| Title | : | Summer |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 127 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1917 |
With its frank treatment of a woman's sexual awakening, Summer created a sensation upon its 1917 publication. Edith Wharton — the author of Ethan Frome and a peerless observer and chronicler of society — completely shattered the standards of conventional love stories with this novel's candor and realism. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author declared Summer a personal favorite among her works, and liked to refer to it as "the Hot Ethan." Over a century later, it remains fresh and relevant.
Summer Reviews
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This novel was first published in 1917 and I can’t help but be amazed by that. The themes in this novel are current, and as real today as they were a hundred years ago.
Charity Royall was born to a rough life on The Mountain and was rescued at the age of five by a lawyer in the village and his wife. After the death of his wife, Mr. Royall did the best he knew how to raise the girl, and although she knew their family was better off than the rest of the village, Charity was filled with conflict and discontent.
From my perspective, the conflicts and contrasts in this novel were the main themes: age versus youth, village life versus city life, mountain life versus village life, leaving versus staying, alone versus loneliness, independence versus dependence.
All of the characters in this novel experienced opposing duties – they were pulled in different directions whereby sometimes the heart ruled and sometimes the head – both of which were also in conflict. How the characters navigate their internal and external struggles steers the plot and characters of this novel throughout. It is also part of what makes this a read as contemporary as our own time.
Edith Wharton’s writing is amazing. Her descriptions are so vivid that I found myself easily visualizing the surrounding scenes and places, yet she doesn’t burden the reader with details that don’t matter. I found that every description had significance emotionally and/or physically to the characters and/or the plot.
Although I hadn’t read any of Edith Wharton’s works before, I feel lucky that I somehow stumbled into this one as my first read. I am definitely looking forward to reading more of her work. For any person of the times she lived in, her writing stands out. I am even more impressed that somehow she broke through many different biases and prejudices of the time and still stands today as an exceptional woman writer – and an extraordinary writer among her contemporaries, male or female. -
this book is touted as "edith wharton's most erotic book". the introduction blabs on and on about its eroticism, and how scandalous it is. so i have devised a little drinking game. i invite you - i entreat you - to prepare a shot glass with your favorite scotch or whiskey, and do a shot every time you start feeling a little hot from all the sexy good times. i pretty much guarantee that shot glass will be untouched by the end of your readings. this book is not erotic, even in the broadest, most mormonic sense. i think there is a kiss or two, which for wharton is hot, but it's a stretch to call it "erotic". this is a book where people get preggers by proximity: two people of opposite genders are seated beside each other, and suddenly - the lady is up the pole. this might be the first appearance of the "sexy librarian" stereotype, but erotic?? far from it, ms. white gloves...
come to my blog! -
"The longing to escape, to get away from familiar faces, from places where she was known, had always been strong in her in moments of distress. She had a childish belief in the miraculous power of strange scenes and new faces to transform her life and wipe out bitter memories."
Ah, summertime. What better time of year to dream of escape, new love, and bright futures. Well, certainly Edith Wharton may reveal such dreams to you, but any reader familiar with this author knows that she will depict the bitter reality for you as well. I was not misled into thinking this would be a feel-good diversion during a family road trip. I have read Wharton and knew what to expect – exceptional writing and an ending that would leave me reflecting about the fate of at least one or two characters for the next several weeks. I finished this book entirely satisfied and once again enamored with one of my favorite authors!
Charity Royall. I love the name. It reflects the duality of her background and upbringing, as well as the inner turmoil of the character herself. At the age of five, Charity was rescued from ‘the Mountain’, a poverty-stricken community in the hills that loom over the small New England town of North Dormer. The people of the Mountain are likened to a band of outlaws living on the outskirts of society, and the people of the more ‘civilized’ village fear and often disdain their very existence. But Charity is constantly reminded that Lawyer Royall, a prominent citizen of North Dormer, is responsible for lifting her up to a higher standing and a better life. "She knew that she had been christened Charity to commemorate Mr. Royall’s disinterestedness in ‘bringing her down,’ and to keep alive in her a becoming sense of her dependence; she knew that Mr. Royall was her guardian, but that he had not legally adopted her, though everybody spoke of her as Charity Royall…"
Mr. Royall too is a complex man. Why would a man of his station and intellect choose to remain in the lifeless town of North Dormer? "North Dormer is at all times an empty place, and at three o’clock on a June afternoon its few able-bodied men are off in the fields or woods, and the women indoors, engaged in languid household drudgery." He is developed with skill through Ms. Wharton’s pen as well. He is a man I first despised, then pitied, and eventually regarded with a bit of grudging sympathy and acceptance. "Come to my age, a man knows the things that matter and the things that don’t; that’s about the only good turn life does us."
