Edith Wharton

In a society where people "dreaded scandal more than disease," passion was a force of ruin. Winner of the 1921 Pulitzer Prize, Edith Wharton's "The Age of Innocence" is set amidst the pre-World War I "Golden Age" of upper-class society in New York and is framed by society's strict moral code. When soon-to-be-wed Newland Archer finds himself enraptured by his bride-to-be's code-flouting cousin, he faces a turbulent battle between passion and social values. One of the great masterpieces in American literature, "The Age of Innocence" is now available as part of the "Word Cloud Classics" series, making it a chic and affordable addition to the libraries of literature lovers everywhere.

"...though she had not had the strength to shake off the spell that bound her to him she had lost all spontaneity of feeling, and seemed to herself to be passively awaiting a fate she could not avert." Edith Wharton, Summer Summer is a novel by Edith Wharton published in 1917 by Charles Scribner's Sons. The story is one of only two novels to be set in New England by Wharton, who was best known for her portrayals of upper-class New York society. The novel details the sexual awakening of its protagonist, Charity Royall, and her cruel treatment by the father of her child, and shares many plot similarities with Wharton's better-known novel, Ethan Frome. Only moderately well received when originally published, Summer has had a resurgence in critical popularity since the 1960s.

Women on the Verge: American Women's Literature of the Progressive Era presents a scholarly selection of some of the finest examples of Women's Literature from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, now known as The Progressive Era. Following the Victorian era, and on the heels of the twilight of the dominance of New England writers in American literature, Progressive era American women authors were starting to find their literary voices, unique from the rest of the world. Edited by Laura Bonds and Shawn Conners, and with cover art by Joan Turrell based on her series "Beyond the Yellow Wallpaper," this collection captures the essence of those voices, and includes the first American women authors to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Contents include short fiction and poetry by: Sarah Orne JewettKate ChopinMary E. Wilkins FreemanCharlotte Perkins GilmanEdith WhartonWilla CatherSara TeasdaleMargaret WiddemerEdna St. Vincent Millay