more photos (1)

Edith Wharton’s Followers (5,480)

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

edit data

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 · 588,661 ratings · 47,391 reviews · 1,669 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Age of Innocence 3.97 avg rating — 200,760 ratings — published 1920 — 4007 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 — 140,636 ratings — published 1911 — 3106 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 — 107,916 ratings — published 1905 — 2963 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 — 19,422 ratings — published 1917 — 1042 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 — 16,620 ratings — published 1913 — 886 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 — 15,226 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 3.85 avg rating — 8,822 ratings — published 1938 — 64 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 Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton 3.88 avg rating — 5,120 ratings — published 1934 — 70 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 3.84 avg rating — 5,057 ratings — published 1922 — 458 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 3.89 avg rating — 3,068 ratings — published 1922 — 121 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)

3.92 avg rating — 6,897 ratings

Vance Weston (2 books)
by

Edith Wharton

3.86 avg rating — 423 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

October 2014 New School Poll

1911, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, pages 331

25 votes, 20.0%

1925, The Trial by Franz Kafka, pages 276

21 votes, 16.8%

1970, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, pages 291

12 votes, 9.6%

1920, The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, pages 305

9 votes, 7.2%

1952, Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, 581 pages

8 votes, 6.4%

1916, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, pages 329

8 votes, 6.4%

1999, Girl With a Pearl Earring byTracy Chevalier, 233 pages

7 votes, 5.6%

1966, Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, pages 311

7 votes, 5.6%

1901, Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family by Thomas Mann, pages 731

5 votes, 4.0%

1957, The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham, pages 220

4 votes, 3.2%

1924, The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham, pages 246

4 votes, 3.2%

1974, Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow, pages 336

4 votes, 3.2%

1952, The Birds by Daphne du Maurier, pages 75

4 votes, 3.2%

1914, Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham, 684 pages

2 votes, 1.6%

1908, The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton, pages 198

2 votes, 1.6%

1985, The Postman: Il Postino by Antonio Skármeta, pages 128

2 votes, 1.6%

1980. Aztec by Gary Jennings, pages 754

1 vote, 0.8%

1903, The Ambassadors by Henry James, pages 528

0 votes, 0.0%

125 total votes

4 comments

More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
SciFi and Fantasy...: What I am also reading in October	57	709	Oct 30, 2008 07:50AM
The Book Challenge: Sarah's 2008 Book Challenge v2.0 - Fini!	5	1870	Dec 29, 2008 09:31AM
Challenge: 50 Books: Dini's List for 2008 - Done with 50!	23	1482	Jan 02, 2009 07:16PM
The Book Challenge: Meghan's 2008 Challenge - COMPLETED	66	491	Feb 19, 2009 08:31AM
The Next Best Boo...: Female author recommendations?	62	1369	Feb 20, 2009 11:57AM
Challenge: 50 Books: Jennie's Book List 2009	28	160	Aug 22, 2009 09:07AM
100+ Books in 2026: Diane's 100 for 2009	21	191	Sep 09, 2009 05:54AM
The Next Best Boo...: Favourite Authors from your native country	44	588	Sep 20, 2009 10:54AM
The Book Challenge: Kristen's 2009 challenge	34	200	Sep 25, 2009 08:21AM

More…

Edith Wharton’s Followers (5,480)

Edith Wharton

Combine EditionsEdith Wharton’s books

Series by Edith Wharton

Related News

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

Combine Editions
Edith Wharton’s books