When a young man by the name of Lucius Harney suddenly appears in town, Charity is yanked from the monotony of town life into one with a glimmer of hope for that chance at love and escape. We as readers watch her grow and bloom. Anyone who has been in love can certainly relate to her now; I dare say perhaps you will even find yourself liking her. At the very least, you will empathize with her. "The only reality was the wondrous unfolding of her new self, the reaching out to the light of all her contracted tendrils. She had lived all her life among people whose sensibilities seemed to have withered for lack of use; and more wonderful, at first, than Harney’s endearments were the words that were a part of them. She had always thought of love as something confused and furtive, and he made it as bright and open as the summer air." Yet love is never simple, particularly in real life and no less so in a Wharton novel. There are the complexities of Charity’s background, the constant reminder of her origins. This becomes more intensely illuminated following a trip up the mountain with Harney. The chasm she senses between them is highlighted by their differences in education and opportunity. We keenly observe Charity’s struggle to bridge the gap. We wonder if she can successfully pull herself up from the drabness of North Dormer life, or whether she will molder like the dusty, untouched volumes on the shelves of the local library where she listlessly waits for a patron every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon.
If you have not yet read Wharton, I highly recommend starting with one of her short stories or novellas such as this. The settings are always beautifully described, and the themes are highly thought-provoking. The writing is very accessible and the exploration of social structures and the role of a woman can be applied even during our more ‘modern’ times. The plight of a woman and her more limited choices have certainly improved but have not been eradicated, and therefore should not be overlooked even now. -
Refreshingly different take on the classic summer love story!
Charity makes all the choices that Lily Bart didn't make in
The House of Mirth. She goes for the lover, the child, AND the secure marriage that society forces upon any young, pregnant woman without any family connections.
Doubtless, her "happily ever after" in North Dormer will contain a lot of drudgery, but she will have a summer night's dream, a child, and the knowledge that she MADE HER OWN DECISIONS to keep her going. Was it Lily's need for luxury and admiration that made her lose all while Charity - completely alone - found strength and will power to grab what life offered?
Edith Wharton knows her trade!
She is a master of the female psyche and the complications of female sexuality that leave young women vulnerable in ways young men could never be. Imagine Charity's visit to the abortion doctor without any intention of asking for her services - just to get the confirmation that she really was pregnant, as there was no other way for her to find out! And imagine her going back again after having been cheated and blackmailed - to pick up her brooch left as payment and the only symbol left of her summer love, except for her baby. Imagine the power of pregnancy to make women grow strong where they thought there was only weakness and failure...
Lovely story! -
Bunches-of-thanks….
to many Goodreadsl friends who read this before me….especially to the classic readers (you know who you are). Thank you! I loved it … all it’s messy complexity.
….This was a wonderful story!
….Beautiful - lovely - writing!
….Written in the 1800’s - but there is a timeless contemporary feel to it.
….Set in a small village of North Dormer in New England
….Charity Royal, [great name] young, pretty, naive, unsophisticated….
a romantic dreamer falls in love with a man that is doomed from the start….a visitor from New York that represents everything the village town isn’t….wealth, class, freedom.
She recognizes her limitations….and with consequences to face from an affair that ends in pregnancy….those limitations are twofold.
Charity was thwarted by the ridged social order that governs her society in a small town…on the fringe of the larger world.
The plot thickens…
everyone is a compelling character…but it’s Charity I might continue to think about for months.
The ending leaves the reader contemplating…one that I felt was fitting.
This wonderful controversial story - a tangled sexual awakening story of a young girl in 1917 ….who had been abandoned by her moonshine parents — is caught between a war of freedom and repression.
As to whom to have mercy on - feel sympathetic for - compassion for - condolences for - be cognizant of…. the reader can decide…..
I love when an author does this.
I just might be becoming an Edith Wharton *fan*! -
IN FULL CIRCLE
This is a tale that comes to life during a Summer, and the descriptions of the airy landscape under the sun are amongst the most enrapturing aspects of this novel.
And then there is a story of conflict. First and foremost, of the heroine, Charity Royall, who is not a heroine at all. She is in conflict with her past, with her present, and, she suspects, with her future. She rebels against those who, charitably, have offered her a refuge and a life, granting her her name as a promising and foreboding start.
The story seems to follow a straight path, a well-known path, but too many doubts, too many uncertainties, too many false impressions, too many unknowns, too many remote possibilities, make that path seem more and more like a treacherous chimeras, and the only way left is to go back to the beginning.
And even if this could be taken as a lesson that one just has to accept things as they are and shun fantasies, I could not but feel that the main character ultimately fails. And even if she "had never known how to adapt herself, she could only break and tear and destroy" the often analyzed but still unresolved plights of women with their limited choices remain depressingly unresolved.
Love comes and goes; Illusions come and go. At the end only life remains. -
“Sweet sleepy warmth of summer nights
Gazing at the distant lights
In the starry sky
“And when the rain
Beats against my windowpane
I'll think of summer days again
And dream of you”
--A Summer Song,Chad & Jeremy, Songwriters: Clive Metcalf / David Stuart / Keith Noble
``When I think of `Summer,' I think of it as one of Wharton's most heart-wrenching novels, about the very real agonies and results of young passion.''
– Elizabeth Strout
Charity Royall has just stepped outside of the home of her benefactor, where she also lives, and stands on the doorstep, as this begins.
”It was the beginning of a June afternoon. The springlike transparent sky shed a rain of silver sunshine on the roofs of the village, and on the pastures and larchwoods surrounding it. A little wind moved among the round white clouds on the shoulders of the hills, driving their shadows across the fields and down the grassy road that takes the name of street when it passed through North Dormer. The place lies high and in the open, and lacks the lavish shade of the more protected New England villages. The clump of weeping-willows about the duck pond, and the Norway spruces in front of the Hatchard gate, case almost the only roadside shadow between lawyer Royall’s house and the point where, at the other end of the village, the road rises above the church and skirts the black hemlock wall enclosing the cemetery.
