Passing, in the first days, from a high shy tenderness to the rush of a secret surrender, it had gradually widened and deepened, to flow on in redoubled beauty.
She thought she now knew exactly how and why she loved Darrow, and she could see her whole sky reflected in the deep and tranquil current of her love. Why do we need another one? Wharton took the most interesting character in the first part Sophy and made her boring in later sections.
Wharton seems to take the easy way out by making him forgetful over what is not a long period of time. View all 4 comments. In her most autobiographical novel he appears as George Darrow, an aspiring diplomat who has a casual fling with a young American woman while waiting for the widowed Anna Leath EW to decide if she wants to marry him.
The ambivalent Anna lives behind a social mask outside of Paris but she can't shake off her Olde New York upbringing. Her controlling nature is disturbed by his sexuality. Henry James, who had a pash for Fullerton, calls this her masterpiece.
A more objective critic says, "It's such a good novel that one wishes it were better. It's tone is uncertain. It's difficult at times to get a sympathetic perspective on Wharton.
But I'm glad to report that she took Mort into high social spheres and helped pay off his blackmailer. She was smitten.
View all 3 comments. Mar 21, Gina rated it really liked it Recommends it for: Edith Wharton addicts.
This is supposed to be Wharton's Jamesian book Probably, it's the convoluted plotting in which all is NOT revealed until the end Anna, major female protagonist, visits the blowsy sister of the woman her fiance' has "known" in the biblical sense. Ensconced in a huge pink bed with those annoying barky dogs around her, this parody of who knows what is the last vision Wharton paints.
Anna has been str This is supposed to be Wharton's Jamesian book Anna has been struggling with her love for George Darrow, a tremendously attractive man in all respects, even from her youth. She was not vibrant enough to respond to him in her youth: now ten years later, she wants to respond but cannot get past his little fling with Sophie who just happens to be her daughter's governess.
Yes, it is "une belle salade" if that's the appropriately naughty description. Mind you, she agonizes over this problem a bit too much. I found her excessively scrupulous. George obviously loves her Confusion aside, at the end when we leave the boudoir of Sophie's artiste sister there is a deep message here for all us women , we are supposed to imagine that Anna and George will clasp each other in an eternal embrace anyway and sail off to his diplomatic posting in South America.
What really annoyed me in this arrangement was she was ok to be leaving her only daughter for a year or more in the hands of whatever governess she would find. Sophie, who btw was also being pursued by Anna's stepson, the Lord of the Chateau, had to quit the premises.
Edith had no children; she had bad parenting. It shows. She did know how to choose a title. This story is indeed a reef Jul 04, Stephanie rated it really liked it. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. After I finished the novel, I was nonplussed — what had just happened? Its plot is minimal and frustrating, but as in a James novel, plot is secondary.
This novel must be read on another level. A quick summary: George Darrow and Anna Summers were childhood sweethearts, but Anna went on to marry Fraser Leath; she adopted his son by a former marriage, Owen, and had a child with Leath.
Now Fraser Leath is dead. Anna and Darrow meet again by chance and renew their romance. The novel opens with Darrow on his way from London to Paris to meet Anna, who resides with her former mother-in-law on a provincial French estate.
She is also going to France, alone and jobless, so he takes her under his wing and they travel together. Months later, Darrow and Anna are reconciled. However, Sophy is able to become an obstacle between Anna and Darrow precisely because of that delay. Indirectly and unwittingly, Anna brings her main conflict upon herself. The ensuing psychological drama makes up the rest of the novel. Anna forces the truth out of Darrow. Sophy declares her love for Darrow and breaks with Owen.
Owen suspects the real reason, but does he ever learn the truth? The novel ends with the news that Sophy has returned to her original employer and is bound for India, a conclusion that reminds me of the idealist St. Wharton tells us early on that this novel is not meant to be read for plot. Anna has also focused on the superficial aspects of life. Anna has yet to dive beneath the surfaces of experience to explore the reef, a phenomenon simultaneously alluring and threatening.
When Anna learns that Darrow has had an affair with Sophy, it is not the class discrepancy or even the adultery that bothers her. Social mores are changing: Anna and Darrow are part of a transitional generation that thinks less rigidly about class, while Owen has flung all such prejudices aside.
