Summer Paperback – July 29, 2010

Like all other Edith Wharton novels, Summer is highly evocative - it creates the illusion of actually being there; you can practically feel the oppressive, judgmental, small town atmosphere of North Dormer, the summer months, the rain laden clouds, the ever-present "Mountain", the dusty library with it's crumbling books; it's walls practically closing in... And like her other novels, Summer is poetic - it's more about what is left unsaid than what is articulated.Briefly, the novel is about a young girl on the threshold of youth, oppressed by her small town. She has the added burden of her past to carry - she has been rescued from her social outcast of a mother after her father has been sent to prison. Her guardian, now a widower, is in love with her. She is acutely conscious of his loneliness and his dependence on her and is contemptuous of that dependence.She is pretty, smart, strong willed, and passionate. Like all Edith Wharton's heroines, she is capable of enormous emotional depth. She falls in love with a visitor to North Dormer, a young, privileged architect from New York. She has to battle to keep her romance from the ever vigilant, prying eyes of her guardian and even the entire town.Edith Wharton evokes in 'Summer' the feeling of intense romance that she evokes in 'The Age of Innocence' without quite calling it love. Charity, the young heroine of 'Summer' offers her lover the freedom of 'choosing to do the right thing', before discovering that she is pregnant. She now has to understand what her mother may have gone through when she gave her up. She also has to understand what she has to offer to her relationship, and the terror of facing her best might not be quite enough for her young man.There is a certain inevitability to her choosing to get married to her guardian without telling her lover about the child. Intellectually, I know that it is the only course allowed for her given that it is the only graceful way saving her pride and her child; keep the feeling that her lover would have chosen her if she had not gotten into a preemptive marriage, alive. Still, there is something not quite appetizing about her guardian, standing in loco parentis, marrying her. And even though I can see her acquiescing - he would be lonesome without her - I can't quite see her mastering her contempt, sometimes compassion, to be quite wife-like.The book is worth a read. And once you get into the mind of the protagonist, it is hard to put down the book until you get to the last page.

"Summer" is one of those books that you will think about for a long, long time. Set in the small village of North Dormer in New England, this story unfolds far from Wharton's more famous world of the Van der Luydens and the Mingotts. "Summer" has a little of the feel of "Ethan Frome", but is painted in brighter colors. Our protagonist Charity Royall is naive and unsophisticated, yet she can face facts and deal with the consequences of her actions. We feel as if the Fates have moved to New England and have woven for Charity on a future over which she has little control. The bright summer skies and flowers are overshadowed by the Mountain which broods in the distance, and the reader has a sense of foreboding about Charity's future as she develops her relationship with the sophisticated Lucius Harney. She yearns to develop herself to his level of social ability and breadth of knowledge, all the while knowing her limitations in breeding and background. The reader admires her despite her unattractive faults, such as her undervaluing of what her guardian has given her. Often she is cruel and thankless. The end was, I thought, satisfying: Wharton did not do to Charity what she did to Lily Bart in "House of Mirth", and Charity seems to have learned to be--well--more charitable.I liked this book more than I liked "Ethan Frome", "Twilight Sleep", or "The Reef". While "Summer" may not be in the same class as "House of Mirth" or "Age of Innocence", it is I think comparable to "Glimpses of the Moon".

A beautifully written story about a young woman who is thwarted by the rigid social order that governs her society. Charity Royall is a very interesting character in that she is a romantic dreamer who at the same time recognises her dreams for what they are. Even when she is in the throes of passion for Lucius Harney she knows in her heart that they don't have a future together. She embraces their summer of love, the only summer that she will ever know, and lives in the moment while she can. The fact that she feels no guilt about their affair is very refreshing and progressive for the time.Inevitably she must face the consequences of her actions and the ending is bleak (not to mention creepy). Even though Charity is used by both Harney and her guardian, they are not portrayed as evil monsters and it's this subtlety that makes Wharton's writing so great. My only criticism of the book is that I found the pacing a bit uneven but it was another excellent read from one of my all-time favourite authors.

There was so much useless yearning, unsaid speeches, ignored conversations. So many misunderstandings, and downright stupidity. The characters seemed to ricochet from walls of deceit and pride. Driven by small time village society. Stifling communities sucking in and spitting out the noncomformists. Poor Charity did not unfortunately, have the wherewithall to get the hell out of there when the going was good, as the boarding school offer would have been a godsend. After all, education was power for women who normally had neither, especially among the out back no hope towns of mountainous isolation. She nevertheless stayed, against her secret better judgement. The conundrum being that all along it was her failing. Wrong decisions and weak minded foolish helplessness. Surrender to absolute here and now, and worry about consequences later. Instant gratification was even at the final analysis, the name of her game. Peace and security and warmth was the deciding factor after all. And still....against her wretched sense of better judgement, which constantly let her down.

In Edith Wharton's novel 'Summer' we meet the beautiful eighteen-year-old Charity Royall, who lives in the New England town of North Dormer with her guardian, the widowed Lawyer Royall. Rescued as a small child from a family of outcasts living in squalor on the mountain beyond the town, Charity (who has never been allowed to forget her origins) knows she should be thankful that she has escaped from a life of grime and poverty, but instead feels resentful and unsettled. Bored with the pace of life in North Dormer and finding her part-time job as the local librarian rather limiting, she longs to escape, and when her guardian makes her aware of the fact that his feelings towards her have changed from paternal to something less chaste, Charity's wish to escape becomes even more desirable. Into the library one day arrives the handsome and sophisticated Lucius Harney, an architect from New York, who shows Charity that he is very attracted to her - and, despite Charity being aware that Lucius is out of her class and she should take care not to allow him too many liberties, she finds it difficult not to let her passionate nature rule her head. But is Lucius all he appears to be? And what exactly are his true intentions towards the beautiful but inexperienced Charity?First published in 1917, Edith Wharton's 'Summer' was regarded by the author as one of her personal favourites and, although this is not an entirely original story, I can easily understand why the author chose this as one of her most pleasing pieces of work; it's a beautifully portrayed novel, full of sensual descriptions of situation and setting and also one that sensitively describes Charity's sexual awakening. However, although Charity may be the heroine of the novel, it is Lawyer Royall who is the more intriguing and complex character and I found it interesting the way Ms Wharton portrayed him from different perspectives during the course of the story. Initially we see him from Charity's perspective as a coarse, lumbering, elderly man - but, as we read further, we find him being described as a powerfully built man in mid-life whose "gravely set face wore the look of majesty that used to awe and fascinate"; he is also the most influential and well-educated person in the town and is well-regarded by many in North Dormer. It is true that, driven by his desire, Royall's behaviour towards Charity is, at times, reprehensible, but he also shows her kindness and understanding in his bluff way. But, ultimately, is Lawyer Royall a 'knight in shining armour' when Charity really needs him, or does he take advantage of the situation for his own sexual gratification? Naturally, I shall leave that for those who have yet to read the book to discover for themselves. I very much enjoyed this novel of Edith Wharton's and it's one that I find easy to recommend.4 Stars.

But I did enjoy reading it. Don't think she was as comfortable writing about this level of American society as she was in "House of Mirth" and "Age of Innocence", but it was quite a good read. Would have liked more about the Mountain People.

The Age Of Innocence by Edith Wharton is justly famous but this book also deals with many of the same themes, the awakening of female sexuality in a society that is all about control - and is beautifully written by an author who just isn't read enough.

I have never read her books, but this story of a girl and her journey through passion to acceptance entranced me. I hope to enjoy more of her writing and recommend this one.