“The little June wind, frisking down the street, shook the doleful fringes of Hatchard spruces, caught the straw hat of a young man just passing under them, and spun it clean across the road into the duck-pond.”
Charity isn’t the most disciplined librarian that the Hatchard Memorial Library has ever had, where she works the hours from three to five on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but two hours drags on when the library rarely has patrons visiting, and so one day she decides to close earlier than usual - her usual that is – and she closes up at four o’clock, and walks along a trail, passing by the crumbling wall up the hill to where there is a cluster of larches, laying down to smell the thyme.
”She was blind and insensible to many things, and dimly knew it; but to all that was light and air, perfume and colour, every drop of blood in her responded.”
Charity came to live with lawyer Royall as a young child, a child brought down from the mountains above where they lived, and while her life is easier than the life she would likely have known had lawyer Royall and his wife not raised her. But that was then, and his wife has passed on.
Lucius Harney, a young architect, enters the picture, and shortly thereafter comes to stay at the Royall home, as a guest of lawyer Royall. While Charity’s initial introduction to him doesn’t go well, sparks fly, first in indignation, and soon thereafter she becomes intrigued, which begets a desire, a yearning for more.
”Harney tied the horse to a tree-stump, and they unpacked their basket under an aged walnut with a riven trunk out of which bumblebees darted. The sun had grown hot, and behind them was the noonday murmur of the forest. Summer insects danced on the air, and a flock of white butterflies fanned the moble tips of the crimson fireweed. In the valley below not a house was visible; it seemed as if Charity Royall and young Harney were the only living beings in the great hollow of earth and sky.”
One hundred and one years ago, in 1917, when Edith Wharton’s ”Summer was first published, it was banned in the Berkshires. It was considered such a scandalous novel, that despite the fact that Edith Wharton had been a trustee of the Lenox library, they banned it from their library, as did the library in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. I’m not sure if Windsor, the town on which the fictional town of North Dormer was based, had a library, or if it did, if it was also banned there, but Pittsfield was the town that inspired the fictional town of Nettleton. Lenox apparently banned it because the author lived there and they didn’t want the public to associate the town with her.
And so she moved to France.
This was lovely, the writing is beautiful, the story has a natural, easy flow, and I grew to understand each character a bit more as the story progressed. A wonderful introduction, for me, to Edith Wharton’s writing.
Many thanks to my goodreads friend Candi whose review prompted me to add this one. Since today is the last day of Summer, it seemed an appropriate one to choose to say goodbye to the warmer days of summer!
Candi’s review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... -
I am so in love with the writing of Edith Wharton. It makes me feel foolish to have had such a writer in full view and passed her over for so many years in favor of lesser ones.
Edith Wharton's Summer is a different kind of novel than the others of hers that I have read, but not one bit less rich and enthralling. The main character, Charity Royall, is unsure of her place in society, raised in the home of one of the most prominent men in a small town but always made aware that she comes "from the mountain". The mountain is peopled with the poor and uneducated, who are so lowly placed as to have no status whatsoever in the society on whose fringe they live. Charity bounces between a feeling of position and power and one of abject inferiority, her very name being a reflection of her lack of legitimate claim on the society in which she lives.
Wharton brings all her elaborate writing skills to bear on this story, painting vivid pictures of the town, the natural surroundings and the people. The "love story" at the heart of the tale is full of tension and societal taboos, just as those entanglements we see in The Age of Innocence and House of Mirth. I became very involved in Charity's situation and anxious for her in the choices she was forced to make.
The odd thing for me was that I kept thinking of Thomas Hardy and found this novel had an atmosphere and feeling that was more akin with him than with the Wharton works I know. Perhaps this springs from the fact that Wharton sets this novel in a rural, small town area without any of the glitz, riches and style that are her usual trademarks. Charity Royall isn't trying to climb the social ladder or gain entrance into a society she watches from outside, she is inside the society already trying to figure out exactly where she fits.
If you have enjoyed other Wharton novels, you are almost sure to find this one a satisfying read. It is short, but powerful, and I closed the book feeling as if the story had come full cycle and reached its inevitable conclusion. -
3,5/5
No es de las novelas más impactantes ni de las más profundas de Edith Wharton, pero como siempre, la autora muestra un punto de vista distinto de una manera muy bella, sin olvidarse de la crítica.
Todas las protagonistas de Wharton son diferentes, viviendo junto a un clase alta (o al menos pudiente) pero sin pertenecer a ella del todo, terminan siendo rechazadas por sus orígenes, su conducta o falta de dinero. En este caso, a pesar de que el ambiente en que se mueve la protagonista no tiene nada de las altas esferas de otras de las historias que suele mostrar la autora, podemos ver cómo esa vida en sociedad sigue ceñida a una serie de normas absurdas que son terriblemente diferentes para hombres y mujeres.
Recomendable, como todo lo que escribió. -
Written in Wharton's inimitable style the prose in this novella is of course beautiful. Every word and phrase lends itself to defining summer in a small country town. It makes for beautiful reading.