But by setting these American characters in France, rather than under the microscope of New York society, Wharton signals that she is paying less attention to the constant social control seen in the New York novels.
One irony that emerges from her suffering is that she is finally experiencing what Darrow may have felt for decades while she was married to Fraser Leath. Wharton also includes a strangely Oedipal twist to the lesson Anna learns. Anna is almost too close to her step-son Owen. Like Anna, he feels that he owes the younger person his assistance, but in his case, it is because of their liaison. It is Anna who must change, when she realizes that others have pasts and feelings, and that if she wants to experience true passion, she must accept the abyss of potential heartbreak that is its counterpart.
Just as we think she has resigned herself to accepting Darrow and his past, she decides she must leave him and seeks to confront Sophy.
Anna is irresistibly drawn to this girl who, in such a short time, and with such limited means, has lived a more honest and more passionate life than she herself ever dreamed of. Sophy is the reef. For Darrow, a man and therefore used to doing as he pleases, Sophy is a superficial fling, something just below the surface, not a true deep love.
And so they both flounder there, like ships run aground. View 1 comment. Sep 03, Captain Sir Roddy, R. Edith Wharton's The Reef was written in when she was essentially at her very best as a novelist, and I think her powers are quite evident in this engaging tale.
Also, this is a very theatrical story that I personally think would lend itself very well to a stage adaptation. The book could just as easily have been entitled, The Chateau , as basically three-quarters of the novel takes place within the confines of Mrs Anna Leath's French estate, Givre. This is the story of romantic relationships, Edith Wharton's The Reef was written in when she was essentially at her very best as a novelist, and I think her powers are quite evident in this engaging tale.
This is the story of romantic relationships, double-standards and consequences among four Americans in Europe just before the First World War, and the entire plot turns on the things said and unsaid among the four protagonists. Wharton, through the course of the novel, puts the reader squarely inside the mind and emotions of each of the four characters. Consequently, it becomes hard to say with any certainty that this person is right, or that that person is wrong.
It is simply a "Human Story" and mistakes are made by each in turn, and this reader found it damnably difficult to side with one over the other. Another element that I found intriguing is that Wharton only gives the reader the barest amount of background information about each of the characters throughout the book, as she wants the reader to focus on and fully experience the emotional crisis and psychological struggle that each is undergoing as the tale plays out.
While devastatingly painful to read at times, The Reef is an insightful portrait of the interactions among the men and women of "Society" at the beginning of the 20th century. In some respects the moral ambiguity and dilemmas faced by Wharton's characters in The Reef really have not changed all that much--people still fall in love, deception still occurs, and feelings still mean everything.
When done with the book, one can't help but realize that Wharton's title-- The Reef --is spot-on. The challenge that each of us faces as we move through life is to sail carefully, but exuberantly, and avoid crashing on the reefs that will always be perilously close.
I am so glad to have read this and look forward to picking it up again sometime. Aug 03, Karen Zelano rated it did not like it.
I love Edith Wharton, but this book was terrible! I was curious as to why it could be so bad, so I read a bit about it. She wrote it during a time when she was very unhappy in her marriage. The character Anna is said to be based on the author, and Sophy based on her alter ego. That being said, the writing was overdone with too many adjectives, too much whining, not enough plot. It was sooooo drawn out, I just couldn't wait for it to end to see what would happen to these miserable characters!
Thi I love Edith Wharton, but this book was terrible! This brings us to the worst part- the ending! At first I thought I had a defective book and this couldn't possibly be the last page But it was.
No resolution, no point to the story. Another annoyance - the title. There is no " reef " in this book- no ocean, no water No reef. There are no themes or ideas which a reef could be symbolizing here- I looked in reviews and books written by smart literary people - this title is senseless!
This must have been one long therapy session on paper for Edith Wharton. Her other novels such as " Summer" and " Age of Innocence " are so much better they seem to have been written by someone else.
Don't bother with this one if you are her fan! This novel started off very strong, but quickly became more dull as it progressed. Most of the characters are extremely vain and unlikeable. The last chapter was completely unnecessary and almost ruined the ending.
Close interpersonal relationships and love examined. This book made me feel smart. My copy had a good introduction by Julian Barnes which I recommend reading after reading the novel.
