CLASSIC: "Summer" by Edith Wharton
STORYTELLING: 5/5 WRITING STYLE: 5/5 THEMES/MESSAGE: 3/5 CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: 4/5 IMPACT/ENGAGEMENT: 4/5 Total Grade: B (84%) “She had always kept to herself, contemptuously aloof from village lovemaking, without exactly knowing whether her fierce pride was due to the sense of her tainted origin, or whether she was reserving herself for a more brilliant fate,” (31). This was a splendid read, though the ending left me with many mixed feelings. But for my first Wharton read, I couldn’t be more pleased. Let’s get into it! Summer by Edith Wharton follows the life of Charity Royall, a sheltered yet feisty protagonist, who becomes smitten with a handsome and worldly architect, Lucius Harney, who is in town for the summer. Charity was adopted by local attorney (and chronic drunkard), Mr. Royall, who saved her from the impoverished mountain community that looms just above the town in which the story’s set, and the two maintain an odd relationship; Mr. Royall attempts to pe...
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