Charity is not a likeable character but I still felt sorry for her. It was apparent from the outset that life would probably not go well for her, especially in one of
Edith Wharton's novels which are not famous for happy endings. The ending was pretty inevitable although it could have been worse.
For a classic written exactly one hundred years ago this one is an enjoyable, easy read. -
The summer version of
Ethan Frome, but not quite as good. -
Many people who know Edith Wharton know her for and have read her books, Age of Innocence, and House of Mirth, for which she is known for her conservative style and subject matter. But this book, Summer, might surprise those familiar with these other more famous Wharton works. For in Summer, Wharton really airs out the skirts, so to speak, writing freely about pregnancy, birth control, and patriarchy. The narrative arc follows a tempestuous romance between a young deceitful man from "the city" and a young woman from "the mountain" just trying to pass among her neighbors.
I love books from this time period in which the female characters possess real agency. It is true that women of the era in which this story is set did not have much control in their lives; but I appreciate a writer who is creative enough to write women who can act for themselves within whatever systemic pressures they experience. You will see this not only with the MC in Summer, but with other female characters as well.
The language can be challenging in this one (though Wharton strove for simple diction, despite her complicated syntax). Take the pages slow like I did, and you'll enjoy the read.
Stay safe out there, my fellow bookish folks; don't forget your masks and keep your hands in your pockets! <3 -
Summer by Edith Wharton, which I listened to on Audible, narrated by Grace Collin. A rise of female powers by questioning things. It was published a century ago—a lively, delicate, female, classic masterpiece. Still true today.
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Four reasons explain why this novella clicked for me:
*It is not about glitzy high society.
*It draws the life of ordinary people and it draws their lives realistically.
*It illustrates that real life consists most often of choosing between mediocre alternatives. Rarely are we given that chance in a million, but at the same time a less optimistic choice need not be without hope or possibility.
*It encourages readers to focus on the good that in fact does exist, in what appears at first glance only limited, unpromising choices. It is up to us to make the best of the choices given us. The message is not pounded in; it is delivered with subtlety.
There, that is the essential--what I think the book conveys and why I think the book is worth reading. Of course, your view may differ from mine.
The setting is the turn of the 20th century, a rural community near New Hampshire. We are told that the central character, Charity Royall, had been “taken down from the mountain”. Much of the story lies in discovering what exactly this means and subsequently its consequences. It is a novella about a summer dalliance--where this leads and how it changes those involved. Charity matures. Readers’ views of the characters change as one comes to understand them more fully. The book is a character study and about social restraints.
How can I best describe Wharton’s writing style? Behind every action lies a balanced, nuanced understanding of human behavior. Actions are not melodramatic; they are instead quiet and sure. Each action is depicted precisely, exactly, with clarity. Each word is there for a purpose. All of this creates a particular feel to the prose.
The audiobook is very well narrated by Lyssa Browne. It is so very good that you scarcely even pay attention to the fact that it Is being read. I have given the narration four stars.
Summer 4 stars
Xingu 3 stars
Ethan Frome 1 star
The Age of Innocence 1 star -
This was another great read by Edith Wharton. Although not as favored as Ethan Frome which it has been compared to, I loved it for the similarities of the complex characters and relationships. This one was a sad sort of coming of age story but more profound than a simple summer romance, and far from formulaic. Apparently this was written based on Edith Wharton's own love affair which made it even more interesting and left me wanting to read more about her personal life. Definitely recommended for fans of her books. The writing is sophisticated and beautiful as typical of her style, yet easy reading for a classic. As usual she leaves you wondering about the characters.
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Charity Royall. I loved her, hated her, sympathized with her, and cried for her.
She's a young woman at age 19, bored with her life in a small New England town. Adopted by Lawyer Royall at a young age, she was saved from a life of poverty on the "mountain". One would think she would have been grateful, but not Charity. She hates Mr. Royall for what she sees as her imprisonment in small town drudgery, and also for his proposal of marriage.
Enter Lucius Harney, sophisticated man about town; a young architect visiting nearby. Suddenly, Charity's hopes of escaping North Dormer and her new found sexuality awaken.
Charity learns some ugly life lessons, some sooner rather than later. This novel must have been shocking in 1917 when it was released. A young woman with sexual needs and desires was not something openly discussed in those days, certainly not in small New England towns.
I have a fondness for Edith Wharton's work. She lived not too far from me, in a home she designed and had built herself. To me, she has always represented a fighter against the rules of society and their effect on women of the day. Unfortunately, the women in her stories often lose their fights. In this case, I choose to view the ending as a victory for Charity. She certainly made out better than poor Lily Bart.
Recommended for fans of classics and readers that enjoy social commentary disguised as an entertaining tale. -
Summer lovin', had me a blast
Summer lovin', happened so fast*
This one immediately made the jump onto my Characters I Want to Slap shelf when I was introduced to Charity Royall, a bored teen who is fortunate enough to have a job in a library, but she HATES it! (SLAP!) Charity is basically at the age when she hates EVERYTHING, particularly the older man who has rescued her from an uncertain fate up on the Mountain, and the gossipy, small town where she currently resides.
