Edith Wharton author page

Edith Wharton biography

Edith Wharton was an American novelist, short story writer, and designer. She was born as Edith Newbold Jones. Wharton is known for her works exploring the lives and morals of the American upper class in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Her writing often examines themes of social class, tradition, and change.

Wharton published her first major work, The Decoration of Houses, co-authored with Ogden Codman Jr., in 1897. She went on to write numerous novels, novellas, and short stories. Among her most notable works is The House of Mirth (1905), which depicts the struggles of Lily Bart, a woman navigating New York society. Another significant novel, Ethan Frome (1911), is set in rural Massachusetts and explores themes of isolation and desire.

Wharton’s novel The Age of Innocence was published in 1920. This work, set in 1870s New York, examines the constraints of society and personal happiness. In 1921, Edith Wharton became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Age of Innocence.