I thought most of the action took place in or near Paris. At the top of the box to write a review is the question "What did you think"? At some point during my reading of any book, phrases start running through my head as to what I do think about what I'm reading. I laughed at myself in this one. The question in school was always "and what do you think will happen next". I was so poor at this type of prognostication that I rarely even try, but I did try in this one. My surmises were wrong.
And then they were right. And then they were wrong again. Maybe At the top of the box to write a review is the question "What did you think"? Maybe you will do better. My experience with Wharton is that her characters yearn for what might have been. The Reef might epitomize this yearning.
It's simply filled with it. No wonder I couldn't tell what was going to happen next - the characters were filled with indecision. But I thought they were also wrong in many instances. I'll keep on reading Wharton as long as there is Wharton to read. Mar 16, Annie rated it liked it. An interesting Wharton novel. Not my favourite of hers, but not a bad read.
The characters are all difficult to like, and seem very confused about what they want. The "dramatic, soul-revealing" moments Wharton's writing is known for don't really come up in this book in the same way they do in, say, The Age of Innocence or The House of Mirth.
The Reef was beautifully written, subtle and tense. We have for our story a simple drama between two sets of lovers. Wharton doing what she does so well, exploring the human condition and how the classes interact with one another when the artificial lines collapse.
I loved this complex story that asked so many moving, and always pertinent, questions. A gentleman has a brief encounter with a girl who does not rise. Young diplomat George Darrow is on his way to meet Anna Leath, an old girlfriend who is now a widow with a young daughter and a grown stepson. When Anna abruptly postpones their rendezvous without explanation, Darrow concludes that she is no longer interested in him.
A chance meeting with Sophy Vine. This is supposed to be Wharton's Jamesian book Probably, it's the convoluted plotting in which all is NOT revealed until the end Anna, major female protagonist, visits the blowsy sister of the woman h. She was not used to strong or full emotions; but she had always known that she should not be afraid of them. She was not afraid now; but she felt a deep inward stillness. Darrow desires to continue the relationship he had with Anna but remains concerned about her commitment to the relationship.
To download this book click the button below. The Reef pdf Download. I hope you have successfully downloaded The Reef Book novel from Pdfcorner. Mistakes are made by human. Jennie A. James W. Newland Archer is charming, tactful, and enlightened. Independent, free-thinking, and scandalously separated from her husband, Ellen forces Archer to question the values and assumptions of his narrow world.
As their love for each other grows, Archer has to decide where his ultimate loyalty lies. It follows the career of Undine Spragg, recently arrived in New York from the midwest and determined to conquer high society. With her sights set on an advantageous marriage, Undine pursues her schemes in a world of shifting values, where triumph is swiftly followed by disillusion.
This is a study of modern ambition and materialism written a hundred years before its time. The House of Mirth is the story of Lily Bart, who is beautiful, poor, and still unmarried at twenty-nine. In her search for a husband with money and position she betrays her own heart and sows the seeds of the tragedy that finally overwhelms her.
In telling the story of Lily Bart, who must marry to survive, Wharton recasts the age-old themes of family, marriage, and money in ways that transform the traditional novel of manners into an arresting modern document of cultural anthropology. Edith Wharton at Mantex Biographical notes, study guides to the major novels, tutorials on the shorter fiction, bibliographies, critiques of the shorter fiction, and web links.
Edith Wharton at Gutenberg Free eTexts of the major novels and collections of stories in a variety of digital formats — also includes travel writing and interior design.
Edith Wharton at Wikipedia Full details of novels, stories, and travel writing, adaptations for television and the cinema, plus web links to related sites.
The Edith Wharton Society Old but comprehensive collection of free eTexts of the major novels, stories, and travel writing, linking archives at University of Virginia and Washington State University.
Plan your wedding reception here. Edith Wharton at Fantastic Fiction A compilation which purports to be a complete bibliography, arranged as novels, collections, non-fiction, anthologies, short stories, letters, and commentaries — but is largely links to book-selling sites, which however contain some hidden gems.
Edith Wharton It is also set in a location she knew well — a country chateau in rural France one of which she was to set up for herself not long afterwards. Themes The same contemporary readers are very likely to find the ending of the novel disappointing because it appears to be so inconclusive.
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