. . . we all live in the same place, and when it's a place like North Dormer it's enough to make people hate each other just to have to walk down the same street every day.
And then one day . . . a certain young man appears in town and causes her to become a quivering Jell-O mold of lust and racy thoughts.
I was surprised how much I enjoyed this one, especially given that I disliked Charity. By the end of the book, however, when , I had actually started to care for her a bit. I'm wondering what that says about me. Am I jealous of her youth and beauty, like the small town hags so quick to judge her, or am I just happy this library-hater got her comeuppance?
Despite being hailed as a novel of "sexual awakening," there are no spicy scenes here, though it was interesting how frankly the specter of unwanted pregnancy was dealt with in a book published in 1917.
As far as classics go, this is a relative bit of fluff, but like summer itself, the book has a nice languid charm.
The haze of the morning had become a sort of clear tremor over everything, like a colourless vibration about a flame; and the opulent landscape seemed to droop under it. But to Charity the heat was a stimulant; it enveloped the whole world in the same glow that burned at her heart.
*Summer Nights by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey -
سلام.
این کتاب درسال 1917 توسط "ادیت وارتون" نوشته شد و در شهرهای برکشایر، پیتزفیلد، ماساچوست ممنوع شد.
داستان این کتاب درباره ی دختریست به نام چَریتی رویال که توسط وکیلی به نام آقای رویال به فرزند خواندگی گرفته شده (البته توی کتاب ذکر شده که آقای رویال قیم چریتی بوده و به فرزند خواندگی گرفته نشده. حالا.) چریتی توی دهکده ی کوچیکی توی آمریکا زندگی میکنه، آمریکای سال1917 پس درجریان باشید که با یک رمان کلاسیک طرف هستیم. در این دهکده ی کوچیک چریتی رو به عنوان یه فرد خوششانسی میشناسند که آقای رویال بهش لطف کرده و اون رو کوه به دهکده آورده و قیمش شده.
من این داستان رو خیلی پسندیم. راوی داستان دانای کل است و داستان شامل توصیفات زیادیست. توصیفات نسبت به گفتگوها بیشتر هستند.
نویسنده ی کتاب تابستان میتونست داستان رو مثل کتاب های کلاسیک دیگر بنویسه، ولی ادیت وارتون چریتی رو به صورت یه سوال بزرگ برای خوانندگان طرح کرد، چریتی میدونست که با تمامی اهالی دهکده متفاوته، چون اون از اهالی دهکده نبود از اهالی کوه بود و هیچوقت نتونست بفهمه که به کجا تعلق داره. چریتی توی این رمان نمونه ای از یک زن آزاد رو نشون میده، اون از آزادیش استفاده کرد و طعم آزاد بودن رو دوست داشت. انتخاب هایی میکرد بر اساس صلایق خودش بود نه دستورات دیگران. البته درانتهای کتاب هم خودش شاهدبود که بعضی از تصمیماتش از روی عقل گرفته نشده بود، ولی من در لحن کتاب نشانه ای پشیمانی ندیدم و مشخص بود چریتی علاوه بر یک زن آزاد، نشان دهنده ی فردی از خودگذشته هم بود.
پ.ن: دلم میخواست راوی داستان خود چریتی میبود تا بیشتر از احساساتش باخبر میشدم :) -
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3.25 stars“Now she knew the meaning of her disdains and reluctances. She had learned what she was worth when Lucius Harney, looking at her for the first time, had lost the thread of his speech, and leaned reddening on the edge of her desk. But another kind of shyness had been born in her: a terror of exposing to vulgar perils the sacred treasure of her happiness.”
Although short
Summer is an interesting read.
Feelings and actions are obliquely revealed or hinted at, so much so that many of the decisive events that our 'heroine' Charity experiences are only alluded to or described in an indirect fashion.
Because of this, the changing dynamics between the various characters can at times be hard to follow or understand. Yet, Wharton's narration does render, withan almost painful accuracy, those emotions and thoughts that can align the reader to Charity's state of mind.
There is a sense of sadness and growing unease that makes this novella into a rather distressing reading experience. While the story examines class, gender, and desire in an intriguing manner it also presents us with many unhappy scenarios and characters who are selfish, greedy, and snobbish.
Wharton deftly illustrates how Charity's background (the fact that she comes from "up the mountain" ) not only negatively affects her reputation—that is the way she is perceived by others—but it is also the cause of her own sense of inferiority. Almost incongruously to this deeply ingrained feeling of shame, and the fear that she is like her mother (a poor woman of ill reputation), Charity holds the fervent belief that she is superior to others and deserving of an exciting and self-fulfilling life.
These contrasting beliefs are the likely reason why Charity denies herself happiness and in self-denial she bottles up her love for Lucius Harney.
The story is not a happy one, and as Charity mirrors her mother's path, readers will find the turn of events to be almost inevitable ones. Perhaps a slower narrative could have examined in even more depth Charity and her story, as the narrative in
Summer quickly moves from scene to scene without much room to digest the causes and consequences of Charity's actions...
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This would make a really good chamber opera.
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Summer is not my first Edith Wharton novel and I remember having already enjoyed, many years ago, The House of Mirth.
