{"product_id":"reef-paperback","title":"Reef - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eEdith Wharton\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eLouis Auchincloss\u003c\/b\u003e (Introduction by)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"I put most of myself into that opus,\" Edith Wharton said of \u003ci\u003eThe Reef, \u003c\/i\u003e possibly her most autobiographical novel. Published in 1912, it was, Bernard Berenson told Henry Adams, \"better than any previous work excepting \u003ci\u003eEthan Frome.\"\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e A challenge to the moral climate of the day, \u003ci\u003eThe Reef\u003c\/i\u003e follows the fancies of George Darrow, a young diplomat en route from London to France, intent on proposing to the widowed Anna Leath. Unsettled by Anna's reticence, Darrow drifts into an affair with Sophy Viner, a charmingly naive and impecunious young woman whose relations with Darrow and Anna's family threaten his prospects for success. \u003cbr\u003e For its dramatic construction and acute insight into social mores and the multifaceted problem of sexuality, \u003ci\u003eThe Reef\u003c\/i\u003e stands as one of Edith Wharton's most daring works of fiction.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnna Leath, an American widow living in France, has renewed her relationship with her first love, diplomat George Darrow. But on his way to her beautiful French chateau, Givre, where he hopes to consolidate their marriage plans, Darrow encounters Sophy Viner, who is as vibrant and spontaneous as Anna is reserved and restrained. Sophy's subsequent employment as governess to Anna's daughter means that her fate becomes inextricably entwined with that of the family at Givre. And what to Darrow is a forgotten interlude becomes the reef on which the lives of four people are in danger of foundering.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eAmerica's most famous woman of letters, and the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize, \u003cb\u003eEdith Wharton\u003c\/b\u003e was born into one of the last \"leisured class\" families in New York City, as she put it, in 1862. Educated privately, she was married to Edward Wharton in 1885, and for the next few years, they spent their time in the high society of Newport (Rhode Island), then Lenox (Massachusetts) and Europe. It was in Europe that Wharton first met Henry James, who was to have a profound and lasting influence on her life and work. Wharton's first published book was a work of nonfiction, in collaboration with Ogden Codman, \u003ci\u003eThe Decoration of Houses\u003c\/i\u003e (1897), but from early on, her marriage had been a source of distress, and she was advised by her doctor to write fiction to relieve her nervous tension. Wharton's first short stories appeared in \u003ci\u003eScribner's Magazine, \u003c\/i\u003e and though she published several volumes of fiction around the turn of the century, including \u003ci\u003eThe Greater Inclination\u003c\/i\u003e (1899), \u003ci\u003eThe Touchstone\u003c\/i\u003e (1900), \u003ci\u003eCrucial Instances\u003c\/i\u003e (1901), \u003ci\u003eThe Valley of Decision\u003c\/i\u003e (1902), \u003ci\u003eSanctuary\u003c\/i\u003e (1903), and \u003ci\u003eThe Descent of Man and Other Stories\u003c\/i\u003e (1904), it wasn't until 1905, with the publication of the bestselling \u003ci\u003eThe House of Mirth, \u003c\/i\u003e that she was recognized as one of the most important novelists of her time for her keen social insight and subtle sense of satire. In 1906, Wharton visited Paris, which inspired \u003ci\u003eMadame de Treymes\u003c\/i\u003e (1907), and made her home there in 1907, finally divorcing her husband in 1912. The years before the outbreak of World War I represent the core of her artistic achievement, when \u003ci\u003eEthan Frome\u003c\/i\u003e (1911), \u003ci\u003eThe Reef\u003c\/i\u003e (1912), and \u003ci\u003eThe Custom of the Country\u003c\/i\u003e (1913) were published. During the war, she remained in France organizing relief for Belgian refugees, for which she was later awarded the Legion of Honor. She also wrote two novels about the war, \u003ci\u003eThe Marne\u003c\/i\u003e (1918) and \u003ci\u003eA Son at the Front\u003c\/i\u003e (1923), and continued, in France, to write about New England and the Newport society she had known so well in \u003ci\u003eSummer\u003c\/i\u003e (1917), the companion to \u003ci\u003eEthan Frome, \u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Age of Innocence\u003c\/i\u003e (1920), for which she won the Pulitzer Prize. Wharton died in France in 1937. Her other works include \u003ci\u003eOld New York\u003c\/i\u003e (1924), \u003ci\u003eThe Mother's Recompense\u003c\/i\u003e (1925), \u003ci\u003eThe Writing of Fiction\u003c\/i\u003e (1925), \u003ci\u003eThe Children\u003c\/i\u003e (1928), \u003ci\u003eHudson River Bracketed\u003c\/i\u003e (1929), and her autobiography, \u003ci\u003eA Backward Glance\u003c\/i\u003e (1934).\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 336\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.76 x 8 x 5.38 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e July 01, 1996\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47228273819897,"sku":"9780684824444","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0789\/2782\/3097\/files\/VU1CdzMydFN2MjcwQWEyc1BlWlVRdz09.webp?v=1768290349","url":"https:\/\/bookscloud.io\/products\/reef-paperback","provider":"BooksCloud Book Dropshipping","version":"1.0","type":"link"}