Edith Wharton

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Lore & Background

Edith Newbold Jones was born on January 24, 1862, to George Frederic Jones and Lucretia Stevens Rhinelander at their brownstone at 14 West 23rd Street in Manhattan. To friends and family, she was known as 'Pussy Jones.' Her father's family, the Joneses, were very wealthy and socially prominent, having made their money in real estate; the saying 'keeping up with the Joneses' is said to refer to them. She was related to the Rensselaers, and her father's first cousin was Caroline Schermerhorn Astor. From 1866 to 1872, the family visited France, Italy, Germany, and Spain, and young Edith became fluent in French, German, and Italian. At age nine, she suffered from typhoid fever, which nearly killed her, while the family was at a spa in the Black Forest. Her mother forbade her to read novels until she was married, so she read from her father's library and the libraries of his friends instead.

Reader's Guide

Edith Wharton's significance rests on her realistic portrayal of upper-class New York society during the Gilded Age, drawn from her insider's knowledge. In 1921, she became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for *The Age of Innocence*. Beyond novels, she wrote at least 85 short stories and several notable ghost stories. She was also a garden designer, interior designer, and taste-maker, co-authoring her first major published work, *The Decoration of Houses* (1897), with Ogden Codman, and writing *Italian Villas and Their Gardens* (1904), illustrated by Maxfield Parrish. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1996. Her other well-known works include *The House of Mirth* and the novella *Ethan Frome*.

Did You Know?

• To her friends and family, she was known as 'Pussy Jones.'
• The saying 'keeping up with the Joneses' is said to refer to her father's family.
• At age nine, she suffered from typhoid fever, which nearly killed her, while at a spa in the Black Forest.
• Her first published work, at age 15, was a translation of a German poem, published under the name of a friend's father because her family did not want her name in print.
• She crossed the Atlantic 60 times over the course of her life.