The French edition in which I read Summer, had no preface or postface, only a backcover text, saying: This is a novel that treats the female sexuality, seen as a powerful and constructive vital force. This novel was very modern for the time, 1918. So I approached this novel, the way I like to: without notice, without knowing the story or having read any review. A direct dive into the unknown! What a happiness!
This book teased me throughout my reading: why didn’t the guardian of Charity the main character, give her an education worthy of its name, he who is educated? Education is the only thing Charity is missing that would have allowed her to have a totally different life. Charity struggles in a small village unknown to the rest of the country, whose uneducated villagers have retrograde and narrow thoughts. She wishes for herself another future, having no idea of which form it could have, because of her lack of knowledge. However there is knowledge around Charity, in the tiny library of the village, full of dusty books. But, alone in front of them, she is discouraged: how to approach this knowledge?
The first person Charity must fight to rise, to get out of her village and her condition, is herself; and that's the hardest thing in the world.
These are the lacunas of Summer’s characters that lead them into this story beautiful, sad, strong and, after all, when I imagine a sequel to the novel, full of hope.
Here are some Summer phrases that I have extracted for you from the book, in order to make you want to read THIS BOOK THAT MUST BE READ!
« She knew nothing of her early life, and had never felt any curiosity about it: only a sullen reluctance to explore the corner of her memory where certain blurred images lingered. But all that had happened to her within the last few weeks had stirred her to the sleeping depths. She had become absorbingly interesting to herself, and everything that had to do with her past was illuminated by this sudden curiosity.
She hated more than ever the fact of coming from the Mountain; but it was no longer indifferent to her. Everything that in any way affected her was alive and vivid: even the hateful things had grown interesting because they were a part of herself. »
« She had lived all her life among people whose sensibilities seemed to have withered for lack of use »
« The best way to help the places we live in is to be glad we live there. »
And now as usual the French version, the original one :
Été n’est pas mon premier roman d’Edith Wharton et je me souviens d’avoir déjà beaucoup apprécié The House of Mirth.
L’édition française dans laquelle j’ai lu Été, n’avait ni préface ni postface, only a backcover text, disant : C’est un roman qui traite de la sexualité féminine, vue comme une force vitale puissante et constructrice. Ce roman était très moderne pour l’époque, 1918. J’ai donc abordé ce roman, comme j’aime aborder un roman : sans avis, sans en connaître l’histoire. Une plongée directe dans l’inconnu ! Que du bonheur !
Été m’a fait enrager tout au long de ma lecture : pourquoi le tuteur de Charity, personnage principal ne lui a-t-il pas donné d’éducation digne de ce nom, lui qui est instruit ? L’éducation est la seule chose qui manque à Charity et qui lui aurait permis d’avoir une vie totalement différente. Charity se débat dans un petit village ignoré du reste du pays, dont les villageois incultes ont des pensées rétrogrades et étriquées. Elle souhaite pour elle-même un autre avenir, en ayant aucune idée de la forme qu’il pourrait avoir, faute de savoir. Pourtant, il y a du savoir à portée de ses yeux, dans la minuscule bibliothèque du village, pleine de livres poussiéreux. Mais, seule face à eux, elle se décourage : comment aborder ce savoir ?
La première personne que Charity doit combattre pour s’élever, se sortir de son village et de sa condition, c’est elle-même ; et c’est ce qu’il y a de plus difficile au monde.
Ce sont les lacunes de ces personnages qui les entraînent dans cette histoire belle, triste, forte et, somme toute, quand j’imagine une suite au roman, pleine d’espoir.
Voici maintenant quelques phrases d’Été que j’ai extraite pour vous du livre, afin de vous donner envie de lire CE LIVRE QU’IL FAUT LIRE !
« De ses premières années, elle ne savait rien et jusqu’à ce jour aucune curiosité à ce sujet n’avait poussé en elle : elle éprouvait plutôt une répugnance secrète à explorer les recoins de sa mémoire où trainaient, çà et là, certaines images à demi effacées. Cependant, tout ce qui lui était arrivé depuis ces dernières semaines l’avait profondément remuée et troublée. Elle se sentait prise pour elle-même d’un intérêt nouveau, absorbant, et cette curiosité soudaine projetait sa lumière sur tout ce qui se rapportait à son passé. (…) Tout ce qui d’une façon quelconque la touchait était devenu pour elle vivant et animé ; même les choses dont elle était le moins fière prenaient de l’intérêt puisqu’elles étaient une partie de sa propre vie. »
« Elle avait toujours vécu parmi des gens dont la sensibilité semblait s’être flétrie faute d’usage. »
« La meilleure façon de faire du bien là où on vit, c’est d’y vivre en étant heureux d’y vivre. » -
If you're looking for accessible classics, Edith Wharton's novellas are a good place to start. Although I preferred
Ethan Frome over this book, both of these novellas resonated more strongly with me than Wharton's more popular novels (
The House of Mirth and
The Age of Innocence).
As in "Frome", "Summer" is set in a small New England town and centers around the complex relationships of just a few main characters. For me, this is where Wharton is at the top of her game. Love is never easy or straightforward on Wharton's pages, and it rarely enters the equation when marriage is concerned.
