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Edith Wharton was born into the upper stratum of New York society in 1862. This environment provided her with ample material for her novels but did not encourage her artistic development. Educated by tutors and governesses, she was raised with the sole expectation of marriage. Her marriage in 1885 to Edward Wharton proved to be an emotional disappointment, if not a disaster. She experienced her first nervous breakdown in 1894.

Despite the strain of her marriage, or perhaps because of it, Wharton began writing fiction, publishing her first story in 1889. Her initial published work was a guide to interior decorating, but this was soon followed by several novels and story collections. These works were created while the Whartons resided in Newport and New York, traveled in Europe, and built their grand home, The Mount, in Lenox, Massachusetts.

During her travels in Europe, she met Henry James, who became a close friend, traveling companion, and the most discerning critic of her fiction. The House of Mirth (1905) achieved both critical acclaim and bestseller status, as did Ethan Frome (1911).

In 1913, the Whartons divorced, and Edith took up permanent residence in France. However, her subject matter remained focused on America, particularly the wealthy New York society of her youth. Her significant satirical novel, The Custom of the Country, was published in 1913, and The Age of Innocence earned her the Pulitzer Prize in 1921.

In her later years, Wharton was admired by a new generation of writers, including Sinclair Lewis and F. Scott Fitzgerald. She authored approximately thirty books, including her autobiography, A Backwards Glance (1934). Edith Wharton died at her villa near Paris in 1937.

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