became the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, awarded for The Age of Innocence. This novel highlights the constraining rituals of 1870s New York society and remains a defining portrait of elegance laced with regret.

Wharton’s literary achievements span a wide canvas. The House of Mirth presents a tragic, vividly drawn character s Edith Wharton emerged as one of America’s most insightful novelists, deftly exposing the tensions between societal expectation and personal desire through her vivid portrayals of upper-class life. Drawing from her deep familiarity with New York’s privileged “aristocracy,” she offered readers a keenly observed and piercingly honest vision of Gilded Age society.

Her work reached a milestone when she became the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, awarded for The Age of Innocence. This novel highlights the constraining rituals of 1870s New York society and remains a defining portrait of elegance laced with regret.

Wharton’s literary achievements span a wide canvas. The House of Mirth presents a tragic, vividly drawn character study of Lily Bart, navigating social expectations and the perils of genteel poverty in 1890s New York. In Ethan Frome, she explores rural hardship and emotional repression, contrasting sharply with her urban social dramas.

Her novella collection Old New York revisits the moral terrain of upper-class society, spanning decades and combining character studies with social commentary. Through these stories, she inevitably points back to themes and settings familiar from The Age of Innocence. Continuing her exploration of class and desire, The Glimpses of the Moon addresses marriage and social mobility in early 20th-century America. And in Summer, Wharton challenges societal norms with its rural setting and themes of sexual awakening and social inequality.

Beyond fiction, Wharton contributed compelling nonfiction and travel writing. The Decoration of Houses reflects her eye for design and architecture; Fighting France: From Dunkerque to Belfort presents a compelling account of her wartime observations. As editor of The Book of the Homeless, she curated a moving, international collaboration in support of war refugees.

Wharton’s influence extended beyond writing. She designed her own country estate, The Mount, a testament to her architectural sensibility and aesthetic vision. The Mount now stands as an educational museum celebrating her legacy.

Throughout her career, Wharton maintained friendships and artistic exchanges with luminaries such as Henry James, Sinclair Lewis, Jean Cocteau, André Gide, and Theodore Roosevelt—reflecting her status as a respected and connected cultural figure.
Her literary legacy also includes multiple Nobel Prize nominations, underscoring her international recognition. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature more than once.

In sum, Edith Wharton remains celebrated for her unflinching, elegant prose, her psychological acuity, and her capacity to illuminate the unspoken constraints of society—from the glittering ballrooms of New York to quieter, more remote settings. Her wide-ranging work—novels, novellas, short stories, poetry, travel writing, essays—offers cultural insight, enduring emotional depth, and a piercing critique of the customs she both inhabited and dissected. ...more

Combine Editions
Edith Wharton’s books

Average rating: 3.81 · 574,623 ratings · 45,073 reviews · 1,455 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Age of Innocence 3.97 avg rating — 195,469 ratings — published 1920 — 26 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ethan Frome 3.46 avg rating — 137,901 ratings — published 1911 — 3184 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The House of Mirth 3.98 avg rating — 105,809 ratings — published 1905 — 2065 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Summer 3.67 avg rating — 18,813 ratings — published 1917 — 1049 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Custom of the Country 4.07 avg rating — 16,090 ratings — published 1913 — 893 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ethan Frome and Other Short Fiction 3.67 avg rating — 15,216 ratings — published 1911 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton, Marion Mainwaring 3.86 avg rating — 8,530 ratings — published 1938	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton 3.89 avg rating — 5,058 ratings — published 1934 — 69 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Glimpses of the Moon 3.85 avg rating — 4,892 ratings — published 1922 — 346 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	La solterona 3.90 avg rating — 2,866 ratings — published 1922 — 122 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Edith Wharton…

Series by Edith Wharton

Old New York (4 books)
by

Edith Wharton,

Carlos Mayor Ortega (translator)

3.93 avg rating — 6,503 ratings

Vance Weston (2 books)
by

Edith Wharton

3.87 avg rating — 410 ratings

Julia Armfield doesn’t believe in star signs or personality tests, but if you tell her your birth order, she knows everything about...

Polls

June 2017 New School Classic Poll

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton, 351 pgs, 1905

48 votes, 15.0%

The Color Purple by Alice Walker, 295 pgs, 1982

43 votes, 13.4%

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk, 218 pgs, 1996

42 votes, 13.1%

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, 471 pgs, 1940

24 votes, 7.5%

My Ántonia by Willa Cather, 232 pgs, 1918

22 votes, 6.9%

The Godfather by Mario Puzo, 448, 1969

19 votes, 5.9%

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin, 304 pgs, 1969

16 votes, 5.0%

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin, 308 pgs, 1967

15 votes, 4.7%

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler, 231 pgs, 1939

13 votes, 4.0%

Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence, 654 pgs, 1913

13 votes, 4.0%

Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian, 459 pgs, 1969

12 votes, 3.7%

Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis, 335 pgs, 1946

11 votes, 3.4%

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, 418 pgs, 1931

10 votes, 3.1%

A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute, 359 pgs, 1950

10 votes, 3.1%

The Master of Go by Yasunari Kawabata, 189 pgs, 1954

8 votes, 2.5%

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel, 224 pgs, 1989

7 votes, 2.2%

Titanic by Filson Young, 236 pgs, 1912

5 votes, 1.6%

The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau, 320 pgs, 1964

3 votes, 0.9%

321 total votes

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Edith Wharton’s Followers (5,276)

Edith Wharton

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Combine Editions
Edith Wharton’s books