Summer (Annotated)

Edith Wharton's Summer (1917) is a spare, penetrating novel of sexual awakening, social enclosure, and moral compromise in rural New England. Centered on Charity Royall, a young woman raised in the small village of North Dormer, the book traces her passionate encounter with the cultivated Lucius Harney and the consequences of desire in a world governed by class, gender, and reputation. Often read ...