Glimpses of the Moon
Edith Wharton
1922
Around 275 pages
We have reached the last Edith Wharton novel on the List. We are definitely entering a new era of fiction, which promises to be a little less stuffy than the period we are leaving behind. I'll be interested to see how the next generation of writers shakes things up, even if I have to clutch my pearls while I'm reading.
Nick Lansing and Susy Branch are socialites who are low on funds. They devise a scheme to marry each other, and spend the next year or so in an extended honeymoon period, staying in villas and mooching off of their wealthy friends. If either of them meets somebody who would offer social mobility, they are free to dissolve the marriage. It quickly becomes apparent that neither Susy or Nick are as cool-headed about the arrangement as they pretend to be.
I can't believe this hasn't been adapted more, although I guess many writers of romantic comedies have been inspired by Wharton's clever machinations and characters. Wharton always explores the relationship between marriage and social status in her work, and if it's truly possible for an unmarried woman to exist comfortably in high society. I think it's interesting that she explores both sides of the equation and how much men can hate women for playing by their rules.
So I'll miss you Edith, it was nice having a consistent female presence on the List. Now back to the stag party.
RATING: ****-
Interesting Facts:
Made into a silent movie in 1923, but the film is now considered lost.
Official Wharton ranking. Strange that her most well known book came in dead last for me, but it's just because her other books were so good:
1. The House of Mirth
2. The Bunner Sisters
3. Glimpses of the Moon
4. Ethan Frome
5. Summer
6. The Age of Innocence
UP NEXT: Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. Another novel deemed essential in my school to the upbringing of teenagers.
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