"Summer" is a sad coming-of-age tale where young Charity Royall learns many of life's cruel lessons -- about class, about men, and about loneliness -- all too soon. -
4,5*
#gonewiththebook
“Se pensasse no futuro sentiria instintivamente que o fosso entre eles era demasiado profundo e que a paixão que servia de ponte era tão pouco substancial como um arco-íris. (...) Agora, o seu primeiro sentimento era que tudo seria diferente e que ela própria seria um ser diferente para Harney. Em vez de se manter separada e absoluta, seria comparada com outras pessoas e esperariam dela coisas desconhecidas. Era demasiado orgulhosa para ter medo, mas sentia abater-se a liberdade do seu espírito...”
Que ninguém vá ao engano pelo título em português, porque sendo Edith Wharton, nunca poderia ser uma história leve nem feliz. Nela temos uma jovem protagonista fortíssima, Charity, um espírito livre, intempestiva, petulante e até um pouco destravada, que tenta lutar contra as convenções da sociedade a um alto preço.
Esta autora é mais conhecida pelos livros passados na cidade e que se focam na alta sociedade, mas eu admiro este registo dela, com personagens mais remediadas, no meio rural, com umas descrições fantásticas da natureza -
WHAT THE FRENCH FRIES.
THIS STORY IS TERRIBLE.
Charity is instantly unlikable, but I began to appreciate her straightforwardness and ballsiness.
She's lazy and selfish, though, and speaks terribly to people.
She's also totally naive.
Harney is a classic, predictable charmer and I kinda instantly disliked him because of where I assumed this was gonna go. I liked that he cared about the books, though. Respect, brother.
Royall is repulsive and I was so disgusted by his hitting on the girl he basically raised as his daughter. Like, I know things were different in the 'olden days' but damn, this was way too weird for me to be okay with it.
This story has some serious issues and I am so disturbed by it.
The writing was pretty in places, though, and conveys a very clear picture of summer in a small town. I'll admit it: the writing is actually okay. Predictable in places, but I tell ya what: I did NOT see myself being so disturbed by this book. The repulsion I feel after reading it suggests its actually a pretty decent slice of writing.
Plot though: minus a billion stars.
If you like classics that are totally messed up, by all means, go for it.
What a freaking mess. -
edith wharton is becoming my intellectual crush at this rate
-
I had the pleasure of reading this short novel for the second time this week after many years. As a Wharton admirer -- she is highly on my list of literary crushes (although if The House of Mirth is any indication, I can't say she'd want much to do with a middle-class Jew whose grandmother did piece work) --please always take my devotion with a few grains of salt. That being said, I was surprised at how provocative and modern the novel seemed on this second visit, not only a commentary on early 20th century social constrictions, but also a trenchant reflection on adolescence and love. (Caveat: Summer is far different in sensibility from Wharton's urban novels like The Age of Innocence and The Custom of the Country.)
I will trust most readers of this review are already familiar with the basics of the plot: 18-year-old Charity Royall of North Dormer, Massachusetts, pursues an ill-fated romance with visiting illustrator and architect Lucius Harney. Meanwhile, she parries unwanted matrimonial advances from Lawyer Royall, who has raised her since childhood, but ultimately Harney jilts her and she acquiesces to a marriage with Royall. What I would like to suggest -- as unpopular as this non-conventional reading may sound in the era of MeToo and "Cat Person" -- is that Lawyer Royall is a far richer, complex and more sympathetic character than he is generally portrayed to be. That is not to say he is without serious flaws: the moment where he drunkenly tries to seduce his ward, the episode where he calls her a whore on the dock, possibly even his wish to marry a teenager he has raised from age five. Okay, points made. (I suspect he is closer to 45 than 60, but still....)
HOWEVER: Unlike Harney or Charity or anybody else in the novel, Lawyer Royall is the only character who repeatedly and consistently displays a capacity altruism, self-sacrifice and meaningful love. This occurs most notably when he offers to retrieve Harney and use his legal knowledge to compel the architect to marry Charity even though this means losing the woman he professes to love. (I find this offer sincere and the suggestion that it might be a seduction strategy rather unconvincing.) Similarly, he tracks down Charity after her ultimate "disgrace" and marries her, knowing that he will be raising another man's child--and does not even raise the issue with her. I found the moment when he sleeps on the chair in the hotel during the first night of their marriage very sad, but it certainly seems he has no intention of forcing himself on Charity in the future, even though they are legally married (which was probably a reader's expectation in that epoch). Key to all of this, of course, is that throughout most of the novel, as by her own assessment, the power dynamic in their relationship favors Charity, not Lawyer Royall. Obvious, by contemporary standards, his conduct is problematic -- but by the standards of 1917, he proves himself generous and selfless in a way Harney certainly never does, and we are also led to believe that the other men in the town generally do not. (Harney is more or less a foil, one of literature's many two-timing louts who play off their good looks and money.)
Why Royall wants to marry Charity is itself a puzzle. She is obviously beautiful, and intelligent (if uneducated), as well as tempestuous, but she's not particularly kind -- and even excusing her early misfortune growing up "on the mountain," she can prove lazy (letting the library in her charge decay), judgmental (scorning Julia Hawkes, who has been ostracized for an unwed pregnancy) and cruel (as she often is to Royall.) She also has her redeeming moments, as when she writes to Harney urging him to stick to his promise to marry Annabel Balch, but as a heroine, she is rather troublesome, if not outright infuriating. Of course, Wharton meant her to be -- not as an indictment of Charity herself, but an indictment of the limitations her society placed upon women of her age -- but she proves much less compelling (in the sense of rooting for her, not in the sense of enjoying reading about her), to my tastes, than Lily Bart or Ellen Olenska or even Mattie Silver in Ethan Frome.
