Crucial Instances

Edith Wharton was born and bred to be a society wife, but in that she was a dismal failure: her marriage was pure misery, and in time the Whartons parted. As a writer, though, she was an incredible success -- she had real insight into the people around her and she could tell of them beautifully. She published her first story in 1889, and numerous books in the years that followed.