A few months before her death in 1937 at the age of 75, Edith Wharton wished she were forty years younger. It was not the regret of lost opportunities or bad choices, or even the lament of old age. This heroically energetic woman was still hungering for experience: if younger, she could have gone to London to see the coronation of George VI. At 75 she was long used to doing whatever she wished, and made more use of that ability than most people; yet, although she derived from the easiest and most fortunate of backgrounds, she had not always had her own way. The life of Edith Wharton is the story of a rich girl made good.
Edith Newbold Jones was born in New York on January 24th, 1862 to comfortably-off members of the exclusive social circle she represented in The Age of Innocence (1922),
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Citation: Preston, Claire. "Edith Wharton". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 February 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4677, accessed 22 November 2024.]