In any case, other readers should feel free to disagree with me. But they should read this masterful book, because it's a highly engaging and thought-provoking gem that transcends time and place.
(PS: If you're out there somewhere, Edith, and want to dine, my calendar is wide open....) -
Gotta love a book about a library!
Very short novel. I think I finished it in about 6 hours?
A story of what it means to have pride and hopes only to have them crash and burn. I related to Charity, I regret to say. I hope it's not a spoiler to say to you that I became pregnant at the age of 17, which completely changed my life, my goals, my outlook. I was rooting for Charity. I was really hoping she wouldn't make certain decisions that, because of where she lived, how she was reared, the times, she thought she had no other choices.
This was a bit depressing. But it's a story that resonates today. -
As much as I am fond of
Edith Wharton's work, every time she writes about them poor peoples, I am weary. Her
Ethan Frome, describing woes of some peasants, wasn't authentic or credible enough, IMO, and neither is
Summer.
The main character in this novella, Charity Royall, was "brought down from the Mountains" in infancy and raised by a big wig lawyer in a tiny town of North Dormer. Charity is smart, albeit not particularly educated, and holds a very peculiar position in town. She is too good for the village lads, but not too polished to refined society. When a young, attractive architect shows up in North Dormer, Charity is taken by him. Even though she knows very well he is out of her league, she nevertheless starts a sexual affair with him.
Summer is often called the most provocative and erotic of Wharton's, and I suppose it is. In a sense, that here you at least know that some sex took place, unlike in Wharton's other novels, where everything is so vague and hush-hush, you have to often play that did they/didn't they game. But, naturally, things never get raunchier than mentioning of a Mexican blanket or descriptions of her lover's "young throat, and the root of the muscles where they joined the chest."
Summer is a decent novella, but not as good as Wharton's stories about repressed and oppressed high society ladies. She should have left farmers and prostitutes to those authors who knew the subject matter better, someone like
Guy de Maupassant or
W. Somerset Maugham. -
"Americans want a tragedy with a happy ending," the perceptive Edith Wharton was fond of quoting. In this (1917) seduced-and-abandoned novel, EW relaxes slightly and gives her despairing, pregnant heroine a home of her own and a man who loves her, although it's doubtful that there will be much "happiness" within the marriage. A twin to "Ethan Frome," (1911), which also focused on the impoverished "hill" people of Massachusetts in the once very rural Berkshires, EW takes a conventional story, indeed, a trite one, and creates a beautifully sensuous painting of a young woman's rebellion, sexual initiation and confrontation with human nature. Some reviewers deplored what they called the sordid aspects of her story, ignoring the pathetic struggle of wills and compromise with fate amid unruly passions. When Bernard Berenson lauded the heroine's guardian as a masterly characterization, EW replied, "Of course, he's the book." Both he and she, despite humiliation, powerfully exercise their feelings with a minimum of melodrama.
EW wrote this novel during W1 in Paris where she did nonstop Red Cross work and organized relief for homeless refugees with an easy nonchalance. A formidable organizer and, by now, a grande dame, she was awarded the Legion of Honor. I believe the war made her reflect on her own life, which was emotionally stifled until her affair (1907-10) with American journalist Morton Fullerton -- a secret until sealed papers were opened in 1969. Hard to imagine today, but there was a time, especially for the still married EW, when appearances were of utmost importance. An affair must be conducted with style and - above all - discretion. Fullerton's own private life was a messy business and EW lent a hand when a French ex-mistress/landlady blackmailed him over a batch of love letters. Though once engaged briefly, he preferred his freedom and might be caught in any bed. But after 20 sexless years w Teddy Wharton, EW - once sexually awakened by this charmer - wanted him, as the song goes: Night and Day. This was not to be....She was in an angry mood when she wrote "The Reef" (1912), probably still thinking of Fullerton; she's hostile to all the players. Near the end of W1, with "Summer," EW's mood is gentle...almost meditational. The heroine's seducer, like Fullerton, is a sexy, careless charmer - and undependable.
In EWs (1934) memoir, "A Backward Glance," she lacks the strength to mention Fullerton's name.
That's deep feeling. He lived on in Paris, survived W2 and died in 1952. One scholar has written, "What vitality, above all, what memories he must have had." EW fans and academics cheered on learning that, yes, EW had her Lady Chatterley thrills. (Her confidant, diplomat Walter Berry, was another devoted, confirmed bachelor, like Henry James and Howard Sturgis).
Final note on "Summer," a quote from George Moore : "It does not matter what a man (or woman) writes about. It matters how he writes it. Subject is nothing." -
This was my first Wharton, and I was surprised at how accessible her writing was! It made me interested in reading more of her work for sure. This one, however, was a bit lackluster. It has some lovely descriptions and seems very progressive for its time. But overall the story was mediocre and the ending so abrupt!
